NORWALK — The James Street Bridge over the Silvermine River could be off limits for motorists and pedestrians during much of 2019.
A $2.6 million overhaul of the 61-year-old structure is expected to begin with utility relocation next fall and require a closure for much of 2019, according to local public works officials.
“Utility relocation and temporary work may happen in fall 2018,” said Vanessa Valadares, senior engineer in the Norwalk Department of Public Works. “A full closure of the bridge is planned for February 2019 and should be completed and reopened by late November 2019.”
While commuters who rely upon the bridge will find the closure unpleasant, they’ll also have options to get to and from their destinations, according to Director of Public Works Bruce Chimento.
“You can always get out,” Chimento said. “On the west side of it, you have Silvermine Avenue and Bartlett Avenue going out. On the other side, the Perry Avenue Bridge is going to be open, so you can can go out Perry Avenue.”
The Perry Avenue Bridge over the Norwalk River remains closed in one direction as it undergoes a $3.4 million superstructure replacement and widening. After delays, completion is slated for spring 2018.
The James Street Bridge over the Silvermine River was built in 1956. It is listed as deficient by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and is due for replacement, Valadares said.
The upcoming overhaul will replace the bridge superstructure and widen its concrete deck from 30 feet 2 inches to 35 feet 6 inches to accommodate two 12-foot vehicle lanes with 2-foot shoulders, according to Valadares.
“The project is 90 percent designed and should be out for bid by February 2018,” Valadares said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NORWALK — The city, Norwalk NAACP and General Growth Properties aim to engage women and minority-owned businesses in the construction of The SoNo Collection.
“The consultants or GGP will help them work through the paperwork,” said Adam Bovilsky, Norwalk’s human relations director. “The NAACP is planning an outreach campaign and a registration event where these companies can go to get assistance with the paperwork.”
Bovilsky said the registration process through the state requires much paperwork but he added that it’s free.
On Thursday, Bovilsky met with Norwalk NAACP President Brenda Penn-Williams and Rushmore Consulting Principal Jude Jean-Pierre to discuss the effort. The goal is to reach women and minority owned businesses in Norwalk that could help build the mall.
“They may have all the makings for the certification process and not know that they should be certified or the upsides to being certified,” said Jean-Pierre, a consultant engaged by the Norwalk NAACP. “And so you first give them the incentive and then you show them how to use what they already have to become certified.”
GGP, a Chicago-based mall developer, broke ground in August on the 728,000-square-foot upscale regional shopping center off West Avenue and Interstate 95. The company had targeted October 2019 for completion.
Under its development agreement with the city and Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, GGP must make a good faith effort to see that at least 10 percent of the construction dollars go toward Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. That translates to about $29.9 million.
DBEs are defined as small businesses that are owned primarily by women or minorities. The Connecticut Department of Transportation registers DBEs and has only three such businesses now registered in Norwalk: Desai Communications, Inc., Omnik Environmental Management, Inc., and Winston Strategic Partners, LLC.
Bovilsky said the development agreement uses the term DBE only generically when it means Women Business Enterprises and Minority Business Enterprises as certified by the Department of Administrative Services.
“We understand that when people use the term DBE with the state, they instantly think of the DOT,” Bovilsky said. “We’re using that term generically to mean any minority or women-owned business that has registered with any state agency, including as a Minority Business Enterprise or Women Business Enterprise with the Department of Administrative Services.”
The DAS has 23 Norwalk businesses registered as either Women Business Enterprises or Minority Business Enterprises. Only several are construction-related companies, according to the department’s website. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Future of Norwalk YMCA property uncertain as commercial development grows
It was a footnote likely soon forgotten in the storied lore of the YMCA, after a pair of men were caught in early November trespassing in the former Norwalk YMCA building downtown — as they told it to police, pursuing a hobby photographing abandoned buildings.
If the picture has been slow to develop on the West Avenue building’s second life, it may come into better focus in short order as business booms in South Norwalk and downtown.
Five years ago last week, the Norwalk YMCA shut its doors at 370 West Ave., with revenue from some 3,000 members unable to support the cost of running the 58,000-square-foot edifice that this year marked 90 years since the laying of its cornerstone. The Norwalk YMCA organization now shares a main facility with the Wilton YMCA on Danbury Road in Wilton, while continuing to offer some programs in Norwalk including in a leased gymnastics space on Main Avenue.
If not abandoning its mission, the Norwalk YMCA left behind its historic, four-story West Avenue home which remains empty to this day, on a plot totaling less than 2 acres. After Norwalk Hospital spent $4.6 million in March 2013 to acquire the main YMCA building along with smaller outbuildings, the hospital has yet to put the property to use.
The Norwalk YMCA building has idled even as West Avenue has blossomed with the construction of Belpointe Capital’s Waypointe development, which to date has comprised four mammoth residential buildings with site preparation under way for a fifth dubbed The Pinnacle.
And going vertical just a few blocks south is the SoNo Collection mall, which when opening in the fall of 2019 is expected to serve as a magnet for shoppers from throughout the region, with many local establishments expected to benefit from the influx of visitors.
Focal point
Is there any better-situated piece of unused commercial real estate in Norwalk today than the Norwalk YMCA building? Located just off the South Norwalk exit of Interstate 95 southbound, the building is across the street from the Stepping Stones Museum for Children and Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum.
If the block has refreshed appeal entering 2018 given all the nearby activity, its locale has value as well for Norwalk Hospital’s central mission of providing patient care, with its main campus just opposite the elevated Route 7 connector. The past few years under its Danbury-based parent Western Connecticut Health Network, Norwalk Hospital has been working to expand the services of its physician affiliates to other commercial office properties in Norwalk and surrounding towns.
WCHN did not provide an immediate update on whether it plans to push ahead with a conversion of the Norwalk YMCA property for medical use, and whether it has contemplated cashing out of the property in favor of continuing to use other nearby commercial space for its needs.
The city of Norwalk lists any replacement cost of the building at $6 million, with the land holding additional intrinsic value. On the LoopNet commercial real estate website, only one other property is listed for sale with value as a development parcel in an automotive center adjacent to Waypointe.
“I am aware that the hospital has undertaken some preliminary planning work regarding the reuse of the former YMCA site, but no development plans have been formally filed with (the city of Norwalk) for approval,” said Tim Sheehan, executive director of the Norwalk Redevelopment Authority, in an email response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query. “There remains significant private development interest in that property and others in close proximity to either the Waypointe (project) or the SoNo Collection.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Monroe looks ahead to post-Walmart future
MONROE — While Walmart has dropped plans to open a supercenter here, members of business community remain steadfast that their “mom and pop” town will stand strong as developers look to salvage something from the project.
It’s been two weeks since the world’s largest retailer announced that it would no longer move forward with opening its planned Monroe supercenter, halting a three-year project that was slated to bring hundreds of jobs and dramatically increase the town’s retail presence.
While there were mixed feelings about the development project and its impact on existing retailers, some saw the development as a potential catalyst for the business sector.
“We were a little bit upset at the fact that they weren’t coming because we thought that it could bring some jobs to our town through hiring ability as well as create revenue to the municipality itself, based on the taxes they would be obligated to pay,” said Raymond Giovanni, president of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
While the project raised some concerns among the local shop owners, Giovanni and members of the chamber said the project was an opportunity to boost business for local niche markets. “We chose to take a positive approach towards that opportunity, saying that we could make a great return on their presence,” Giovanni said.
“The consultants or GGP will help them work through the paperwork,” said Adam Bovilsky, Norwalk’s human relations director. “The NAACP is planning an outreach campaign and a registration event where these companies can go to get assistance with the paperwork.”
Bovilsky said the registration process through the state requires much paperwork but he added that it’s free.
On Thursday, Bovilsky met with Norwalk NAACP President Brenda Penn-Williams and Rushmore Consulting Principal Jude Jean-Pierre to discuss the effort. The goal is to reach women and minority owned businesses in Norwalk that could help build the mall.
“They may have all the makings for the certification process and not know that they should be certified or the upsides to being certified,” said Jean-Pierre, a consultant engaged by the Norwalk NAACP. “And so you first give them the incentive and then you show them how to use what they already have to become certified.”
GGP, a Chicago-based mall developer, broke ground in August on the 728,000-square-foot upscale regional shopping center off West Avenue and Interstate 95. The company had targeted October 2019 for completion.
Under its development agreement with the city and Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, GGP must make a good faith effort to see that at least 10 percent of the construction dollars go toward Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. That translates to about $29.9 million.
DBEs are defined as small businesses that are owned primarily by women or minorities. The Connecticut Department of Transportation registers DBEs and has only three such businesses now registered in Norwalk: Desai Communications, Inc., Omnik Environmental Management, Inc., and Winston Strategic Partners, LLC.
Bovilsky said the development agreement uses the term DBE only generically when it means Women Business Enterprises and Minority Business Enterprises as certified by the Department of Administrative Services.
“We understand that when people use the term DBE with the state, they instantly think of the DOT,” Bovilsky said. “We’re using that term generically to mean any minority or women-owned business that has registered with any state agency, including as a Minority Business Enterprise or Women Business Enterprise with the Department of Administrative Services.”
The DAS has 23 Norwalk businesses registered as either Women Business Enterprises or Minority Business Enterprises. Only several are construction-related companies, according to the department’s website. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Future of Norwalk YMCA property uncertain as commercial development grows
It was a footnote likely soon forgotten in the storied lore of the YMCA, after a pair of men were caught in early November trespassing in the former Norwalk YMCA building downtown — as they told it to police, pursuing a hobby photographing abandoned buildings.
If the picture has been slow to develop on the West Avenue building’s second life, it may come into better focus in short order as business booms in South Norwalk and downtown.
Five years ago last week, the Norwalk YMCA shut its doors at 370 West Ave., with revenue from some 3,000 members unable to support the cost of running the 58,000-square-foot edifice that this year marked 90 years since the laying of its cornerstone. The Norwalk YMCA organization now shares a main facility with the Wilton YMCA on Danbury Road in Wilton, while continuing to offer some programs in Norwalk including in a leased gymnastics space on Main Avenue.
If not abandoning its mission, the Norwalk YMCA left behind its historic, four-story West Avenue home which remains empty to this day, on a plot totaling less than 2 acres. After Norwalk Hospital spent $4.6 million in March 2013 to acquire the main YMCA building along with smaller outbuildings, the hospital has yet to put the property to use.
The Norwalk YMCA building has idled even as West Avenue has blossomed with the construction of Belpointe Capital’s Waypointe development, which to date has comprised four mammoth residential buildings with site preparation under way for a fifth dubbed The Pinnacle.
And going vertical just a few blocks south is the SoNo Collection mall, which when opening in the fall of 2019 is expected to serve as a magnet for shoppers from throughout the region, with many local establishments expected to benefit from the influx of visitors.
Focal point
Is there any better-situated piece of unused commercial real estate in Norwalk today than the Norwalk YMCA building? Located just off the South Norwalk exit of Interstate 95 southbound, the building is across the street from the Stepping Stones Museum for Children and Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum.
If the block has refreshed appeal entering 2018 given all the nearby activity, its locale has value as well for Norwalk Hospital’s central mission of providing patient care, with its main campus just opposite the elevated Route 7 connector. The past few years under its Danbury-based parent Western Connecticut Health Network, Norwalk Hospital has been working to expand the services of its physician affiliates to other commercial office properties in Norwalk and surrounding towns.
WCHN did not provide an immediate update on whether it plans to push ahead with a conversion of the Norwalk YMCA property for medical use, and whether it has contemplated cashing out of the property in favor of continuing to use other nearby commercial space for its needs.
The city of Norwalk lists any replacement cost of the building at $6 million, with the land holding additional intrinsic value. On the LoopNet commercial real estate website, only one other property is listed for sale with value as a development parcel in an automotive center adjacent to Waypointe.
“I am aware that the hospital has undertaken some preliminary planning work regarding the reuse of the former YMCA site, but no development plans have been formally filed with (the city of Norwalk) for approval,” said Tim Sheehan, executive director of the Norwalk Redevelopment Authority, in an email response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query. “There remains significant private development interest in that property and others in close proximity to either the Waypointe (project) or the SoNo Collection.” CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Monroe looks ahead to post-Walmart future
MONROE — While Walmart has dropped plans to open a supercenter here, members of business community remain steadfast that their “mom and pop” town will stand strong as developers look to salvage something from the project.
It’s been two weeks since the world’s largest retailer announced that it would no longer move forward with opening its planned Monroe supercenter, halting a three-year project that was slated to bring hundreds of jobs and dramatically increase the town’s retail presence.
While there were mixed feelings about the development project and its impact on existing retailers, some saw the development as a potential catalyst for the business sector.
“We were a little bit upset at the fact that they weren’t coming because we thought that it could bring some jobs to our town through hiring ability as well as create revenue to the municipality itself, based on the taxes they would be obligated to pay,” said Raymond Giovanni, president of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce.
While the project raised some concerns among the local shop owners, Giovanni and members of the chamber said the project was an opportunity to boost business for local niche markets. “We chose to take a positive approach towards that opportunity, saying that we could make a great return on their presence,” Giovanni said.
Many more cars
The project also caused worry among residents who thought the potential increase in traffic would have added a burden Route 25.
But traffic can have benefits, according to Giovanni, who said the cars would have brought exposure for the variety of the shops in town as customers made their way to the destination store.
While Mark Szamatualski, owner of Maltose Express and the Veracious Brewery, thought the increased traffic would have been problematic, new potential customers would have helped make up for it.
“Anything that brings people to the area is good,” Szamatualski said, adding that the boost in retail presence and revenue would be good for everyone.
Contrary to concerns, Giovanni thought the retail landscape would remain in favor of the mom and pop shops the town has become known for.
The chamber worked to help business owners take advantage of the coming Walmart, holding free seminars at the library to prepare local shops to capitalize on the developments.
“I still give credit to our small-business owners that are very savvy and passionate about what goods and services they provide, and I think they will always rise to the occasion,” Giovanni said. “We try to create an economic environment where it can really foster some good tactics that create that business environment that’s going to give the revenue and profits needed to stay in their obligations.”
The future
For now, the project development remains on hold until an anchor tenant can be locked down for the space.
Since Walmart’s decision, developer John Kimball of Kimball Land Holdings has been searching for a new tenant to occupy the projected 150,000-square-foot facility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Meriden Housing Authority takes another shot at federal grant
MERIDEN — The Meriden Housing Authority and the city have filed another application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant.
Instead of asking for $20 million as it did last year, the MHA and the city are seeking $18 million because two of the projects listed in the original grant request, 24 Colony St. and Meriden Commons I, are finished or nearly completed.
The Choice Neighborhood grant is designed to help implement a plan “that transforms distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood,” according to HUD’s website.
In Meriden, the Choice Neighborhood has been defined as “six census tracts centered (on) the city’s historic downtown containing the targeted Mills public housing complex,” the application reads.
In 2015, HUD received 33 applications for implementation grants. Five communities — Atlanta, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Sacramento, California — were selected to receive nearly $30 million each.
Last year, Boston, Massachusetts, Camden, New Jersey, Denver, Colorado, Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Louis. Missouri, were among the big winners. This year, competition is less than 20 miles away — New Haven has applied for a $30-million grant. Meriden was not selected last year, but received a $500,000 planning grant to plan the demolition and redevelopment of the Mills Memorial Apartment complex.
The application lists three main categories: people, housing and neighborhoods. The people initiative focuses on services, such as preschool, job training and mental health services.
The housing initiative aims to “create a mix of housing types and attractive styles that serve the identified needs of current and future residents at all income levels … develop housing that best
leverages downtown Meriden’s unique assets; and ... ensure that every Mills household has first choice of new housing.” A total of 494 housing units will be built downtown in the next five years.
The neighborhood initiative focuses on “transform(ing) downtown Meriden into a safe, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood of choice with connectivity to employment and education” in the region, according to the grant application. Projects involved in the neighborhood portion of the plan include restoring two-way traffic downtown, cleaning up blighted and brownfield sites, creating a beautification program, and free WiFi downtown.
MHA Executive Director Robert Cappelletti said Monday the new application is nearly identical to the one submitted last year, with the exception of the housing projects under construction or completed. It also eliminates a mixed-use proposal at 143 W. Main St. because it will not include affordable housing. “It’s hard to compete with the larger cities,” Cappelletti said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Lame-duck Killingly council declines to take up power plant agreements
KILLINGLY – It will fall to the new Killingly Town Council to decide how it wants to proceed in dealing with representatives for a proposed power plant.
After hours of discussion on Thursday, the council voted 6-2 - Councilor Dennis Alemian was absent - to table any action on a pair of benefit agreements with the NTE energy company that, if approved, could net the town $95 million in combined tax and other benefit revenue.
The matter now passes on to the new council, members of which will meet Monday for the first time since the November election. And that’s fine with Gail Oakley Pratt, who lost her seat to Kevin Kerttula, one of five non-incumbents who will serve for the next two years on the nine-member body.
Pratt said allowing the new council to take up the matter will allow for a fresh perspective on the proposed agreements.
“We were making significant changes to these two agreements just this evening,” she said. “I’m uncomfortable stopping the new council from having a significant say in these issues.”
The council spent two hours reviewing tax stabilization and Community Environmental Benefit, or CEBA, contracts that were put on hold in May after the Connecticut Siting Council denied permit applications from NTE to construct a 550-megawatt power plant in the Dayville section of town. After a brief executive session, the council announced its decision to table the matters.
Many of the new changes made on Thursday involved adding language to drafts that members said will protect the town years down the line. The amendments to sections on plant decommissioning and prohibitions on material changes to the company’s original application to the state were made in real-time Thursday by Town Manager Sean Hendricks who typed the changes directly into the documents as councilors spoke.
Because the permit applications were rejected without prejudice, the company is expected to re-file for permits early next year. In anticipation of that re-filing, Hendricks has been working for months with NTE representatives on new versions of proposed agreements, ones that took into account some council members’ push for more money and increased protection for the town. NTE has already agreed to increase its initial $2 million CEBA proposal to $5 million. That “unrestricted” money could be used for a variety of environmentally-oriented projects, including a scholarship fund, for water testing at Alexander’s Lake and to plant trees throughout town. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The project also caused worry among residents who thought the potential increase in traffic would have added a burden Route 25.
But traffic can have benefits, according to Giovanni, who said the cars would have brought exposure for the variety of the shops in town as customers made their way to the destination store.
While Mark Szamatualski, owner of Maltose Express and the Veracious Brewery, thought the increased traffic would have been problematic, new potential customers would have helped make up for it.
“Anything that brings people to the area is good,” Szamatualski said, adding that the boost in retail presence and revenue would be good for everyone.
Contrary to concerns, Giovanni thought the retail landscape would remain in favor of the mom and pop shops the town has become known for.
The chamber worked to help business owners take advantage of the coming Walmart, holding free seminars at the library to prepare local shops to capitalize on the developments.
“I still give credit to our small-business owners that are very savvy and passionate about what goods and services they provide, and I think they will always rise to the occasion,” Giovanni said. “We try to create an economic environment where it can really foster some good tactics that create that business environment that’s going to give the revenue and profits needed to stay in their obligations.”
The future
For now, the project development remains on hold until an anchor tenant can be locked down for the space.
Since Walmart’s decision, developer John Kimball of Kimball Land Holdings has been searching for a new tenant to occupy the projected 150,000-square-foot facility. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Meriden Housing Authority takes another shot at federal grant
MERIDEN — The Meriden Housing Authority and the city have filed another application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant.
Instead of asking for $20 million as it did last year, the MHA and the city are seeking $18 million because two of the projects listed in the original grant request, 24 Colony St. and Meriden Commons I, are finished or nearly completed.
The Choice Neighborhood grant is designed to help implement a plan “that transforms distressed HUD housing and addresses the challenges in the surrounding neighborhood,” according to HUD’s website.
In Meriden, the Choice Neighborhood has been defined as “six census tracts centered (on) the city’s historic downtown containing the targeted Mills public housing complex,” the application reads.
In 2015, HUD received 33 applications for implementation grants. Five communities — Atlanta, Georgia; Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Sacramento, California — were selected to receive nearly $30 million each.
Last year, Boston, Massachusetts, Camden, New Jersey, Denver, Colorado, Louisville, Kentucky, and St. Louis. Missouri, were among the big winners. This year, competition is less than 20 miles away — New Haven has applied for a $30-million grant. Meriden was not selected last year, but received a $500,000 planning grant to plan the demolition and redevelopment of the Mills Memorial Apartment complex.
The application lists three main categories: people, housing and neighborhoods. The people initiative focuses on services, such as preschool, job training and mental health services.
The housing initiative aims to “create a mix of housing types and attractive styles that serve the identified needs of current and future residents at all income levels … develop housing that best
leverages downtown Meriden’s unique assets; and ... ensure that every Mills household has first choice of new housing.” A total of 494 housing units will be built downtown in the next five years.
The neighborhood initiative focuses on “transform(ing) downtown Meriden into a safe, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood of choice with connectivity to employment and education” in the region, according to the grant application. Projects involved in the neighborhood portion of the plan include restoring two-way traffic downtown, cleaning up blighted and brownfield sites, creating a beautification program, and free WiFi downtown.
MHA Executive Director Robert Cappelletti said Monday the new application is nearly identical to the one submitted last year, with the exception of the housing projects under construction or completed. It also eliminates a mixed-use proposal at 143 W. Main St. because it will not include affordable housing. “It’s hard to compete with the larger cities,” Cappelletti said. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Lame-duck Killingly council declines to take up power plant agreements
KILLINGLY – It will fall to the new Killingly Town Council to decide how it wants to proceed in dealing with representatives for a proposed power plant.
After hours of discussion on Thursday, the council voted 6-2 - Councilor Dennis Alemian was absent - to table any action on a pair of benefit agreements with the NTE energy company that, if approved, could net the town $95 million in combined tax and other benefit revenue.
The matter now passes on to the new council, members of which will meet Monday for the first time since the November election. And that’s fine with Gail Oakley Pratt, who lost her seat to Kevin Kerttula, one of five non-incumbents who will serve for the next two years on the nine-member body.
Pratt said allowing the new council to take up the matter will allow for a fresh perspective on the proposed agreements.
“We were making significant changes to these two agreements just this evening,” she said. “I’m uncomfortable stopping the new council from having a significant say in these issues.”
The council spent two hours reviewing tax stabilization and Community Environmental Benefit, or CEBA, contracts that were put on hold in May after the Connecticut Siting Council denied permit applications from NTE to construct a 550-megawatt power plant in the Dayville section of town. After a brief executive session, the council announced its decision to table the matters.
Many of the new changes made on Thursday involved adding language to drafts that members said will protect the town years down the line. The amendments to sections on plant decommissioning and prohibitions on material changes to the company’s original application to the state were made in real-time Thursday by Town Manager Sean Hendricks who typed the changes directly into the documents as councilors spoke.
Because the permit applications were rejected without prejudice, the company is expected to re-file for permits early next year. In anticipation of that re-filing, Hendricks has been working for months with NTE representatives on new versions of proposed agreements, ones that took into account some council members’ push for more money and increased protection for the town. NTE has already agreed to increase its initial $2 million CEBA proposal to $5 million. That “unrestricted” money could be used for a variety of environmentally-oriented projects, including a scholarship fund, for water testing at Alexander’s Lake and to plant trees throughout town. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE