By Meghan Muldoon

WESTPORT–After years of neighborhood opposition and lawsuits, the long-delayed Villages of Saugatuck development on Hiawatha Lane is nearing completion and its developers say the project represents a new model for housing in Westport.

The 157-unit multifamily development, led by Spinnaker Real Estate Partners and Summit Development, combines traditional affordable housing under Connecticut’s controversial 8-30g statute with a newer state financing initiative, Build for CT, aimed at middle-income renters priced out of affluent communities.

Of the planned 157 apartments, 48 units are designated as affordable under the state’s 8-30g law. Another 30 units are tied to Connecticut’s Build for CT program, launched in 2023 to encourage developers to create housing for the “missing middle,” described as those households that earn too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing but struggle with soaring market rents.

The Build for CT program provides developers with favorable low-interest financing in exchange for reserving below-market units for middle-income residents. State officials created the program in response to Connecticut’s growing affordable housing shortage, particularly in high-cost communities like Westport.

According to Spinnaker, the state-supported financing helped make the project economically feasible while broadening the range of residents who could afford to live there.

“Anyone who’s looking to live in this town, and they’re okay with renting, would look at this project,” said Spinnaker’s Alanna Morque. “The rents are more affordable than being a homeowner in this town so I think we’re really going to have a huge draw.”

Morque said the project is intended to address a widening gap in Fairfield County’s housing market by creating options for residents across income levels.

She added that the development could offer an alternative for young professionals, families and individuals who want to live closer to work or community ties but are increasingly priced out of towns like Westport.

“Maybe that person can really only afford Shelton and that makes their commute 45 minutes longer,” Morque said. “It’s creating a layer of convenience. It’s creating a layer of options for people where they feel like they don’t have a ton of options.”

The project’s first building, containing 70 apartments, is expected to open this summer, pending final town approvals. A second building is projected to open in November, with the final phase slated for completion by year’s end.

The road to completion, however, was anything but smooth.

The project traces back more than a decade and a half, during which Summit Development gradually assembled single-family lots along Hiawatha Lane. The proposal faced fierce opposition from neighbors who formed the group, Save Old Saugatuck, which sued to block the development. The legal battle eventually reached the Connecticut Supreme Court before the project ultimately prevailed.

While acknowledging the community’s initial concerns with the scale of the project, Spinnaker CEO Clay Fowler says he is confident that the finished project will leave the neighborhood improved, citing extensive infrastructure upgrades completed as part of the development, including new gas, sewer and water mains, underground electrical service, sidewalks and road repaving.

“We are going to leave that neighborhood better than we found it,” Fowler said. “We’re actually going to increase people’s value on that street,” he added. 

The Norwalk-based company is already pursuing another major housing proposal in Westport. Spinnaker recently acquired two properties that were once part of the now-defunct Hamlet at Saugatuck proposal and has filed a pre-application with the Planning & Zoning Commission for a new 157-unit mixed-use development on a 1.5-acre parcel at Riverside Avenue and Charles Street.   

“We like to make the communities in which we live better places,” Fowler said. “We like to build housing for people who need housing and therefore will produce it across a variety of places and types.  We look forward to continuing to work with the town of Westport.”

Meghan Muldoon

^{_{Meghan Muldoon is a freelance journalist based in Darien, Connecticut. As a television and print journalist, Muldoon has covered state government and politics in Virginia and Connecticut.}}