APT's Lynn Madden: Working thru MOU. Although a long journey still lies ahead, a new Long Wharf home for APT Foundation’s substance-use treatment program is slowly moving ahead.Mayor Justin Elicker told the Independent that a lot has been happening behind the scenes since the APT Foundation and the city announced back in February 2023 that the methadone treatment center plans to build a new headquarters on Long Wharf, in an effort to relocate its current controversial hub on Congress Avenue. (APT also already offers substance use, behavioral health, and primary care in rented offices at 1 Long Wharf Dr.)Elicker pointed to two recent-ish developments that have pushed the plans closer to completion: • APT’s follow-through in March on selling a former school building on Dixwell Avenue to the local mental healthcare provider Clifford Beers.APT sold that property, which it bought in 2021, following widespread community pushback in Newhaville at the prospect of a methadone clinic opening up in that location; and,• The city’s ongoing collaboration with the state to redevelop the state-owned property at 60 Sargent Dr.That 5.23-acre parcel is currently home to a vacant former Gateway Community College building. Elicker said that the larger, Sargent Drive-facing portion of that property will become home to an automotive trade school that is currently based out of North Haven. The city is in conversations with the state colleges and universities system about redeveloping that part of the property.A smaller section of 60 Sargent Dr., further away from the street, will be where APT’s new headquarters is slated to be built. Elicker said that the city has received an appraisal for that part of the property, and is now waiting for the state to get an appraisal on their side. Eventually, he said, the city hopes to settle with the state on a price for that part of the property. The city intends to use some funding through state bonds to purchase that part of the property. City spokesperson Lenny Speiller said that that remains a ​“negotiated project;” he declined to share details on how much the city might pay and on the timeline for when it might buy the state-owned property. The city will continue to work with APT through what the design will look like for the parcel. According to Elicker, they are getting to a point where the board of state colleges and universities will hopefully approve the transfer of the parcel. After that, Elicker said that the city will work with the Board of Alders to submit a development agreement with APT for the parcel. Elicker said that he hopes to get this all done by the second quarter of the next year.In recent years, the APT Foundation has faced criticism for attracting crime in the neighborhoods in which its services are offered. Its site on Congress Avenue in the Hill has faced its most vocal complaints. The move to Long Wharf will see the services at the Congress site moved to the location on Long Wharf and to Guilford, where APT director Lynn Madden said that a new APT location will open in January, ​“if all permits, licenses and certifications are received.”Elicker said that this move will help push APT out of residential, densely populated areas like in Congress Avenue, and into a more public setting. The site design for the new site will be ​“effectively private,” making it harder for people that are ​“interested in preying on individuals that may be suffering from substance issues.”Madden, meanwhile, told the Independent that she does not have the same concerns for the opening of the APT Foundation’s building on Long Wharf as neighbors near the Congress Avenue location do. She shared that in recent years, APT has been working with the city in shrinking the program on Congress Avenue, in hopes of outsourcing to other locations, like the one in Long Wharf.While Madden could not share a specific timeline as to when the APT Foundation’s new building would open, she shared that APT has been in the process of working through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the construction of the building. According to Madden, APT has seen the first draft, sent it back to the city, and is now awaiting further communication from the city.