The proposed adaptive reuse of a former school in a suburban Connecticut shoreline town has been shared in a way that allows the public to weigh in on whether the project “may significantly affect the environment.”
The proposed affordable housing development or “adaptive reuse” is of the Abraham Pierson School on East Main Street in Clinton.
The proposal is for a total of 50 apartments, comprised of six studios and 44 one-bedrooms units, one of which will be for a building superintendent, according to development team Xenolith Partners and HOPE Partnership.
The development team noted that the town of Clinton in 2023 issued a request for proposals for plans to redevelop the Pierson School into affordable senior housing with a community use component and the “Town Council chose the plan submitted by the development team lead by Xenolith Partners and HOPE Partnership.”
Of the units in the proposed project, 30 would be located in the existing building and 20 will be located in a new addition, according to state’s Environmental Monitor site.
“The limitations of the existing septic systems caps the development potential at 50 units: 43 one bedroom and seven studios. All of the rental units will be reserved for seniors aged 62” and older, according to the Monitor.
“The proposed design also includes amenity space for the building’s residents as well as a leasing and management offices for the complex, according to the Monitor.
The auditorium space would be renovated and eventually leased back to the town for reuse as a senior center. The development team noted that, assuming it “closes on the property in Q1 2026, these units would likely be completed in late 2027.” Current records show the town still owns the site.
The Monitor notes the design would “comport with other historic neighboring structures, such as the Adam Stanton House (c.1791), the Holy Advent Church (c.1876) with its beautiful gardens, and the National Register Clinton Village Historic District. The addition will have sloped roofs, clapboard siding and colonial detailing to differentiate it from the brick Pierson School, taking its design cues from the surrounding historic district.”
“Setting it back from East Main Street and the property line and capping it at three stories, lower than the existing building, will help to minimize its visual impact,” the state site notes. The site notes its content is “written and formatted by the sponsoring agencies.”
The project would be located 0.3 miles from the Clinton Station for CTRail Shore Line East, there are continuous sidewalks from the front of the school to the south entrance of Clinton Station, bus stops are in front of and across the street from the site and would provide access to shopping and the train station, a free Clinton Trolley Bus is available with a stop at Liberty Green, 0.2 mile east of the school, and the development would have bicycle racks around the property, the state site notes.
The state Environmental Monitor shares information under the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act, for projects at a “scoping stage.” When a project is at the scoping stage, sponsoring agencies “are asking for comments from other agencies and from the public as to the scope of alternatives and environmental impacts that should be considered for further study.” Comments can be sent through Jan. 2, 2026 to Mithila Chakraborty, Connecticut Dept. of Housing, 505 Hudson St., Hartford, 06106-7106, or e-mail to: [email protected].
The renovation and new construction would be done in one phase. Construction is expected to take approximately 18 months. A start date was not noted.
“The project promises to be unique, as it aims to preserve the exterior of the historic school built in 1932 while refitting it into a modern apartment development, with senior citizens as the preferred tenants,” the town manager has said on a site devoted to the project.
Also noted by the town:
- Essex-based Hope Partnership and Xenolith Partners LLC, are working together on the project
- Some 30 units will be located in the brick Colonial Revival-style elementary school, which has been vacant for the past five years.
- The other 20 units will be in a new structure behind the main building on the 3.62-acre site.
- The original gymnasium will be preserved and leased back to the town to use as a senior center.
According to the town, the school is located at 75 East Main St. and the Board of Education voted in 2018 to close it “after a facility-needs study conducted by the school system found that closing the school was prudent in the face of declining enrollment and rising operational costs.”
The school was used for the district’s fourth and fifth graders and had been open for 80 years at the time, according to the town.
At a meeting on Dec. 20, 2023, the Town Council unanimously voted to recommend the former Pierson School property be sold to developers HOPE Partnership Inc. and Xenolith Partners LLC for $500,000, according to the town.
The HOPE Partnership Inc. and Xenolith Partners LLC developers noted, on the sale price, that, “because of historic preservation restrictions, there are quite limited options on how to optimize a property like Pierson. This means that the market value of a property like this is not actually as high as folks might initially think, because of the limited uses available and expensive restorations required. In addition, the front lawn, gazebo, and interior spaces for the Town’s senior programs provide ongoing value and service to the community, but restrict the developer’s use of the property.”
The partnership also noted that the school was a Colonial Revival-style elementary school named for Abraham Pierson, who was pastor of “Clinton’s Congregational Church and, from 1701-1707, was the first rector of the Collegiate School, which later became Yale University.”
“The Colonial Revival-style school was constructed in three phases starting with the rectangular main block dating to 1932. The short elevation faces south to the road so the building extends lengthwise to the north. The two subsequent additions, constructed in 1953 and 2000, extend the rectangular footprint of the school further north,” according to the developers.
HOPE Partnership describes itself as a local, 501(c)3-qualified non-profit organization that has worked to expand affordable housing in the region for 20 years and has developed affordable housing in Old Saybrook, Essex, and Madison.