The New London Housing Authority is close to selecting a consultant for the redevelopment of the Thames River Apartments but missed its first deadline under a court-ordered agreement that resolved a class-action lawsuit brought by the tenants of the high-rise.

The authority was to have engaged a qualified public housing consultant by Saturday. Executive Director Sue Shontell said in a phone interview Thursday that following a nationwide search, a four-person committee is evaluating a short list of five consulting firms and will present a final candidate for approval at the authority's Board of Commissioners meeting on Dec. 2.

The housing authority and the Reardon Law Firm, on behalf of Thames River tenants, entered into a stipulated judgment in August that set out a series of dates over the next three years for the redevelopment of the aging high-rise complex at Crystal Avenue and State Pier Road. The housing authority manages the low-income apartment complex under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The committee members evaluating the consulting firm proposals are Shontell and Paula Wyn, who handles purchasing and contracts for the authority, along with Guilford architect Chris Widmer, who lists among his projects a 12-unit housing complex for the mentally ill in New London called Jefferson Commons, and Carmelo L. Foti, a city resident and managing partner of New Haven-based real estate management company Caritas Capital Partners.

"Everybody is reading and scoring" the proposals, Shontell said. "We're evaluating them on all kinds of factors."

Superior Court Judge David M. Sheridan will be overseeing the development project under the stipulated judgment. Attorney Robert I. Reardon Jr., who brought the lawsuit on behalf of the high-rise tenants in 2006 based on what he said were unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, said he had received the five proposals from the housing authority and would be looking over them.

"Each one has put together what appears to be, on its face, a legitimate proposal," he said. "I'm concerned about getting a good quality consultant, one that can take charge of this project."

Reardon said he would be discussing the proposals with Jaime Bordenave, principal of the Washington, D.C.-based firm The Community Group International, who has been volunteering as an expert in housing financing and development.

k.florin@theday.com

Twitter: @KFLORIN