February 19, 2016

CT Construction Digest February 19, 2016

Construction company’s Westport headquarters makes way for new development

On a road known across the state for development based almost entirely on cars, a different trend is emerging on Westport’s section of Route 1.
The longtime home of the Kowalsky Brothers Construction Co. is slated for a mixed-use development after the building was sold last month, joining a neighboring property in combining homes and businesses on one site.
“It’s making creative use of the property,” First Selectman Jim Marpe said. “The residential aspect is primarily away from the Post Road, which makes it more appealing because it’s not right up against a very busy street. And you’re putting the housing near to other residences.”
 The property at 1141 Post Road East was purchased in late January for $4 million by a company controlled by Coastal Construction Group, which is known for luxury home construction. Kowalsky Brothers had been headquartered there for more than 30 years.
From the New York state line up through Fairfield County and into Milford and beyond, Route 1 is characterized in large part by shopping plazas that discourage anything other than driving. As the main east-west alternative to Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway, the road sees plenty of traffic when the highways back up. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE

Casino Study Bill Could Force Tribes to Move Faster

upporters of the casino plan for central Connecticut could now face another roadblock in the form of a bill proposed Thursday that would require the state to study "the costs and benefits of establishing commercial gaming."
If adopted, the bill would end any chance of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes gaining approval for a third casino in the 2016 session — something that might not have happened anyway.
The state would take a breather and look, for example, at the merits of opening a third casino in southwestern Connecticut instead of the Hartford area. That's a plan being pushed by MGM Springfield and its supporters, who say a casino developed solely to siphon visitors to the Springfield resort off I-91 will fail.