NORWALK, Conn. — In the past decade, Norwalk has seen a wave of large residential development, particularly in South Norwalk and along the West Avenue corridor. The new buildings have reshaped those neighborhoods and expanded the city’s tax base.
A NancyOnNorwalk analysis published earlier this year found that four large apartment complexes on a half-mile stretch of West Avenue alone account for roughly $300 million in taxable property value, but the development boom has not made renting in Norwalk any cheaper.
According to data from Zillow Research, the median asking rent in Norwalk climbed from $1,589 a month in January 2015 to $2,679 a month in April 2026, an increase of nearly 69 percent over 11 years.
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Connecticut home prices rose more than 80 percent over the same period, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The city's 2025 Affordable Housing Action Plan found that nearly half of Norwalk's approximately 17,000 renters were cost-burdened in 2022, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
The median income for Norwalk renters was $71,000, lower than what most rental units currently on the market require, the plan noted.
Norwalk has a long-standing law meant to prevent new development from worsening that problem. Article 101 of its zoning code requires developers of 20 or more units to set aside at least 10 percent of those units as affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the state median income.
Norwalk has a long-standing law meant to prevent new development from worsening that problem. It's now found in Article 6, Section 6.12 of the city's zoning code. That same requirement used to live in a different part of the code, called Article 101, before the city rewrote its zoning regulations in February 2024.
The rules work differently depending on the size of the project.
For developments of 10 or more units, at least 10 percent of the units must be set aside as workforce housing. Developers choose between two paths: serve renters earning up to 60 percent of the state median income with no extra fee, or serve renters earning up to 80 percent of the state median income and pay the city a fee worth 1 percent of the project's construction cost.
For smaller developments, 3 to 9 units, the rule is different. A developer can build 1 workforce housing unit, or skip it entirely and pay the same 1 percent fee. This is a true buyout, but it applies only to small projects.
The old version of the code, Article 101, also allowed a developer to apply for a special exception and pay a much larger cash fee instead of building any affordable units on site. That option no longer exists in the current zoning code, and Planning and Zoning officials say, to their knowledge, no developer has ever used it.
In the Central Business District and SoNo Station Design District, that requirement kicks in at just 12 units.
Developers have options for how they comply. They can build the affordable units on site, or they can apply for a special exception and pay a cash fee into a city affordable housing fund instead, without building a single affordable unit on the development itself.
Some developers in the Central Business District or SoNo Station Design District choose an option that allows them to serve renters earning up to 80 percent of the state median income, rather than 60 percent. Those developers still have to build the affordable units, but they also pay the city a fee worth 1 percent of the project's construction cost, which goes into a fund for future affordable housing.
Records obtained by NancyOnNorwalk through a Freedom of Information request show the city has collected $2,290,905 in inclusionary zoning fees, equal to 1 percent of construction costs, from at least 45 developments.
The Planning and Zoning Department also said there have been no transactions out of the city's affordability fund. The city's Finance Department, in response to an earlier records request, said it had no record of the fund.
The largest single payment came from a 393-unit development at 467 West Avenue, which paid $1,002,023, nearly half of everything ever collected. A 204-unit development at 370 West Avenue paid $310,745. A 200-unit project at 15 Chestnut Street paid $215,000.
The city's Finance Department, in response to an earlier records request, said it had no record of the fund.
The largest single payment came from a 393-unit development at 467 West Avenue, which paid $1,002,023, nearly half of everything ever collected. A 204-unit development at 370 West Avenue paid $310,745. A 200-unit project at 15 Chestnut Street paid $215,000.
A NancyOnNorwalk analysis of Connecticut Department of Housing records found that of the 1,029 total new assisted housing units Norwalk gained between 2015 and 2025, more than half, 560, came from the federal Section 8 voucher program, a federally funded program administered outside the city's direct control.
Government-assisted units, which account for 27%, are housing units in properties that receive direct public subsidy, including public housing authority apartments.
Deed-restricted units are privately owned apartments or homes where affordability is locked into the property's ownership documents through a recorded legal covenant that binds every future owner, regardless of who lives there.
State records show Norwalk added 98 net new deed-restricted units over the decade.
The city's Affordable Housing Action Plan, released in February 2025, estimates that nearly 8,000 affordable rental units are needed to meet demand. The plan proposes zoning reforms, expanded rules for accessory dwelling units, density bonuses, and public-private partnerships to close that gap.
More than $2.29 million in fees collected from developers remains unspent in a city fund legally designated for affordable housing.
This is the first in a NancyOnNorwalk series on Norwalk's housing market. Part 2 will examine who owns the city's largest apartment complexes.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the city's 1 percent inclusionary zoning fee as the former fee-in-lieu option. The story has been corrected to reflect zoning regulations that took effect Feb. 19, 2024. According to the Planning and Zoning Department, the fee-in-lieu option was eliminated and never used. As of publication, the city's eCode360 website still contains the outdated zoning language.
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