A historic building on Crescent Street that sat empty for six years is about to become a youth workforce center, after Stamford officials agreed to lease the long-shuttered Glenbrook community center to local nonprofit Domus Kids for $1 a year over two decades. The deal closes out a bruising neighborhood fight that began in 2022, when the city tried to sell the property to a private housing developer instead.
Stamford officials decided in early 2022 to sell the property to a developer planning 51 income-restricted apartments, according to the City of Stamford. That proposed buyer, Crescent Housing Partners LLC — a joint venture between JHM Financial Group and Viking Construction — had offered $700,000 in cash plus $5.3 million in site development to build the 51 units alongside 3,000 to 4,300 square feet of community space, per the Stamford Patch. Mayor Caroline Simmons withdrew the sale later that year after the Board of Representatives did not support it, as reported by the Stamford Advocate.
Neighborhood activists had organized under the campaign name Save Our Center to rally against the private housing development and push municipal leaders to restore local youth and social service programming, according to the CT Examiner. The historic building hosted an AA meeting and children's dance classes and had a gymnasium before it shut down in March 2020 at the onset of the pandemic. Evelyn Simpson, president of the Glenbrook Neighborhood Association, said reusing the building is a very exciting prospect for residents who had watched it sit idle, per the Advocate.
From Pipe Burst to Partnership
The building has carried more than symbolic baggage. A pipe burst in January 2025, causing water damage. The building also has structural issues, including leaks, the Advocate reports. Following the 2022 withdrawal, the city reset its approach by hiring New York urban design firm BFJ in late 2024 to lead public visioning workshops, guiding Stamford toward the public-nonprofit partnership model that ultimately produced the Domus Kids deal, per the same CT Examiner report.
The Stamford Board of Finance approved the Domus Kids lease contract on September 17, and the Board of Representatives' Legislative and Rules Committee followed with a unanimous vote on September 29, according to the Advocate. Board member Michael McKeown recused himself from the vote due to a potential conflict of interest, saying he would not participate in Domus Kids discussions or votes that would violate the Stamford ethics code.
How the $2.5 Million Renovation Gets Paid For
Fixing up the 22,000-square-foot building won't come cheap, but the city says it won't come mostly from local taxes either. The $2.5 million capital appropriation is funded through a $1.4 million flood insurance settlement tied to the pandemic-era pipe burst, $850,000 in municipal bonds, and a $250,000 federal grant from the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, the CT Examiner reported in September.
Under the lease terms, if rehabilitation costs exceed $2.5 million, Domus will cover the first $500,000 in overruns up to $3 million, while additional city funding up to $1 million would require separate approvals from city boards. Renovation and design work is expected to take about 12 months after lease execution before Domus moves in, and the city will provide Domus $50,000 annually toward operating costs, subject to annual budget approval each year. Domus will handle day-to-day maintenance, utilities, and custodial services once it occupies the space.
Why Domus Needs a New Home Now
The timing isn't incidental. Domus Kids currently operates out of 83 Lockwood Ave., but that building will be demolished in spring 2027 to make way for a new K-4 school under the Stamford Public Schools master facilities plan, the Advocate reports. A new 5-8 school is planned for the current site of K.T. Murphy Elementary School on Horton Street under the same facilities overhaul.
The program moving into Crescent Street, DomusWorks, targets young adults who were previously unemployed or disconnected from school. It runs as a year-long cohort model for people aged 17 to 26, combining three to six months of paid skills training and social enterprise labor with six months of job placement support, according to the Connecticut Opportunity Project. An independent evaluation by research firm Child Trends, reported by Domus Kids in April, found that 96% of DomusWorks graduates remained employed full-time with benefits one year after completing the program.
Anthony Pramberger, who has lived in Stamford since 1985, has volunteered with DomusWorks since December 2023. He described the Domus Kids mission as supporting young men and women who deserve a chance in life, per the Advocate. Scott Stone called reopening the community center a major win for Stamford, while Noah Lapine said the lease supports community engagement, vital nonprofits, and a use for a historic building that aligns with what the community wanted.
Public Access Still Part of the Deal
Representative Scott Stone said he wanted Domus Kids to provide an annual update on non-program public usage hours and fee waivers, and that he would like a quarterly consultative volunteer committee established with district representatives and local stakeholders to weigh in on how the center is used. Domus holds two five-year lease extension options, allowing for a potential 30-year occupancy at the Crescent Street site beyond the initial 20-year term.
