Harbor Point still a good bet as BLT sells buildings
STAMFORD -- For Harbor Point developer Carl Kuehner, 2013 turned out to be yet another year spent on the battle lines of Stamford development. Plans brought by his company Building and Land Technology to redevelop an industrial waterfront parcel into a headquarters for the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, were stymied as planning officials turned down a deal that would have paved the way for a critical rezoning. But for all the headlines touting the defeat of Bridgewater, there was other news suggesting that as far as real estate investors are concerned, Kuehner and Harbor Point are still a good bet. In December, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm known as Capri Capital Partners snapped up 101 Park Place, a 15-story apartment building with 336 units, for $135 million, on behalf of an institutional investor. The transaction marked the third and the largest sale to date of a Harbor Point property. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Platt, Maloney classes continue amid construction, with few distractions
MERIDEN — As construction on Platt and Maloney high schools marches on, some are feeling the changes more than others. At Maloney High School, work by the Glastonbury-based Gilbane Building Co. is for a separate wing outside the existing high school building. Once that’s complete, classes will begin moving in, opening up swing space in the existing building for “like new” renovations to begin. The work then, “hasn’t been much of an issue because at this point it’s all external,” Principal Jennifer Straub said. She added that she and the administration at the high school intend to begin in August with “two schedules” for the 2014-15 school year: one to start the year, and one that reflects alternate classrooms for areas of the school where construction will be taking place. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Three development projects proposed in Norwich
Norwich - The city received three development proposals for the former Reid & Hughes Building on Main Street Friday, all for mixed commercial and residential projects, including one project from the Norwich Heritage Trust, headed by city Historian Dale Plummer. Officials at the Norwich Community Development Corp. opened the bid packets Friday, a few minutes after the 4 p.m. deadline. A review committee will examine the bids starting next week and decide which firms should be interviewed. The group hopes to make a recommendation to the City Council by the council's Feb. 18 meeting, NCDC Vice President Jason Vincent said. POKO Partners LLC - the New York firm that had planned a stalled major renovation of the decaying Capehart Mill in Greeneville - proposed an $8.4 million project that would encompass surrounding properties with a 113 total apartment units and about 25,000 square feet of commercial space. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
West Haven lawmakers creates alternative to exit 45 plan
An alternative plan to reconfiguring southbound Exit 45 off Interstate 95 has been proposed that would create a more direct route to Kimberly Avenue, one of the most-traveled routes into West Haven. The concept was presented Thursday by state Rep. Louis Esposito, D-West Haven, to engineers from the state Department of Transportation. The DOT is planning to close Exit 44 and reconfigure Exit 45 to meet Kimberly Avenue via a new road, including three stoplights.
“I gave them a proposal for an alternate plan,” Esposito said. “They’re not sure it will work but they’re going to go back to the drafting board.”The new proposal is based on a split in the Exit 45 off-ramp, with one side going to Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and the other directly to Kimberly Avenue with one stoplight. Exit 44 also would be closed in Esposito’s proposal. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Harwinton, Burlington residents vote Tuesday on Region 10 field proposals
Residents of Burlington and Harwinton will vote Tuesday on whether to approve spending $2.9 million to construct a new multi-use athletic field at Lewis S. Mills High School. The voting will take place at Burlington Town Hall and Harwinton Town Hall from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. The two towns make up the Region 10 School District, which oversees the high school, located on Route 4 in Burlington. The field project was presented to residents in December. It calls for renovating the track, installing a tuf field, adding bleachers with a press box and field lighting, renovating the school’s tennis courts and adding boat storage for its crew program. The project was initially slated to cost $3.4 million, but the regional Board of Education reduced the price tag at its meeting in December after hearing input from the public and other officials. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Money floats ferry across harbor
As the state Department of Transportation's opposition to the proposed transfer of the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry terminal finally evaporated last year, the company's chief executive wrote a $10,000 check to Connecticut Democrats. Two weeks later, on Sept. 26, Brian A. McAllister, chairman and CEO of the ferry line's parent company, sent another $10,000 check to the Democratic State Central Committee. The two political contributions -- one to the DSCC's state account and the other reported to the Federal Election Commission -- are not illegal. But their proximity to the pending approval of the ferry's relocation to the city's East End punctuated a multi-year campaign by the New York-based McAllister Towing and Transportation Company Inc. The ferry line founded in 1883 by an elderly P.T. Barnum, the legendary Bridgeport circus impresario and former mayor, will call its new harbor site "Barnum Landing." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING