Stonington — The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Wednesday night to inform the state that it is interested in obtaining the former armory property in Mystic.

The board’s decision came after the Greater Stonington Realty Corp., a nonprofit group formed by the Stonington Housing Authority, urged selectmen to ask the state to transfer the property to the town so it could develop a housing project that would have an affordable housing component.

“The town has a choice," First Selectman Rob Simmons said at Wednesday’s selectmen’s meeting. “We can secure the property for our purposes at a reasonable price or maybe have it gifted to us or we can let the state sell it to an outside entity that may do gosh knows what with it.”

“I’d feel more secure if the town obtains the property than letting it go out for sale,” he added

Thomas Hyland, the chairman of the housing authority, said the project would provide “mixed income housing” that would appeal to people who work in town such a police officers, firefighters and teachers.

He and Simmons pointed out that two projects currently underway in Pawcatuck - the renovation of Thread Mill on River Road and the construction of Spruce Meadows on Route 1 - both have affordable components.

Selectman Mike Spellman said that by expressing interest in the property, the town moves to the front of the line in terms of acquiring it.

Doing so, Simmons said, is better than leaving what happens on the property up to chance.

The 4.4-acre piece of land, which is bordered by Reynolds Hill Road and Summit Street, contains an abandoned brick armory building and may have some environmental contamination. A study will be done to determine that.

It is unknown whether the state would charge the town to acquire the site, which was last appraised by the town for $575,000.

The wooded property sits in a quiet residential neighborhood off Route 27, with the 7,250-square-foot brick building surrounded by a chain-link fence. It was last used by the state to store construction equipment during the renovation of the Mystic drawbridge. The building also hosted community events in the 1950s.

The land is zoned for single-family homes and duplexes on 10,000-square-foot lots. About half the lot does not have frontage on a street — which is needed to develop lots — although an existing right of way could provide additional frontage.

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