NORWALK — General Growth Properties could be looking to drop a hotel from The SoNo Collection.
Under its approved master site plan and development agreement with the city and the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, the Chicago-based mall developer agreed to build retail space, public space and a 150-room hotel on the vacant dozen-acre site off West Avenue.
Neither GGP, city or Redevelopment Agency officials were ready to say what changes might be forthcoming for the regional shopping center that has been approved but not yet built.
“Discussions are ongoing and GGP continues to work closely with the city of Norwalk on The SoNo Collection,” said GGP Senior Director Douglas T. Adams. “Our goal is to begin construction soon.”
Mario F. Coppola, head of the city’s law department, gave a similar response when asked about the mall.
“We’re in the process of discussing some issues with GGP and I’m not in a position at this time to report as to where we’re at,” Coppola said. “We anticipate being able to report back to the council soon.”
A document obtained by The Hour after a closed-door meeting between city, Redevelopment Agency and GGP officials at City Hall on Monday suggests the hotel might be in question. The document lays out a March 20-through-July 7 timeline for potential changes to the Land Disposition Agreement, Conceptual Master Site Plan and Reed Putnam Urban Renewal Plan governing the development site along West Avenue south of Interstate 95.
The document also spells out the prospect of the developer proposing a new CMSP, changes to the LDA, and providing an “Infeasibility Notice.”
The LDA, the three-party development agreement between the city, Redevelopment Agency and GGP, addresses the possible infeasibility of a hotel.“In the event the Redeveloper determines on or before twenty (20) months after the Improvements Commencement Date that the hotel portion of the Project is infeasible, it may seek to amend the CMSP to substitute one or more of the other permitted uses for the hotel, provided, however, that the Project shall at all times remains a mixed use project,” the section reads. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Bridgeport: 2 bridges getting replaced on East Side, West End
BRIDGEPORT — They don’t call this city Bridgeport for nothing.
There are more than 30 bridges in the city, and two of them are getting replaced. Work has already begun on the East Side span, where Arctic Street crosses the Yellow Mill Pond. That project has closed Arctic Street between Helen Street and Seaview Avenue, which will remain closed until June or July.
The second bridge replacement project will begin on April 1. That’s on the West End, where Capitol Avenue crosses over the Rooster River, near the Fairfield line and the Brooklawn Country Club.
The Capitol Avenue bridge, closed since early February, won’t be reopened for another four to six months according to City Engineer Jon Urquidi.
“The Arctic Street bridge is a more involved project,” he said. “That one will take about six months to complete, as opposed to about four months for the Capitol Avenue project.”He said that both bridges are about 100 years old.
“The average lifespan of a bridge like that is about 75 to 100 years, and we have a few spans in the city that are getting up there,” Urquidi said. “Each bridge is inspected once or twice a year.”
Still, the city has been keeping up with bridge replacement — about half of Bridgeport’s 30 bridges have been replaced in the last 20 years or so.
The Capitol Avenue closure, between Laurel and Wood avenues, is a little easier to negotiate because motorists can take Cleveland, Arcadia or Astoria avenues to travel east or west between Brooklawn and Wood avenues
The Arctic Street closure is more problematic. Arctic Street is but one of four east-west routes in that part of town that span Yellow Mill Pond, the body of water that separates Bridgeport’s East Side from the East End. You’ll have to drive about five blocks north to Boston Avenue or three blocks south to Barnum or Crescent avenues to get around that closed bridge.
East of Seaview Avenue, Arctic Street becomes Grant Street, which since January 2013 has dead-ended at Bridgeport Hospital. This has enabled the hospital to create a turnaround its entrance; this is accessed by driving west on Grant Street from the Mill Hill Avenue side. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUELong vacant, Putnam School may see new future as senior housing
NEW BRITAIN — City officials remain optimistic that financing will come through this year for developers set to revitalize the long-vacant elementary school that was once the pride of the neighborhood at the east end of Osgood Avenue.
It’s been nearly two years since Total Comfort Realty purchased the former Israel Putnam School at the corner of Osgood Avenue and Beach Street, boarded up for years and an ongoing headache for surrounding property owners and City Hall.
Plans call for converting the brick building — where two additions to the original section created an open courtyard to the rear — into 34 apartments for occupants 55 and older. Only preliminary construction work has been done at the site since the city Zoning Board of Appeals last May granted variance requests to allow Osgood Avenue Property LLC to proceed with revamping the old school into housing. Plans are in neutral as the company, like several other developers looking to transform aging and once alluring buildings in the city, awaits approval of applications for state and federal funding available for, in part, converting urban blight into multifamily housing.
In the meantime, neighbors have become accustomed to the large bulldozer sitting idle on the west side of the former school for the better part of a year, a sign that work may eventually begin in earnest. Most windows are boarded up with plywood painted a dark red to resemble the brick façade. At least two large exposed window frames leave the interior of the building vulnerable to the elements, including trespassers who started two small fires on Feb. 26. While most neighboring property owners and tenants of multifamily homes told The Herald they are hoping the renovation project comes to fruition, others voiced concern about the number of units proposed in the conversion, how the property would appear and what it may do to surrounding land values. The ZBA, at its meeting last May, heard resistance to the plan from homeowners on Osgood Avenue and received a letter of collective opposition from Richmond Avenue residents. The panel unanimously approved the applicant’s variance requests, based in part on the City Plan Commission’s previous report asserting that age-restricted apartments would be "more compatible and less intrusive … in terms of noise and traffic than reestablishment as a school or some other business." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The project is designed to ease congestion and improve safety and traffic operations in the area, where the DOT found there has been an "above average" number of crashes in several locations, said Susan M. Libatique, principal engineer for the DOT's Division of Highway Design.
The project will also address the condition of the I-95 bridge over Route 161 (Flanders Road).
The public information meeting to present the plans is scheduled for April 18 at Nett Hall at Camp Niantic on Smith Street. The event will include a forum with DOT officials at 6:30 p.m. and a presentation of the plans at 7 p.m.
Under the proposal, the I-95 bridge over Route 161, identified as being in "poor condition," will be replaced with a new structure that will allow the widening of Route 161 below with turning lanes, Libatique said. The project includes sidewalks and wider shoulders to accommodate bicyclists on part of Route 161.
The project will also entail widening I-95 in the area to allow for a potential third travel lane in the future, if the state widens the highway, she said.
As part of the current project, the DOT plans to add an auxiliary lane between Exits 74 and 75 on northbound and southbound I-95 that will allow cars merging in and out of the main line a longer distance to change lanes, she said.
There have been an "above average" number of crashes on the I-95 northbound Exit 74 exit ramp, I-95 southbound Exit 74 between the exit and entrance ramps, and Route 161 between Starbucks and Burger King, according to Libatique.
A recent analysis by The Day found that the area of I-95 between Exits 74 and 75 had the highest number of accidents on I-95 in Connecticut north of New Haven, with 350 accidents, between 2010 and 2016. The stretch had the second highest accident rate of 2.27 accidents per 1 million vehicles on I-95 north of New Haven.
The project will also address the tight curvature of the I-95 southbound ramps at Exit 74, which can currently only handle slow speeds, said Libatique. The southbound ramps will be relocated and will connect to Frontage Road, a new access road north of the Eversource substation, which will bring cars to and from Route 161.
The I-95 northbound exit ramp will be relocated about 300 to 400 feet south of the existing location to increase the length of the ramp, said Libatique. There will be a three-lane approach — with two left turn lanes and one right turn lane — to the intersection of Route 161, opposite Burger King.
Cars traveling south on Route 161 will be able to get onto I-95 north through a new ramp, 500 feet south of the existing location, according to a DOT news release. Cars heading north on Route 161 can reach I-95 northbound through a slightly realigned ramp. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CT hospitals investing big in new 'patient-centered' facilities
Before building Stamford Hospital's new $450 million complex, top hospital executives sought the advice of former patients. They wanted to know what would give patients a better hospital experience.
Most of the answers, not surprisingly, had to do with comfort and privacy — patients wanted private rooms and their own bathrooms; places for visiting friends and family members to gather; and surroundings that felt as close to home as possible.
Kathleen Silard, executive vice president and COO for Stamford Health, said that feedback was a guiding force during construction of the new 640,000-square-foot building, which opened last September after more than a decade of planning.
Besides all new operating rooms, a new emergency department and a new consolidated Heart & Vascular Institute, the building includes five floors of all private patient rooms — 180 total — each with its own bathroom and a pull-out sofa for visitors.
There's a resource library where patients can research a diagnosis, said Silard, and spaces where loved ones can gather or retreat for peace and quiet. She said the entire facility was built to help deliver the promise of "patient-centered" care.
"No one wants to be hospitalized, so if you have to be here we want to make it a very warm and caring environment," she explained. "We paid a lot of attention to art, to colors — to really making it as comfortable as possible for the patient."
Depending on how you measure it, Stamford Hospital's new facility represents one of the largest hospital construction projects in Connecticut's history by cost, behind a new $500 million hospital tower and outpatient pavilion UConn Health debuted over the past two years.
In addition, Yale New Haven Health's Smilow Cancer Hospital, which was completed in 2009, cost approximately $470 million.
Earlier this year, Hartford Hospital opened a $150-million orthopedic specialty hospital called the Bone & Joint Institute. The 130,000-square-foot facility includes 48 inpatient rooms, eight operating rooms and rehab and wellness areas for outpatients. A 75,000-square-foot outpatient surgery and medical center is connected by a skywalk.
Stephen Frayne, senior vice president for health policy with the Connecticut Hospital Association, said the hospital investments are being driven by aging facilities, higher patient demand and a transformation both in technology and the way that care is delivered.
"It's not an expansion per se, it's really the hospitals continually looking at the communities they serve, the medical needs of that community and what is the current standard practice," Frayne said. "If a facility was built 40 years ago, 50 years ago or 100 years ago, it's not logical to assume that it's still going to be optimally functional for what's required now." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Two Major Bridge Projects To Begin This Spring In New Britain
A contractor is scheduled to begin the $5.2 million overhaul of the Harry Truman Overpass, one of the two major downtown bridge construction jobs planned this year.
Rotha Contracting is expected to start work April 1 on extensive repairs to the Harry Truman Overpass, which carries Route 71 over Route 72 and CTfastrak.
The work will take about a year, and the state transportation department advises motorists that Rotha may close some Route 72 lanes periodically for crews to reach the bridge.
While that job is going on, the city plans to start the $5.6 million makeover of the Main Street bridge over Route 72. Refurbishing that structure while transforming into a beehive-themed landmark will take more than a year.
Mayor Erin Stewart has said both projects are important to the revival of downtown and the long-term safety and efficiency of traffic.
But she has also acknowledged that motorists can expect delays this year while work is under way on both bridges. They are about one-fifth of a mile apart, and carry most of the traffic - vehicular and pedestrian - between downtown and the section of New Britain north of Route 72.The city also will be redesigning the intersection of Bank Street at Columbus Boulevard to create a traffic circle.
Rotha's work involves repairing the bridge deck and substructure and replacing the sidewalks. Crews will work on Route 71 and from Route 72, as well as from Herald Square and Colurmbus Boulevard beneath the overpass. The DOT said the job will be finished by April 18 of 2018.
The work on the Main Street bridge is more extensive, largely because crews will be widening sidewalks, creating bike lanes, installing benches, building mini-parks at both ends and building large, beehive-themed side walls that can be illuminated at night.
The contract for the Beehive Bridge is to be awarded in April, and Stewart wants work to start before summer.
The city expects to come out of it with a landmark - and a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly bridge. The goal is to foster foot traffic from between the Little Poland section and downtown, particularly the CTfastrak station.
Redevelopment Ripple Effect Around Ballpark In Downtown North
The city's shiny new minor league ballpark has dramatically transformed what for decades was a just barren stretch of land north of downtown.
But the bigger prize is the redevelopment of the land around Dunkin' Donuts Park into an urban neighborhood of apartments, offices, shops, galleries, restaurants, a supermarket and, possibly, a hotel.
How soon the next phases of the 16-acre, Downtown North plan will begin is uncertain. The master developer, DoNo Hartford LLC and Centerplan Construction Co., was fired from the stadium project by the city after missing key deadlines, but so far, they are still the developers of future phases. The city's relationship with the developer has been complicated by litigation over the ballpark.
Sean Fitzpatrick, Hartford's director of development services, says no decisions about future phases will be made until after games start.
"Our next job is to turn to the broader Downtown North area, and to do everything in our power to bring substantial new investment and development to the site," Fitzpatrick says. "When the ballpark goes from being a risk to reality, I believe the Downtown North area will indeed be attractive for new development." Meanwhile, however, the construction of the ballpark and the plans for the area are sparking new development outside the core Downtown North, or DoNo, area.
The owners of the nearby Radisson Hotel are combining guest rooms on the top nine floors of the 18-story hotel into apartments. The $19.5 million project will create 96 rentals, some of which will overlook Dunkin' Donuts Park. The first apartments are expected to be ready by this summer.
Hotel owner Inner Circle U.S. said the apartment project was planned prior to the plans for the stadium, but the ballpark helped sell the idea of rentals to Inner Circle's lenders.
DoNo was envisioned as reconnecting downtown with the city's North End. The Capital Region Development Authority is investing inone small apartment project on the northern edge of DoNo.
"We are eager to see it spread beyond the nucleus," Fitzpatrick says.
As a Casino Rises in Springfield, Legislators in Hartford Argue Over Gambling Expansion
Motorists sailing by the MGM casino site along I-91 can easily see the seven-story parking garage rising on the 14-acre site encompassing three city blocks.
Thirty miles to the south in Hartford, a bid to create a competing casino — and keep tens of millions of dollars in gambling revenue in state coffers — is languishing. Legislators are no closer to a decision on whether to expand casino gambling in Connecticut than they were in 2015 when MGM began construction in Springfield.
Competing Legislation
The debate over casino expansion off tribal reservations is among the hottest so far in this legislative session. It ranks alongside the budget deficit, relief for eastern Connecticut homeowners with crumbling foundations and legalizing recreational marijuana.
Casino expansion also has become entangled in the quest to arrive at a balanced state budget.
One expansion bill would give the tribal operators of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun the go-ahead to build a satellite casino in East Windsor. The gambling venue, its supporter say, is aimed at keeping gaming dollars from moving out of Connecticut to Springfield. East Windsor, they say, also would preserve thousands of industry jobs and the state's cut of annual slot revenues, projected to be $267 million this year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Farmington Canal trail project in New Haven set to move forward
NEW HAVEN >> After eight years of planning, fans of the Farmington Canal Heritage Greenway should see some action this year on the last portion of the trail, which is expected to finally go out to bid. A milestone has been reached in an easement agreement with Grove Parking Associates, which has been approved by the City Plan Commission and now goes to the Board of Alders.
The owners of the Grove Street Garage will be reimbursed $25,000 to cover the costs they incurred in reaching a deal that allows the trail to go through its property just before it comes back up to street level at Orange and Grove streets.Most of the easements have been adjacent to the trail or for construction purposes, but the land under the garage, where the trail will continue, is privately owned. The New Haven portion of the canal right-of-way passed into public ownership in 1993 with a master plan finished in 1999.
City Planner Karyn Gilvarg said this last portion, which is below grade from Temple Street to Grove and Orange streets, has taken the longest to get through the needed approvals, something that has been frustrating to staff.When it exits onto Orange Street, there will be a textured raised intersection across to Olive Street as a means of altering drivers.City Plan staff member Anne Hartjen said it then proceeds the length of Olive Street to Water Street where the state Department of Transportation has built a cycle track at Water and Brewery streets that continues to the intersection with East Street.The plan calls for Olive Street to have sharrows for bicycles, which are painted symbols advising drivers to share the road; pedestrians continue on the sidewalk. Gilvarg said many advocates are lobbying for a cycle track on Olive, which is a protected section of the road for bikers, rather than sharrows. “That requires removing a lane of parking. My approach right now is to go forward with what we have,” Gilvarg said of the less costly sharrows, but they are open to a cycle track.The trail will continue to Canal Dock Road and then to Long Wharf Drive, where there is another cycle track Funding was secured years ago with a federal grant covering 80 percent of the cost and the city committed to a 20 percent match.Hartjen said the last piece of the canal trail puzzle is all premised on the budget holding up.“Construction costs have escalated since the budget was established,” she warned. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The owners of the nearby Radisson Hotel are combining guest rooms on the top nine floors of the 18-story hotel into apartments. The $19.5 million project will create 96 rentals, some of which will overlook Dunkin' Donuts Park. The first apartments are expected to be ready by this summer.
Hotel owner Inner Circle U.S. said the apartment project was planned prior to the plans for the stadium, but the ballpark helped sell the idea of rentals to Inner Circle's lenders.
On nearby Market Street, just to the rear of the ballpark property, the construction of an 81-room Candlewood Suites hotel is expected to welcome its first guests in late April.
The DoNo development is expected to put a squeeze on downtown parking because much of the area has been used for parking lots. This has prompted the owner of the now-closed, but nearby Talcott Street Garage to begin developing plans for a new parking structure on the site. City officials say the new garage possibly could provide additional parking for the stadium.DoNo was envisioned as reconnecting downtown with the city's North End. The Capital Region Development Authority is investing inone small apartment project on the northern edge of DoNo.
"We are eager to see it spread beyond the nucleus," Fitzpatrick says.
As a Casino Rises in Springfield, Legislators in Hartford Argue Over Gambling Expansion
Motorists sailing by the MGM casino site along I-91 can easily see the seven-story parking garage rising on the 14-acre site encompassing three city blocks.
Thirty miles to the south in Hartford, a bid to create a competing casino — and keep tens of millions of dollars in gambling revenue in state coffers — is languishing. Legislators are no closer to a decision on whether to expand casino gambling in Connecticut than they were in 2015 when MGM began construction in Springfield.
MGM Resorts International says construction of the $950 million casino and entertainment complex is moving quickly. Steel skeletal framework will soon be in place and all buildings are expected to be enclosed by the end of this year.
In Hartford, long hours of hearings so far this legislative session haven't done much to help establish any direction. If anything, the path toward a third casino in Connecticut is less clear, with the addition of a second expansion bill.
Rep. Joe Verrengia, D-West Hartford and chairman of the committee that held the hearings, said it is possible that the legislature might not take any step this session.
"At best, there is a 50-50 chance," said Verrengia, who chairs the public safety and security committee, which oversees gaming. "I've never seen an issue that people are so divided on."Competing Legislation
The debate over casino expansion off tribal reservations is among the hottest so far in this legislative session. It ranks alongside the budget deficit, relief for eastern Connecticut homeowners with crumbling foundations and legalizing recreational marijuana.
Casino expansion also has become entangled in the quest to arrive at a balanced state budget.
One expansion bill would give the tribal operators of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun the go-ahead to build a satellite casino in East Windsor. The gambling venue, its supporter say, is aimed at keeping gaming dollars from moving out of Connecticut to Springfield. East Windsor, they say, also would preserve thousands of industry jobs and the state's cut of annual slot revenues, projected to be $267 million this year. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Farmington Canal trail project in New Haven set to move forward
NEW HAVEN >> After eight years of planning, fans of the Farmington Canal Heritage Greenway should see some action this year on the last portion of the trail, which is expected to finally go out to bid. A milestone has been reached in an easement agreement with Grove Parking Associates, which has been approved by the City Plan Commission and now goes to the Board of Alders.
The owners of the Grove Street Garage will be reimbursed $25,000 to cover the costs they incurred in reaching a deal that allows the trail to go through its property just before it comes back up to street level at Orange and Grove streets.Most of the easements have been adjacent to the trail or for construction purposes, but the land under the garage, where the trail will continue, is privately owned. The New Haven portion of the canal right-of-way passed into public ownership in 1993 with a master plan finished in 1999.
City Planner Karyn Gilvarg said this last portion, which is below grade from Temple Street to Grove and Orange streets, has taken the longest to get through the needed approvals, something that has been frustrating to staff.When it exits onto Orange Street, there will be a textured raised intersection across to Olive Street as a means of altering drivers.City Plan staff member Anne Hartjen said it then proceeds the length of Olive Street to Water Street where the state Department of Transportation has built a cycle track at Water and Brewery streets that continues to the intersection with East Street.The plan calls for Olive Street to have sharrows for bicycles, which are painted symbols advising drivers to share the road; pedestrians continue on the sidewalk. Gilvarg said many advocates are lobbying for a cycle track on Olive, which is a protected section of the road for bikers, rather than sharrows. “That requires removing a lane of parking. My approach right now is to go forward with what we have,” Gilvarg said of the less costly sharrows, but they are open to a cycle track.The trail will continue to Canal Dock Road and then to Long Wharf Drive, where there is another cycle track Funding was secured years ago with a federal grant covering 80 percent of the cost and the city committed to a 20 percent match.Hartjen said the last piece of the canal trail puzzle is all premised on the budget holding up.“Construction costs have escalated since the budget was established,” she warned. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE