August 12, 2014

CT Construction Digest August 12, 2014

United Concrete Products looking to purchase land from town of Wallingford

WALLINGFORD — Jonathan Gavin, president of United Concrete Products, wants to purchase a 28,455-square-foot parcel from the town. Earlier this year the company was cited for cutting down trees on the property, which borders land the company is developing on North Plains Highway.
The land at 59 and 65 North Plains Highway is being developed to create a new subsidiary of United Concrete Products called the Pile Division. “Piles” are long concrete pieces used in work such as bridge construction. United Concrete Products is based at 173 Church St. (Route 68) in Yalesville. According to town officials, about 3,000 square feet of mature forest were cut on town property and the bank of Paden’s Brook was altered. The brook, a tributary to the Quinnipiac River, passes under North Plains Highway and emerges on the company’s property. Gavin said the work was performed unknowingly.  In the 1970s, an industrial road was planned for North Plains Highway, and the town-owned land Gavin hopes to acquire was to be used for the road, said Corporation Counsel Janis Small. The road was never built. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
 
 
Waterford - The Board of Selectmen voted Monday to extend an option to purchase the Cohanzie School property to Centerplan Companies, following a hearing in which residents raised concerns about the impact the proposed development would have on the community. First Selectman Daniel Steward clarified during the hearing that extending an option is not the same as selling a property. Possessing the option will allow Centerplan to request zoning changes and approvals necessary to build what the firm has presented. The developer has proposed a market-rate multifamily rental development on the property of the former school. The development is proposed to include four new buildings containing 154 apartments, plus a swimming pool and children's play area. The firm plans to renovate the original 1923 portion of the school and use it to house a private clubhouse for residents, plus a common space open to the public. Some attendees of the hearing said they were concerned that the developer would not be able to fill the complexes with tenants if rent was too high.
Dayton Road resident Dave DeNoia said that eventually the firm would have to lower rent to what attendees considered unacceptably low levels. "If you can't get 15 (hundred dollars), it goes to 12, then it goes to $1,000, then it goes to $800," said DeNoia. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE