CVS construction underway on Stamford’s West Side
STAMFORD — Construction has started on a CVS store at the corner of West Main Street and Commerce Road, in a section of the city’s West Side that has attracted several big-box stores.
The approximately 11,600-square-foot CVS outlet is being built on a previously vacant lot and is scheduled to open in September, according to a CVS spokeswoman. Located a few hundred yards from the city’s border with Greenwich, the new establishment would join eight other CVS stores in the city.
Nationwide, the Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS operates approximately 9,700 stores and employs about 250,000. It serves some 5 million customers each day.
CVS and Hartford-based health insurer Aetna are working on a merger that could be worth more than $70 billion, in a deal that could be completed early next month, according to reports.
The union would combine one of the country’s largest drugstore chains and pharmacy managers in CVS and one of the longest-running health insurers in Aetna, whose coverage spans employer health insurance and public-sector plans.
A few hundred yards away from the new CVS establishment, The Home Depot is building an approximately 115,000-square-foot home center and 28,000-square-foot garden hub at 1937 W. Main St. The complex is scheduled to open next summer, according to Home Depot officials.
Home Depot’s new center would stand adjacent to a Stop & Shop grocery store and a research lab for Cytec Specialty Chemicals. The nearest Home Depot stores to Stamford are in Norwalk and Port Chester, N.Y.
The lot sold for $14.5 million in July 2016 to West Side Development Partners II LLC, an affiliate of Steven Wise Associates and Spinnaker, paving the way for construction. The deal followed Steven Wise Associates’ and Spinnaker’s acquisition six years earlier of Cytec’s building for $11 million. CLCIK TITLE TO CONTINUE
BRIDGEPORT — Max Perez stood in the alleyway Monday off Main Street separating the historic and long closed Majestic and Poli Palace theaters.
“I’ve been taking care of these theaters since 1997,” said Perez, a veteran city staffer with the economic development department. “I’m the happy guy here.”
Happy because the shuttered and decaying buildings may, finally, be restored and re-opened. Perez was part of the City Hall contingent present Monday for the ceremonial signing of a deal between the city — represented by Mayor Joe Ganim — and New York City-based Exact Capital — represented by managing partner Craig Livingston.
Eventually Exact plans to renovate the theaters, the neighboring Savoy Hotel, and build three new residential towers nearby. The firm’s proposal was selected by the Ganim administration over the summer. The City Council approved it in mid-September.
Now Exact has a year to piece together the financing for the first phase of construction.
“It (that year) should start today,” said Tom Gill, Ganim’s economic development chief.
When the choice of Exact was first announced in June, Ganim’s timetable was unrealistically aggressive. He wanted the council within 30 days to approve a “memorandum of understanding” allowing City Hall to move ahead with drafting and finalizing a contract.
Not only had the mayor pledged to tackle the theaters and the Savoy on the campaign trail in 2015, but he is considering running for governor and touting every project, real or still on paper, as he travels the state meeting Democratic kingmakers.
But the council, used to voting on final development deals, ultimately insisted that be the case with Exact’s project. As a result, Livingston said Monday, “We intend to put a shovel in the ground still in 2018, but it will be the back half.”
There are still plenty of unknowns. For example, Exact had previously suggested it may seek some sort of financial incentives from the city. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trumbull’s Pequonnock River Trail to get a makeover
TRUMBULL — Leaves are strewn down the quiet Pequonnock River Trail, not far from Trumbull’s busy Church Hill Road.
People park their cars in the 30-some spots on Tait Road and jog or stroll up the tree-lined trail, which stretches north through the town.
Earlier this month, Trumbull received a $2.05 million grant from the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program to build a trailhead and connector from Church Hill Road to the Pequonnock River Trail.
“Originally when I started coming here about 10 years ago, it was Trumbull’s best-kept secret,” said town resident Lisa Marino. “But as time goes on and people become more aware of it, that is why it has become a lot more populated.”
Marino has been coming to the Pequonnock River Trail for the past decade to jog three to four times a week. She and thousands of others use the trail regularly to jog, power walk and bike.
The town’s 2014 Plan of Conservation and Development calls for easier access to the trail from commercial centers in Trumbull. The connector is essentially another piece of the trail that attaches the Pequonnock River Trail to a trailhead that will be built behind properties that the town bought on Church Hill Road.
“In addition to supporting our businesses and providing additional connectivity in our community, the project will enhance public safety by creating mid-point access to the trail and it will also help alleviate the parking problems in the Tait Road and Whitney Avenue neighborhoods,” First Selectman Tim Herbst said in a statement.
Parking is usually packed on Tait Road, where Marino usually puts her car, she said.
The Pequonnock River Trail, a multi-use 16 mile trail, draws more than 6,000 people a week during its peak season, a number that is expected to rise with the additional parking and access the trailhead and connector provide, economic and community development director Rina Bakalar said.
“The more connectivity you have, the more usership,” Bakalar said.
The new trailhead and connector will include two permanent artist easels and two rest areas with benches, Bakalar said. Artists will be able to bring their canvas and supplies to the trail to paint, draw and take photos. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CCM director: Connecticut still needs to change the way it does business
The executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities said Monday that the General Assembly didn't go far enough during the past legislative session to enact sweeping changes to tax structure and spending that would have made the state more competitive.
Joe DeLong and CCM Director of Communications Kevin Maloney spoke to The Day's editorial board during an hourlong interview Monday afternoon in which they discussed topics, including tax reform, education spending, pensions, regionalization, and the shift to an urban-centered economy.
During the past legislative session, CCM called for comprehensive reforms to reduce spending at the municipal level, promote service-sharing, and diversify revenues to shift away from an over-reliance on property taxes, DeLong said.
DeLong said that as a whole, CCM found the General Assembly was largely "structured to be anti-reform in almost every way" during the past session. In general, he said, Democrats weren't interested in reforming spending but were willing to work on creating revenue diversification. Republicans, on the other hand, were willing to discuss controlling spending, but had no appetite for reforming tax structure.
He said the legislature made progress in areas "around the margins." But he said there was "not enough of the sweeping changes of the way we do business that are going to make Connecticut competitive again."
He pointed to the legislature's change to thresholds for prevailing wage as an example of a marginal change that many small communities like. He said the threshold for construction of a new project to fall under prevailing wage increased from $400,000 to $1 million. If repairs on an existing building collectively fall under $100,000, the repairs are not subject to prevailing wage.
Prevailing wage mandates that a certain hourly wage be paid to those in the construction trades on projects undertaken by a given municipality. In New London, for instance those wages are typically well in excess of $30 an hour.
In other areas, he said, the legislature missed opportunities for reform. CCM advocated that arbitrators should be able to walk in with a "clean state" and look at all the factors that impact a community's finances, rather than only being allowed to consider the last best offers from each side, which creates an artificially high floor. The proposal passed, but it only applies to Tier 4 communities, such as Hartford, in major distress, rather than all municipalities.
DeLong said CCM will continue to advocate for the proposals outlined in CCM's January 2017 report on service sharing and revenue diversification.
Shift to urban-centered economy
The proposals come at a time when there is a shift from a suburban-driven economy to an urban-centered economy, and DeLong stressed the importance of holistic tax reform to allow the state's cities to prosper and drive economic growth for the state.
With a nationally suburban-driven economy in the 1980s and 1990s, workers flocked to the state's suburbs where they could pursue the American dream, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
South Windsor Considers Noise Ordinance To Quiet Construction Sites
Walking a line between being business-friendly and resident-friendly, the town council is considering an ordinance that would limit noise at construction sites.
The ordinance would allow construction in residential areas from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. only. The fine for violating could be up to $100 a day and include cease-and-desist orders. The town attorney will write a draft ordinance and the council will hold a public hearing on it in December or early next year.
“We need to identify a way to make sure we have a mechanism to protect our community from the noise,” Mayor M. Saud Anwar said. “The idea is not to have people sitting there measuring the decibels. That is not practical.”
Town officials said residents have been complaining about noise early in the morning and later in the evening from a new luxury housing development going up on Graham Road. The town has a policy of construction hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but has no way of enforcing it.
Michele Lipe, the town’s director of planning, said her department is responsible for dealing with complaints. She noted her department tries to work with contractors to get the issues resolved.
“It’s a tricky situation when you are a construction site next to a residential area,” she noted, adding currently there is no zoning regulation, ordinance or ability to fine violators.
“We don’t have fining powers and that’s not going to be an effective way of stopping noise,” she said.
Deputy police Chief Scott Custer said the department also lacks the ability to enforce the hours since the policy is not law.
Former Dunkin' Donuts Park Developers Lose Legal Fight Against Yard Goats
he former developers of Dunkin’ Donuts Park have lost their lawsuit against the Hartford Yard Goats and owner Josh Solomon.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher granted the defendants a summary judgment Monday against Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford, which had been suing for “tortious interference and unfair trade practices.”
Moukawsher said the developer’s assertions and inferences suggested that supporting evidence would be forthcoming but that it never materialized.
That reliance on speculation and unsupported inference was fatal to both developer’s claims, Moukawsher said.
“DoNo and Centerplan’s claims are connected to the facts by a rope of sand. They fail because no reasonable fact-finder could make the desired connection and rule in their favor,” Moukawsher said. “Even viewing what they have submitted in the light most favorable to them, they have offered nothing to show genuine issues of material fact to be decided at trial.”
Centerplan attorney Raymond Garcia declined to comment.
Solomon said Monday that he was “pleased that the court found that Centerplan’s assertions are completely without merit,” and the judge’s ruling showed that Centerplan CEO Robert Landino and his team are “willing to manipulate the truth.”
“I’ve been taking care of these theaters since 1997,” said Perez, a veteran city staffer with the economic development department. “I’m the happy guy here.”
Happy because the shuttered and decaying buildings may, finally, be restored and re-opened. Perez was part of the City Hall contingent present Monday for the ceremonial signing of a deal between the city — represented by Mayor Joe Ganim — and New York City-based Exact Capital — represented by managing partner Craig Livingston.
Eventually Exact plans to renovate the theaters, the neighboring Savoy Hotel, and build three new residential towers nearby. The firm’s proposal was selected by the Ganim administration over the summer. The City Council approved it in mid-September.
Now Exact has a year to piece together the financing for the first phase of construction.
“It (that year) should start today,” said Tom Gill, Ganim’s economic development chief.
When the choice of Exact was first announced in June, Ganim’s timetable was unrealistically aggressive. He wanted the council within 30 days to approve a “memorandum of understanding” allowing City Hall to move ahead with drafting and finalizing a contract.
Not only had the mayor pledged to tackle the theaters and the Savoy on the campaign trail in 2015, but he is considering running for governor and touting every project, real or still on paper, as he travels the state meeting Democratic kingmakers.
But the council, used to voting on final development deals, ultimately insisted that be the case with Exact’s project. As a result, Livingston said Monday, “We intend to put a shovel in the ground still in 2018, but it will be the back half.”
There are still plenty of unknowns. For example, Exact had previously suggested it may seek some sort of financial incentives from the city. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Trumbull’s Pequonnock River Trail to get a makeover
TRUMBULL — Leaves are strewn down the quiet Pequonnock River Trail, not far from Trumbull’s busy Church Hill Road.
People park their cars in the 30-some spots on Tait Road and jog or stroll up the tree-lined trail, which stretches north through the town.
Earlier this month, Trumbull received a $2.05 million grant from the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program to build a trailhead and connector from Church Hill Road to the Pequonnock River Trail.
“Originally when I started coming here about 10 years ago, it was Trumbull’s best-kept secret,” said town resident Lisa Marino. “But as time goes on and people become more aware of it, that is why it has become a lot more populated.”
Marino has been coming to the Pequonnock River Trail for the past decade to jog three to four times a week. She and thousands of others use the trail regularly to jog, power walk and bike.
The town’s 2014 Plan of Conservation and Development calls for easier access to the trail from commercial centers in Trumbull. The connector is essentially another piece of the trail that attaches the Pequonnock River Trail to a trailhead that will be built behind properties that the town bought on Church Hill Road.
“In addition to supporting our businesses and providing additional connectivity in our community, the project will enhance public safety by creating mid-point access to the trail and it will also help alleviate the parking problems in the Tait Road and Whitney Avenue neighborhoods,” First Selectman Tim Herbst said in a statement.
Parking is usually packed on Tait Road, where Marino usually puts her car, she said.
The Pequonnock River Trail, a multi-use 16 mile trail, draws more than 6,000 people a week during its peak season, a number that is expected to rise with the additional parking and access the trailhead and connector provide, economic and community development director Rina Bakalar said.
“The more connectivity you have, the more usership,” Bakalar said.
The new trailhead and connector will include two permanent artist easels and two rest areas with benches, Bakalar said. Artists will be able to bring their canvas and supplies to the trail to paint, draw and take photos. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
CCM director: Connecticut still needs to change the way it does business
The executive director of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities said Monday that the General Assembly didn't go far enough during the past legislative session to enact sweeping changes to tax structure and spending that would have made the state more competitive.
Joe DeLong and CCM Director of Communications Kevin Maloney spoke to The Day's editorial board during an hourlong interview Monday afternoon in which they discussed topics, including tax reform, education spending, pensions, regionalization, and the shift to an urban-centered economy.
During the past legislative session, CCM called for comprehensive reforms to reduce spending at the municipal level, promote service-sharing, and diversify revenues to shift away from an over-reliance on property taxes, DeLong said.
DeLong said that as a whole, CCM found the General Assembly was largely "structured to be anti-reform in almost every way" during the past session. In general, he said, Democrats weren't interested in reforming spending but were willing to work on creating revenue diversification. Republicans, on the other hand, were willing to discuss controlling spending, but had no appetite for reforming tax structure.
He said the legislature made progress in areas "around the margins." But he said there was "not enough of the sweeping changes of the way we do business that are going to make Connecticut competitive again."
He pointed to the legislature's change to thresholds for prevailing wage as an example of a marginal change that many small communities like. He said the threshold for construction of a new project to fall under prevailing wage increased from $400,000 to $1 million. If repairs on an existing building collectively fall under $100,000, the repairs are not subject to prevailing wage.
Prevailing wage mandates that a certain hourly wage be paid to those in the construction trades on projects undertaken by a given municipality. In New London, for instance those wages are typically well in excess of $30 an hour.
In other areas, he said, the legislature missed opportunities for reform. CCM advocated that arbitrators should be able to walk in with a "clean state" and look at all the factors that impact a community's finances, rather than only being allowed to consider the last best offers from each side, which creates an artificially high floor. The proposal passed, but it only applies to Tier 4 communities, such as Hartford, in major distress, rather than all municipalities.
DeLong said CCM will continue to advocate for the proposals outlined in CCM's January 2017 report on service sharing and revenue diversification.
Shift to urban-centered economy
With a nationally suburban-driven economy in the 1980s and 1990s, workers flocked to the state's suburbs where they could pursue the American dream, he said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
South Windsor Considers Noise Ordinance To Quiet Construction Sites
Walking a line between being business-friendly and resident-friendly, the town council is considering an ordinance that would limit noise at construction sites.
The ordinance would allow construction in residential areas from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. only. The fine for violating could be up to $100 a day and include cease-and-desist orders. The town attorney will write a draft ordinance and the council will hold a public hearing on it in December or early next year.
“We need to identify a way to make sure we have a mechanism to protect our community from the noise,” Mayor M. Saud Anwar said. “The idea is not to have people sitting there measuring the decibels. That is not practical.”
Town officials said residents have been complaining about noise early in the morning and later in the evening from a new luxury housing development going up on Graham Road. The town has a policy of construction hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., but has no way of enforcing it.
Michele Lipe, the town’s director of planning, said her department is responsible for dealing with complaints. She noted her department tries to work with contractors to get the issues resolved.
“It’s a tricky situation when you are a construction site next to a residential area,” she noted, adding currently there is no zoning regulation, ordinance or ability to fine violators.
“We don’t have fining powers and that’s not going to be an effective way of stopping noise,” she said.
Deputy police Chief Scott Custer said the department also lacks the ability to enforce the hours since the policy is not law.
“We want to be responsive to the residents, but we can only follow the rules and tools we have available to us,” he said.
Town Manager Matthew B. Galligan said there “needs to be teeth in an ordinance.” CLICK TITEL TO CONTINUEFormer Dunkin' Donuts Park Developers Lose Legal Fight Against Yard Goats
he former developers of Dunkin’ Donuts Park have lost their lawsuit against the Hartford Yard Goats and owner Josh Solomon.
Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher granted the defendants a summary judgment Monday against Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford, which had been suing for “tortious interference and unfair trade practices.”
In his ruling, Moukawsher wrote that the plaintiffs claims that the team pressed Hartford for changes to the ballpark that the team had no intention of paying for, and that led to the city firing Centerplan from the project “can’t survive because they lack the minimum substance” and that they are “no more than emphatic assertions and unsupported inferences from circumstantial evidence.”
The developers were fired from the $70 million publicly financed ballpark project in June 2016 following multiple missed deadlines and cost overruns. They sued the city for wrongful termination. The city has countersued. Moukawsher said the developer’s assertions and inferences suggested that supporting evidence would be forthcoming but that it never materialized.
That reliance on speculation and unsupported inference was fatal to both developer’s claims, Moukawsher said.
“DoNo and Centerplan’s claims are connected to the facts by a rope of sand. They fail because no reasonable fact-finder could make the desired connection and rule in their favor,” Moukawsher said. “Even viewing what they have submitted in the light most favorable to them, they have offered nothing to show genuine issues of material fact to be decided at trial.”
Centerplan attorney Raymond Garcia declined to comment.
Solomon said Monday that he was “pleased that the court found that Centerplan’s assertions are completely without merit,” and the judge’s ruling showed that Centerplan CEO Robert Landino and his team are “willing to manipulate the truth.”