Bridgeport’s full City Council still must vote on a proposed $250,000 sale of the connected parcels at 157 and 171 Golden Hill Street to developer Douglas Woods. The council’s contracts and economic development committees approved the transaction, Resolution 64-25, the Connecticut Post reported. The city’s development-opportunities page says it sought proposals for residential or mixed-use development at the site in May 2025.
A proposal, not a completed project
Woods’s 2025 bid proposed an eight-story building with 74 apartments and underground parking. He later described a smaller plan of 30 to 40 units across four levels, with about eight units expected to be affordably priced and the rest rented at market rates, according to the Connecticut Post. Those are reported plans; the pending land sale does not establish that the building has been approved or constructed.
The proposed affordable units sit within a broader city housing goal, but are not the same as a commitment to meet it. Bridgeport’s Affordable Housing Plan sets an objective of developing 440 new affordable units outside the expanded downtown for residents earning no more than 80% of Area Median Income between April 22, 2019, and April 21, 2029. That citywide objective does not specify how many units the Golden Hill project must provide.
The plan also reports that 12,134 of Bridgeport’s 57,012 housing units were classified as affordable in 2021, or 21.28%. Separately, CT Insider reported that the city approved permits for 485 housing units in 2024, with The August at Steelpointe Harbor contributing substantially to the total. Permit approvals indicate authorized housing, not how many homes were completed or how many are affordable.
The sale concerns city-owned land, while the building’s size, affordability terms and delivery remain separate questions. The full council’s vote will determine whether the land transaction can proceed; the reported proposal figures describe Woods’s plans rather than completed housing.
