MERIDEN — City and state officials say the opening of the new parking garage on Colony Street over the weekend could spur future downtown economic growth.
“It’s a very significant opening for a lot of reasons,” City Manager Guy Scaife said Monday. “Certainly, one more step in the direction of us having significant mass transportation with the opening of the rail station.”
Scaife said the garage will provide optimal parking for commuters that will use the new train station, which is expected to open next month. Parking costs $7 a day and $40 a month. Parking is free on weekends and federal holidays.
“It’s going to be economical,” he said. “It is safe, secure, and so close. It just brings a lot more people downtown, that creates demand for business.”The 96,275-square-foot, $8.8 million garage has 273 parking spaces, 48 of which are designated for residents of apartments at 24 Colony St. While tenants have been able to park in the garage since December, it opened to the public on Saturday, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The garage has three electric vehicle charging spaces, seven handicapped spaces and two elevators, and it is equipped with a video surveillance system and emergency intercoms. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The developers told the Zoning Commission last week that the 280 apartments are 95 percent occupied and the developers are ready to move to the second residential phase of the project.
Attorney Theodore Harris, who represents the developers, said Gateway is bringing many people to town who hadn't lived here before. He said many of the development's residents are millennials who want something nice and affordable but don't want to commit to a house at this stage of their life. He gave as an example Electric Boat engineers who don't know how long they will be in the area.
Gateway has become the top taxpayer in town, he said.
When asked by a commission member how many schoolchildren live at Gateway, Harris estimated about 30 to 35 children live there, but said they are not all new to the East Lyme school system.
Simon Konover of West Hartford and KGI Properties of Providence received approval in 2008 for their master development plan for Gateway Commons, a planned development on approximately 200 acres by Interstate 95 south, with a residential and a commercial phase. The plan allowed a residential phase near Exit 73, and 425,000 square feet of retail, including one big-box anchor store and five smaller “junior anchor stores,” for the commercial phase near Exit 74.
While the project didn’t move forward during the recession, the developers several years ago noticed a demand for housing in the market, Harris said.
The developers have built 280 units for the residential phase, after first gaining approval in 2013 from the Zoning Commission for a site plan. The developers also received approval to revise the master development plan to allow for a total of 400 units, instead of just 280.
The developers would need approval from both the Inland Wetlands Agency and the Zoning Commission for the site plan, according to Zoning Official Bill Mulholland.
The developers plan to prepare an application to the Zoning Commission, likely for November, in which they are seeking to eliminate the text amendment to the master development plan that requires them to build a portion of East Society Road, east of the development's second roundabout through a bridge over the Pattagansett River, as a condition of the town granting certificates of occupancy for the 120 apartments, Newton C. Brainard, vice president at Simon Konover, said by email. The building of that portion of the road would instead be part of a later phase of the development. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
West Hartford Officials Detail I-84, Park Road Construction Plans
During an hourlong informational meeting at West Hartford Town Hall Monday night, town officials provided a more detailed outline of work to be done on the I-84 off-ramp at the Park Road intersection.
The 15-month project is expected to begin in October and completed by spring 2019, Town Engineer Duane J. Martin and civil engineer Greg Sommer said to about 100 people at Monday night’s meeting.
Noting the importance of the project for addressing congestion and improving safety, Martin said the Park Road and I-84 intersection is “the busiest interchange in West Hartford” and averages 30,000 vehicles a day.
The project will relocate the I-84 off-ramp so it is next to the existing on-ramp and will be re-graded and widened to include an additional left-turn lane. Park Road will also be widened on the south side to create an additional travel lane and left-turn lanes. Left-turn lanes will be added to Overbook Road, Raymond Road and Trout Brook Drive. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Construction begins on specialty housing in Hamden
HAMDEN — Two affordable housing apartment buildings now under construction will accommodate residents with disabilities and veterans in need of housing.
Hamden Specialty Housing at 415 Mather St. will have 77 units of affordable housing, with at least 12 units specially designed for people with physical or cognitive disabilities who need supportive services, in addition to seven units which have been set aside for renters who are veterans .
Developers and town officials celebrated the start of construction during a ceremony Monday. Regan Development has partnered with the town, the state, Columbus House and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to bring the housing complex to the area.
“Affordable housing is playing a major role in the state’s economic recovery,” Connecticut Department of Housing Commissioner Eovonne Kline said during the ceremony. “Together we’re building in Connecticut a place where everyone can call home.”
The apartments will rent for below market prices, said Regan Development Corp. Vice President Ken Regan. Rents will range from $765 to $932 for a one-bedroom unit and $912 to $1,113 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,283 for a three-bedroom unit. Some of the special needs units also come with rental assistance for qualified renters.
The 12 specialty units are designed with features to foster long-term independence. The units will have automatic door openers, oversized door frames, hard surface flooring, specialized showers and bathroom fixtures. Of these 12 specialized apartments, eight will be secured by people living in nursing facilities, according to Regan. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Feds Gather to Discuss Infrastructure Improvement Strategies
Government officials gathered at Texas A&M Sept. 18 to discuss the nation's infrastructure, including the need for new building methods and better, cost-conscious solutions, The Eagle reported.
Keynote Speaker and Chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said that with $1 trillion in spending required to update the country's aging infrastructure, the government must explore all options. Shuster reassured attendees that his committee are committed to moving forward and that infrastructure is one of a short list of truly bipartisan issues.
“One of the few things in Congress that I think we can come together on is on infrastructure,” Shuster said. “We work very closely with our Democratic colleagues to get a place where they can support these [initiatives],” The Eagle reported.
At the meeting, academic, industry and government transportation and infrastructure experts spoke of different ways to handle the nation's infrastructure problems, including:
Fifteen municipalities in Connecticut are competing for the new $5 billion North American headquarters of Amazon Inc., state economic development officials said Wednesday.The Department of Economic and Community Development did not identify which towns and cities submitted their proposals or provide details of how the municipalities promoted themselves.
“A lot of folks are going to chase this,” said Bryan R. H. Chodkowski, Enfield’s town manager. “This is the whale. Everyone wants to catch the whale and feast on the whale.”
Enfield is among the municipalities vying for the Amazon headquarters. The town cited the Enfield Square Mall with a nearby industrial park as a potential site. The town also promoted other available areas that Amazon may need, Chodkowski said.
In addition, Enfield’s strengths include easy access to I-91, proximity to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks and a passenger rail station expected in a few years, he said.
DECD will submit a Connecticut proposal by Amazon’s Oct. 19 deadline. With scores of other states, towns, cities and provinces in the U.S. and Canada, Connecticut will be vying for the prize that includes a $5 billion building complex that eventually will employ 50,000 employees in finance, technology and other high-skill jobs.
Several towns are banding together to woo the Seattle-based Amazon. Bridgeport, Fairfield, New Haven and Stratford submitted a joint proposal to DECD.
Enfield’s Chodkowski said he’ll be meeting soon with his counterpart in Longmeadow, Mass., to discuss an interstate arrangement. “This kind of catch we can’t do alone,” he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
“A lot of folks are going to chase this,” said Bryan R. H. Chodkowski, Enfield’s town manager. “This is the whale. Everyone wants to catch the whale and feast on the whale.”
Enfield is among the municipalities vying for the Amazon headquarters. The town cited the Enfield Square Mall with a nearby industrial park as a potential site. The town also promoted other available areas that Amazon may need, Chodkowski said.
In addition, Enfield’s strengths include easy access to I-91, proximity to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks and a passenger rail station expected in a few years, he said.
DECD will submit a Connecticut proposal by Amazon’s Oct. 19 deadline. With scores of other states, towns, cities and provinces in the U.S. and Canada, Connecticut will be vying for the prize that includes a $5 billion building complex that eventually will employ 50,000 employees in finance, technology and other high-skill jobs.
Several towns are banding together to woo the Seattle-based Amazon. Bridgeport, Fairfield, New Haven and Stratford submitted a joint proposal to DECD.
Enfield’s Chodkowski said he’ll be meeting soon with his counterpart in Longmeadow, Mass., to discuss an interstate arrangement. “This kind of catch we can’t do alone,” he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE