Dick's Sporting Goods prepared to move to North Haven
NORTH HAVEN >> The town is busy beefing up its business community with several projects scheduled to be launched early next year along the Universal Drive-State Street corridor.
The start of 2015 will see a major renovation of the Home Depot Plaza in North Haven as Pittsburgh-based retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods prepares to move into 33,000 square feet of space left vacant by the closing of XPect Discount in July 2013, said Michael Freda, the town’s first selectman. Once the renovation of the shopping plaza is complete, Dick’s Sporting Goods is expected to open next summer, Freda said. “It’s good to fill a space that has been vacant for awhile now,” he said. “Dick’s Sporting Goods sells a lot of merchandized that Sport Authority (which is located further south on Universal Drive) doesn’t.” Officials with Dick’s Sporting Goods were not immediately available for comment on Wednesday. The chain has eight Connecticut stores, including one in Milford. Construction is already underway a little further north on Universal Drive on a new upscale movie theater. Texas-based Cinemark Holdings is building a new 14-screen theater at the rear of the existing theater at 550 Universal Drive, which will be torn down once the new facility opens sometime this spring. Freda said plans also call for two restaurants and two retailers to occupy the movie theater property. Also scheduled to open on Universal Drive in the Target shopping plaza is The SmartLiving Center, a joint effort between UI and CL&P as part of the Energize Connecticut initiative, according to Freda. The SmartLiving Center, a retail outlet designed to promote energy efficiency, had been located on the Boston Post Road <URL destination="http://www.nhregister.com/business/20140716/energy-efficiency-business-moving-from-orange-to-north-haven">before it was announced in July that the store would move to North Haven. </URL>There is also some commercial real estate activity along the State Street in town, Freda said. Cable television provider Comcast is opening a 9,000 square foot facility at 283 State St, that will house repair technicians and their vehicles. The company has already opened a customer service facility on Universal Drive, Freda said. Further north on State Street, package shipping giant FedEx is expanding into 100,000 square feet of the 372,000 square foot former Northeast Graphix complex at 297 State St., he said. The plant has been empty since Quebecor moved out of the plant in June 2008. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
New Haven housing project underway in East Rock
NEW HAVEN >> A neighborhood eyesore will be converted to 235 apartments in the Goatville section of East Rock with portions preserved as a tribute to the city’s industrial past.
Andy Montelli of Post Road Residential in Fairfield is redeveloping the 3.1 acre industrial site in the Upper State Street Historic District in two distinct parts. City and development officials Wednesday were at the ground-breaking for the project that was defined by neighborhood input around design and parking needs under leadership of Alder Jessica Holmes, D-9. Mayor Toni Harp said it is important for cities such as New Haven, with a relatively small land mass, to blend new buildings with historic structures and residences with retail. She said this totally private development is an example of the city’s “red hot real estate market,” that is attracting outside investors. The building along Lawrence Street will be kept with a restaurant likely on the first floor and three apartments upstairs. John Herzan, preservation services officer for the New Haven Preservation Trust, said it was important that this section remain as it complements the small square across the street at the intersections of Mechanic, Lawrence and State streets.
He said Montelli attended several meetings of the commission because of its concerns on saving as much as possible. “We feel everyone has come up with a wonderfully realistic compromise where there is a remnant of the past preserved,” Herzan said. The developer will save cast-concrete relief panels that have images related to the 1943 MB Manufacturing company located on the State Street portion where airplane parts were made during World War II. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Scott Road project opens repair bids
PROSPECT — Scott Road is one step closer to receiving long-anticipated paving and drainage repairs. Bids for the project were opened Wednesday afternoon at the state Department of Transportation's Newington headquarters. Eleven companies bid for the job, and Mystic-based B&W Paving and Landscaping came in with the lowest estimate of $1.91 million. Dayton Construction Co., Inc. of Watertown; Richards Corp. of Terryville and Guerrera Construction Co., Inc. of Oxford also bid. Scott A. Roberts, DOT senior project manager, said the improvements will be funded 20 percent by the state and 80 percent by the Federal Highway Administration. The town will foot the bill for all engineering and design expenses. The work is part of a three-phase reconstruction. Phase one was completed about seven years ago and extended from the Waterbury city line to Nicholas Court.
Phase two will regrade, curb and repave about 3,000 feet of road from Nicholas Court to Maria Hotchkiss Road. Mayor Robert J. Chatfield said crews will dig down 18 inches on the road, lay down new gravel and put in catch basins every 300 feet. He said once completed, the road will be 28 feet wide to discourage parking on the streets. Roberts said work will likely start in April. Chatfield said before construction begins, all nearby residents will receive a letter to explain the project. He said work will be done in daylight during the week, and not on weekends. "It will be inconvenient," he said. "This thing has been in the planning stages since 1976. It was on the books when I came in. This isn't something that just happened overnight." He said phase three, from where phase two leaves off to Route 69, is "a few more light years down the road."