WILDER — Hartford’s planning and zoning boards recently greenlighted a plan by developers to convert a former nursing home into a residential building with 38 apartments.

Ledgeworks, a Lebanon-based real estate firm, intends to create 22 studios and 16 one-bedroom units in the former Brookside nursing home off Route 5 at 1200 Christian St. Ledgeworks’ Mike Davidson purchased the property last year for $825,000.

Brookside nursing home, a 67-bed facility on a nearly 4-acre parcel, closed in November 2017, shortly after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced it would stop making payments to Brookside due to deficiencies in patient care.

Construction to reconfigure the 19,500-square-foot building is expected to start this fall and take about four to six months to complete, said Tim Sidore, chief operating officer of Ledgeworks, in a phone interview.

“Our passion is redevelopment,” Sidore said. “This is a wonderful adaptive use of an obsolete and vacant building, to turn it into 38 units of much needed housing.”

The company’s other reclamation projects include the creation of 43 loft-style apartments in the former Lebanon Junior High School at 77 Bank St., and the opening of 36 studio apartments in the former College Cleaners plant at 241 South Main St. in White River Junction.

The Christian Street project will include 46 parking spaces, a small courtyard with a gazebo and outdoor cooking amenities, and a small, fenced-in dog park.

A “ride-share” electric car, powered by an on-site solar generator, will also be available for tenants for short-term uses, such as errands or appointments.

The Hartford Planning Commission approved the site plan, by a 5-1 vote, at a meeting earlier this month. Chairman John Reid, Vice Chairman Bruce Riddle and Commissioners Colin Butler, Toby Dayman and John Heath voted in support of the project, while Commissioner Dylan Kreis cast the lone opposing vote.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted unanimously on Sept. 4 to permit the planned development, which is allowed in the zone as a conditional use.

Rents for 40% of the units will be affordable to tenants with incomes at 80% or less than the household median in Windsor County — which is $80,400 a year for a family of four.

The workforce or affordable apartments will be priced in accordance with Vermont Housing Finance guidelines, according to Ledgeworks’ site plan application.

The market-rate rents will be between $1,000 to $1,800 a month, depending on the apartment size, which range from 240 to 473 square feet for studios and from 357 to 550 square feet for one-bedroom units.

The apartments are primarily designed for single adults or couples, the developers said a project summary. The developers expect tenants will include graduate students and employees in the trades or the services industries, as well as other professions.

Neighbors, though pleased to see Brookside’s restoration, have expressed concern about traffic congestion due to the number of units being created, as well as the environmental impact on the abutting wetlands.

“(We) have been very clear to the developer and the Planning Commission that we feel that the density of this project, at 38 units, is too high,” stated a letter to the commissioners in July signed by 26 neighbors of the property. “There seems to be a rush to squeeze in as many units as possible.”

About 10 of the apartment units were added through a “bonus density,” a zoning tool that allows developers to build more housing units than what is typically permitted in exchange for providing a public benefit. The town grants a bonus density to projects that make at least 40% of the units affordable to people with moderate-to-low incomes.

The neighbors also said that tenants will likely need to own vehicles, as the nearest Advance Transit bus stop is about a mile away from the property.

Advance Transit recently told Ledgeworks that they are currently unable to add a route near the intersection of Route 5 and Christian Street, Sidore said.

“We hope to get them to reconsider (in the future),” Sidore said. “Having available public transportation would be a real boon for all the people in the neighborhood.”

The ride-share vehicle may be one solution for tenants who lack access to transportation, though Ledgeworks is still looking at models to decide how the program will work, Sidore said.

Ledgeworks can also move tenants to other properties owned by the company that are more accessible to public transportation, he added. Such properties near Advance Transit stops include 132 S. Main St. in White River Junction.

Ledgeworks hopes to get the new apartments on line “as soon as possible,” once construction is complete and the units are permitted to be occupied, Sidore said.

The renovation is expected to be complete in early 2025.

Patrick Adrian can be reached at pfadrian25@gmail.com.

CORRECTION: Dylan Kreis is a member of the Hartford Plann ing Commission. His first name was misspelled in a previous version of this story.