Lamont: CT needs more housing inventory

By Ginny Monk The Connecticut Mirror

Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday told Connecticut real estate agents that the primary solution to one of the industry’s most pressing problems a dearth of houses to sell is to build more housing.

Lamont gave the statement in response to a question posed by a presenter at the Connecticut Association of Realtors conference in Hartford about how he would help incentivize homeowners to sell. “First of all, you need more housing inventory, ” Lamont said. “Let’s start with that. I mean, we’re desperately short right now.”

Lamont gave a speech about the draw of moving to Connecticut, real estate agents’ role in marketing the state to potential buyers, and housing and population growth.

The state’s cities are growing, he said, and more young families want to live in Connecticut than in past years.

Yet the real estate industry has seen a drop in the number of homes for sale.

As of Jan. 14, there were about 3,600 homes for sale compared to about 15,000 in 2019, according to data from a presentation members of the National Association of Realtors gave to lawmakers earlier this year. The Realtors’ presentation tied that low inventory to underbuilding and delays in finishing new construction.

The state also lacks about 89,000 units of housing that are affordable and available to its lowest income renters.

Lamont’s remarks on Monday came as the state legislature is considering several measures to increase housing stock and improve affordability for Connecticut residents.

Legislative session

“We’ve put $600 million over the next two years into housing,” Lamont said. “And that’s not just affordable housing, and what I call workforce housing those are our studios and one bedrooms often in downtown areas, hopefully next to major transit areas.”

Earlier in the year, Lamont announced his plan to spend $600 million on housing ventures, including to build thousands of units of new housing in Connecticut over the next two years. The bonding proposal that emerged from the committee process includes money for the state’s housing trust fund, a flexible housing fund and a homeownership program.

It would add money to the Connecticut Housing Receivership Revolving Fund, which aims to improve housing conditions at large apartments in the state. It also has funds to retrofit apartments in environmental justice communities certain communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by climate change.

The state budget is still a work in progress, and lawmakers will work with the governor to hash out the final figures in the coming weeks.

Lamont also said he’d support transit-oriented development in downtowns across the state, a proposal that’s received harsh backlash from some local groups and officials.

See Housing, A11

Karaoke

From

A1

Dipo Oseni is from Nigeria while Allison Oseni grew up in Connecticut.

“The goal is bring something that doesn’t exist in the market as yet,” Dipo Oseni said. “We wanted to create a venue, a place you could go to and have fun in We want to give you another venue to get dressed up for and have fun.”

SoLa Karaoke, named after south Los Angeles where the couple lived, will have nine rooms for groups ranging in size from four to 30. There’ll also be an area for open mic nights and open karaoke in the main bar area.

“We’re going to have nine private rooms, each room is going to be LA-themed,” Dipo Oseni said. “Each room will be a scene. There’ll be a Hollywood room, a Santa Monica room.”

The sound system and monitors for song lyrics will be part of each private room.

“Each room is going to have it’s own built-in sound system. You wouldn’t have to plug into anything, it’s all there, it’s all set up for you,” Dipo Oseni said.

He’s in the consumer electronics industry and Allison Oseni is in real estate. While there’s some overlap with their day jobs, opening a karaoke bar is new for both of them. “This is completely different, we’ve never done anything like this before, my wife and I,” he said. “It’s something that we love and always loved. I don’t think we’re unique in loving to congregate around music.”

Dipo and Allison Oseni, of Cheshire, stand in part of a 3,500square-foot space they’re converting into SoLa Karaoke behind Paul Gregory’s Bistro Cafe at Factory Square in Southington on Friday, May 12.

Dave Zajac, Record-Journal

Factory Square Annex

The Osenis’ place will be in the smaller of the two factory buildings at 168 Center St. Michelle Florian, owner of Factory Square, said development has been brisk in the larger building and it’s now moving into the smaller one, called the Factory Square Annex, as well.

Paul Gregory’s Restaurant moved into the annex two years ago. Now they’ll be joined by SoLa Karaoke as well as Dance City and the Arts, which is moving from the main building.

“The annex came together quite quickly,” Florian said.

“We gutted and cleaned it out … All the interest came.”

She said there’s already a number of businesses at Factory Square that draw people looking for entertainment, such as ax throwing, an escape room and a bar and arcade. SoLa Karaoke was a good fit, according to Florian.

“It’s a bit of an adult playroom, ” she said. “You have a lot of things to do. You have a drink, you go to dinner, you play the old pinball machines, you go to the escape room and now we have the karaoke. It’s all fitting really well.” jbuchanan@record-journal.com

203-317-2230

Twitter: @JBuchananRJ of people who lived hundreds of years ago. One of these figures is the American author Washington Irving. After Malia graduated from Fordham University with his Ph.D. in history, one his first jobs was cataloguing Irving’s papers for the Rockefeller Foundation.

Malia is still familiar with Irving’s journeys, and can provide a number of anecdotes from Irving’s early success as the best-selling author of “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman,” to his ambassadorship to Spain and his somewhat dissolute life of travel, courtly romances, and theatre. In fact, Malia says, Columbia University still has a number of Irving’s unpublished works.

That sense of history being lost to indifference has prompted Malia to write some of his works. As a publisher, Malia also does the historian’s duty of presenting the best available evidence.

The Connecticut Press’s most recent offering is one such example. “The Myth & Reality of Slavery in Eastern Connecticut,” written by former Connecticut Assistant State Archivist Bruce P. Stark, offers a detailed look at the claim that a slave plantation existed in Connecticut near Lyme, where the author grew up. Drawing on land records and numerous other sources, both contemporary and contemporaneous to the era, Stark presents a more nuanced understanding of the situation. An extensive biography also points the way for future researchers to make their own studies.

Although much of his own research has focused on his former hometown of West Haven,

Malia has also published work with special interest for Cheshire residents. One of these is a photo-illustrated history of Elim Park, published on the occasion of the Baptist Home’s 100th anniversary.

Another project of Malia’s is an entry in the Ancient Town Records series. First begun in 1917 as a project of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, the work involves the transcription of written colonial records into an accessible printed form. Malia’s book, Volume IV in the series, contains the New Haven Town Records of 1769–1819. The compilation offers a tremendous resource for researchers.

Crucible of war

Recently, Malia has been involved in getting to the heart of a mystery that has involved parties on both sides of the Atlantic.

While writing his history of colonial West Haven, “Visible Saints,” Malia grew interested in the story of a Scotsman named William Campbell, who was killed during the British invasion of New Haven in 1779, but whose life was full of extraordinary achievements. Adjutant Campbell’s story, Malia says, will be his next project, a “narrative biography.”

Using clues from the historical record, Malia has begun to uncover enough details to draw the attention of Campbell’s successor unit, the Scottish Coldstream Guards the unit which, incidentally, is responsible for the protection of newly crowned King Charles III. His correspondent, Colonel Robin Buchanan-Dunlap, recently wrote about Adjutant Campbell for The Guards Magazine and, with Malia, seeks to bring official recognition for Campbell. BuchananDunlap also has a special relationship to history, as the grandson of Archibald Buchanan-Dunlap, who participated notably in the “Christmas Truce” of World War I.

“No matter the uniform, the time, or the place the crucible of war has always forged lessons that magnify the best and worst in our human nature,” Malia said.

As Malia tells the story, Campbell was a Highlander who “obtained his commission the hard way –– through meritorious action in the field of battle and by working his way up through the ranks from private.”

See Malia, A12

Memory loss

Join this class Friday, May 19, from 1 to 2 p.m., to learn more about mild forgetfulness, more serious memory problems and causes of memory loss. Presented by Patty O'Brian, LSW, dementia specialist, Hartford HealthCare, Center for Healthy Aging. The program will take place at the Berlin Senior Center, 33 Colonial Dr., Berlin. RSVP to 860-8287006.

Call-in support

Senior 5% OFF PRESENT COUPON AT ESTIMATE AND GET... 860.637.6570 R259616V2

Theater

Castle Craig Players, Meriden is celebrating its 30th season. Shows on sale now: “The Marvelous Wonderettes: Dream On,” May 5 to 20; “Into The Woods,” July 28 to Aug. 12.