Senior Housing Complex In Milford May Get Finished After All

MILFORD, CT — The Southwick Village 55 and older housing project that was never completed looks like that may be changing.

Attorney Kevin Curseaden recently appeared before the Planning and Zoning Board for a regulation change that was approved, which could jumpstart the long dormant project.

The project which is located on Wheelers Farm Road dates back to 1998. At one point an assisted living development was planned for the site and that was amended to a 55 and older community. The New Haven Register reports that 25-units were constructed back in 2000 but additional phases of the approved project never advanced.

Curseaden said Southwick Phase 1 was completed at 523 Wheelers Farm Road, but a planned 2nd phase was not. He said his client will have to come back to the board for a subdivision of the 12– 13-acre parcel in the future, but he first needed a regulation change.

He said the goal is to make the property useful, most likely for elderly housing with an updated site plan. Curseaden said the goal was to get it back on tax rolls for an over-55 or planned elderly community.

The regulation change approved by the PZB allows for elderly housing to be built on five acres in this one specific area, currently the minimum requirement is 10 acres.

A PZB member said she had learned that Southwick residents had been promised a community
center that never happened and if the new plan would address that. Curseaden said the original plan had such a community center, and the revised 2005 plan also had a walking trail, and other amenities.

He said developing such items would depend on the buyer and what their corporate model uses. He said a recent trend is to incorporate phased uses as residents transition from 55+ living to assisted living to healthcare-serviced residences.