WEST HAVEN — The Haven high-end outlet mall took a major step forward this week: the Planning and Zoning Commission late Tuesday unanimously approved the site plan application for the 265,000 square feet of retail and restaurant development.
A representative of the developer said the current target date is for The Haven to open in June of 2020.
“I’m very excited about The Haven” and “I’m very pleased about last night’s meeting,” Mayor Nancy Rossi said Wednesday. “I think it’s a game-changer and I think it’s great news for the city of West Haven.
“We’re going to do everything we can to facilitate everything ... because I would like to see this project done sooner rather than later,” Rossi said.
“I think this is a night that a lot of us have been waiting for,” PZC Chairwoman Kathy Hendricks told about 110 people who attended a meeting Tuesday night that was moved from City Hall to the larger confines of the Carrigan Intermediate School auditorium.
The project, along New Haven Harbor at the mouth of the West River between Elm and Main streets, began back when John Picard was mayor and was first announced just over four years ago by Mayor Ed O’Brien.
It now appears as if it will go forward under Rossi, pending approval from the state Department of Transportation.DOT approval of a traffic plan, including improvements the developers must make to Elm Street, is necessary before developer The Haven Group can obtain a building permit, said Project Manager Jim Fuda, vice president of Alfred Benesch & Co. engineers of Glastonbury.Fuda told the PZC, in response to widespread rumors that have circulated in West Haven, that there is no housing included in the plan and it is all retail and restaurants.
Rossi said she will work with the city’s legislators in Hartford to try to speed up the DOT decision process as much as possible.
The PZC also unanimously approved two related applications following public hearings — a zone change to add four additional residential properties along the east end of Main Street to the waterfront design district and a special permit application for approval of filling and grading plans related to the development.
“We’re delighted with the outcome and we’re looking forward to getting this underway,” said The Haven Group Executive Vice President Matt Armstrong, who attended the meeting.
He earlier told the PZC, “Our vision has been to really create a magnificent public promenade along the water here; something that everyone can have access to and use and enjoy ... It’ll be a project that I think the city of West Haven will be very proud of, and I know certainly will enhance the beauty of the waterfront here in town.”
No speakers opposed the project but several residents, as well as some PZC members, expressed concerns about possible traffic, dust and noise — and wanted to ensure that adjoining neighborhoods are protected Of particular concern to several residents of Bayview Place and Prospect Place was a proposal by the developer to make those streets just to the south of the project area — both currently one-way heading toward it — two-way streets.
Hendricks said it will be up to the Police Department, not the developers or the PZC, what happens with those streets.
The developer was represented by about a dozen people in its presentation to the PZC for the application for site plan approval, including Armstrong, John Dionis of Simon Properties, attorneys Chris McKeon and Ray Bershstein, Fuda and two of his colleagues, architect Jay Valgora of Studio V Architecture and landscape architect Martin Harwood of SCAPE Landscape Architecture.
Valgora said that as its entry, the design features “a great boulevard or avenue where Water Street is today.” The entry will include a raised canopy structure that will include a “green roof,” he said.
Harwood said designers have worked to preserve and enhance the site’s connection to Long Island Sound. “One of the first things that we were taken by when we first saw the site was the views of the Sound,” Harwood said. “That’s what we’ve aimed to preserve.
The project has been altered to go around the existing Citgo station and convenience store at Elm Street and First Avenue, which now will remain, Fuda said. The S & S Mini Mart Citgo was the one property within that project area that developers were not able to work out a deal with, and the owners were among several who took the developers to court.
Armstrong said after the meeting that both sides signed a non-disclosure agreement and he is unable to talk about the settlement.
The developers submitted the application for site plan approval to the city in May, nearly four years after first announcing plans to build it.
Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group has joined The Haven Group as a partner in the project. The change was announced several months after the death of The Haven partner Sheldon Gordon in late September. Simon, owner of the Clinton Crossing outlets in Clinton and the Crystal Mall in Waterford, is one of the largest shopping center developers in the world.
The plans include 80 stores and five full-service restaurants.
The Haven Group, originally a partnership led by Ty Miller, the Dallas-based president of the Haven Group, LLC, and Gordon, is affiliated with the family that owns Highland Park Village in Dallas.
The Haven had been in the property acquisition stage for the past four years as the developers negotiated with 57 property owners. It missed several of its own previous stated completion target dates, leaving many in West Haven questioning whether it would ever move forward and upset about all the boarded-up properties within the project area.
There are a total of 57 properties within the 24-acre project area, which is bounded by Main Street, First Avenue and Elm Street. The project includes what is now Water Street, which will be closed and eliminated as The Haven is built.
Armstrong has called The Haven “America’s first upscale waterfront outlet mall.” In addition to 80 stores and five restaurants, it would offer a public waterfront promenade with a 200-seat amphitheater. Armstrong said last fall that at that time the developer had spent more than $30 million on the privately financed development, which he has compared to the top 20 percent of the retail stores that constitute Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York.
The Haven would be the only direct-waterfront, luxury retail center in the country, Armstrong has said. It would pay $2 million in annual property tax and create more than $15 million in incremental sales tax for the state, he has said.
The Haven would provide 800 full-time and 400 part-time jobs, plus 800 construction jobs using all Connecticut-based contractors, he has said.
I am writing in hopes of rallying resistance to the disastrous billion dollar “Walkbridge” that is planned for South Norwalk. The sheer scale of this project is quite astonishing — for context, Citi Field costs $900 million, and generates millions of dollars in revenue.
This bridge will be a net negative on Norwalk finances, quality of life and environment. It is being constructed ostensibly for the benefit of two tiny businesses up the river, that could be purchased outright for five times their value and still save the taxpayers hundreds of millions in ridiculous expenditures. There is absolutely no need for a footbridge to accommodate the thin foot traffic over the bridge from East to South Norwalk. Upgrades to the train track could surely be accomplished without this bloated project plan.
The plan not only wastes money on a scheme that is a windfall only for construction companies, but also means that funds are unavailable for schools, which are in sore need of upgrades, hospital services, housing and other essentials for the Norwalk area. The plan requires demolition and removal of the very popular IMAX theatre within the Maritime Aquarium. It will be a huge disruption to the aquarium services and diminish its appeal and attraction. It will disrupt traffic, and ironically foot traffic in and around South Norwalk, which will impact bars and restaurants and reduce the desirability of the area for residents and visitors alike.
It is hard to believe that such a ludicrous plan has been put forth for any other reasons except backroom deals. I call on this newspaper to be a voice of reason and a catalyst to citizen opposition to such a wasteful and long-term negative plan. This citizen believes that we cannot sit back and apathetically watch this travesty take place before our eyes and then wonder why we let our finances dwindle and our local amenities be spoiled, for such an illogical, ill-conceived nonsense of a plan.
The politicians and local figures who had a hand in this have a lot to answer for, and my hope is that the citizens of Norwalk will hold them accountable and halt this insanity.
Caroline Wellman
Norwalk
Coast Guard Musuem organizers hire Connecticut firms for pre-construction work
By Julia Bergman
New London — The National Coast Guard Museum Association has hired two Connecticut firms to assist in the ongoing pre-construction work on the estimated $100 million museum planned for the downtown New London waterfront.
The museum association has selected North Stonington-based construction company A/Z Corporation as the pre-construction manager, and GEI Consultants, with offices in Glastonbury, to provide geotechnical services.
"Hiring these two experienced construction firms is an important step forward for the future National Coast Guard Museum and the public access project," Richard J. Grahn, president of the museum association, said in a prepared statement.
A/Z Corporation, working with the museum architects and engineers, will review the schematic design and help develop an updated cost estimate and construction schedule, as well as recommend construction methods and materials.
The museum association did not disclose how much it is paying A/Z Corporation or GEI Consultants. The museum association's most recent tax filing shows that in 2016, it had $2,813,574 in revenue and $1,066,984 in expenses. In 2015, expected revenue was $3,698,678, and there were $858,114 in expenses.
The museum association now has 10 full-time staffers. It outgrew its old office at the back of 239 Bank St. and began renting office space adjacent to Crocker's Boatyard on May 1.
Salary made up $276,976 of its expenses in 2015, and $501,519 in 2016.
"With a recent anonymous gift of $1 million, we have cash flow to take us through the detailed design and engineering workup to make us shovel ready which is estimated to be completed in the second half of next year," Drew Forster, director of communications and public relations for the museum association, said by email. "We have brought in a more robust development team to continue to raise the necessary funds in order to meet the future planning, design and construction milestones."
Site testing done by GEI Consultants will start the week of July 16 at the museum site and the planned location of the pedestrian bridge from Water Street to the river side of the railroad tracks adjacent to Union Station. GEI will have a barge adjacent to the museum site as part of the testing.
After approximately a month of activity, the site will be quiet again as the impact of the test results is analyzed, and the museum design is refined based on those results, Grahn said.
The museum is being designed for pre-K through adult audiences with a Science Technology Engineering and Math, or STEM, Discovery Center, multiple exhibit floors and gathering spaces. So far, $36.1 million has been raised. That includes $5 million in federal funding and $20 million from the state.
Don’t rush into life without Millstone
By The Day Editorial Board
The timing of a future without Millstone — and how smooth the transition to get there — are hot topics. The issue of the moment involves an upcoming bid proposal for a zero-carbon electricity supply auction conducted by the state Department of Energy and Environment (DEEP).
Dominion Energy, owner of Millstone in Waterford, has argued successfully that it should be included in the zero-carbon-emission regulated energy market. Millstone has been competing solely in the deregulated market with the fossil-fuel power suppliers, where natural gas providers have been claiming ever-greater market share. The natural gas surge has forced early closure of five nuclear plants across the country, and more are expected.
State Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, led a coalition of Millstone supporters in January when the General Assembly and Gov. Dannel Malloy instructed the regulators to review whether to include nuclear power in the zero-carbon electricity supply auction. In February, regulators approved allowing Millstone to compete with the zero-carbon suppliers.
Millstone’s competitive bid advantage would improve further if regulators consider the nuclear plant to be “at-risk” of ceasing operations. If Millstone is declared at risk, the regulators can consider non-price benefits of the nuclear plant, such as its ability to deliver a stable energy supply and avoid greenhouse gas emissions. Millstone currently supplies about 50 percent of Connecticut's total electric power and about 95 percent of the state's zero-carbon energy. If Millstone is deemed to be not at risk, it must compete on price alone with solar, wind and hydro.
Regulators will make a final determination of Millstone’s at-risk status in October. However, the bids from the energy suppliers are due by mid-September. Under that calendar, Millstone will be making a bid to supply energy without knowing under what criteria the bid is being judged.
Last week, DEEP tipped its hand when it submitted a preliminary draft of its request for proposal energy bids. DEEP stated that energy plants can only be considered at-risk during an “at-risk time period” that they said would not begin until June 2023: five years from now.
That language aroused an angry response from Dominion Energy CEO Paul Koonce. The CEO went nuclear with a letter insisting that “Millstone is at risk now."
“Dominion Energy must face critical business decisions regarding the future of Millstone, irrespective of the consequences those decisions might have on Connecticut and New England,” Koonce warned. Translation: If Dominion can’t earn a good return on investment with Millstone, they will close here and invest somewhere else with better profit potential.
This newspaper believes Koonce’s blunt statement is no idle threat. In 2012, Dominion shuttered its nuclear plant in Wisconsin. In the last decade, the company has shed all but three of its "merchant" power generating stations — privately-owned plants that sell their power in open markets. Millstone represents about one percent of Dominion's business; the company owns many plants in other states.
Millstone generates 2,100 megawatts of energy. By contast, the Deepwater Wind project to be constructed 65 miles offshore from New London will deliver 200 megawatts to Connecticut when it becomes operational in 2023.
Connecticut is years away from energy independence without relying on Millstone. Premature closure would cause more pollution from fossil-fuel sources needed to replace Millstone power generation, higher electrical bills for residents, and economic hardship for southeastern Connecticut because of job and property tax losses. These are the predictions of the consultants hired by DEEP to study Millstone.
That gives Dominion increased leverage today in its negotiation with Connecticut, leverage that will diminish over time as renewable energy sources increase capacity. The company is seeking to maximize profits from Millstone to justify extending the plant's operation.
Similar negotiations are unfolding in New York, Illinois and New Jersey where regulators are wrestling to keep nuclear plants functioning until renewable energy sources can replace them.
The day will come when Millstone ceases operation. That day can either come suddenly with chaotic consequences, or it can come gradually, in an orderly manner, with advance planning and fewer disruptions.
We urge DEEP to grant Millstone at-risk status now to qualify for the September proposal deadline.
Dominion Energy, owner of Millstone in Waterford, has argued successfully that it should be included in the zero-carbon-emission regulated energy market. Millstone has been competing solely in the deregulated market with the fossil-fuel power suppliers, where natural gas providers have been claiming ever-greater market share. The natural gas surge has forced early closure of five nuclear plants across the country, and more are expected.
State Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, led a coalition of Millstone supporters in January when the General Assembly and Gov. Dannel Malloy instructed the regulators to review whether to include nuclear power in the zero-carbon electricity supply auction. In February, regulators approved allowing Millstone to compete with the zero-carbon suppliers.
Millstone’s competitive bid advantage would improve further if regulators consider the nuclear plant to be “at-risk” of ceasing operations. If Millstone is declared at risk, the regulators can consider non-price benefits of the nuclear plant, such as its ability to deliver a stable energy supply and avoid greenhouse gas emissions. Millstone currently supplies about 50 percent of Connecticut's total electric power and about 95 percent of the state's zero-carbon energy. If Millstone is deemed to be not at risk, it must compete on price alone with solar, wind and hydro.
Regulators will make a final determination of Millstone’s at-risk status in October. However, the bids from the energy suppliers are due by mid-September. Under that calendar, Millstone will be making a bid to supply energy without knowing under what criteria the bid is being judged.
Last week, DEEP tipped its hand when it submitted a preliminary draft of its request for proposal energy bids. DEEP stated that energy plants can only be considered at-risk during an “at-risk time period” that they said would not begin until June 2023: five years from now.
That language aroused an angry response from Dominion Energy CEO Paul Koonce. The CEO went nuclear with a letter insisting that “Millstone is at risk now."
This newspaper believes Koonce’s blunt statement is no idle threat. In 2012, Dominion shuttered its nuclear plant in Wisconsin. In the last decade, the company has shed all but three of its "merchant" power generating stations — privately-owned plants that sell their power in open markets. Millstone represents about one percent of Dominion's business; the company owns many plants in other states.
Millstone generates 2,100 megawatts of energy. By contast, the Deepwater Wind project to be constructed 65 miles offshore from New London will deliver 200 megawatts to Connecticut when it becomes operational in 2023.
Connecticut is years away from energy independence without relying on Millstone. Premature closure would cause more pollution from fossil-fuel sources needed to replace Millstone power generation, higher electrical bills for residents, and economic hardship for southeastern Connecticut because of job and property tax losses. These are the predictions of the consultants hired by DEEP to study Millstone.
That gives Dominion increased leverage today in its negotiation with Connecticut, leverage that will diminish over time as renewable energy sources increase capacity. The company is seeking to maximize profits from Millstone to justify extending the plant's operation.
Similar negotiations are unfolding in New York, Illinois and New Jersey where regulators are wrestling to keep nuclear plants functioning until renewable energy sources can replace them.
The day will come when Millstone ceases operation. That day can either come suddenly with chaotic consequences, or it can come gradually, in an orderly manner, with advance planning and fewer disruptions.
We urge DEEP to grant Millstone at-risk status now to qualify for the September proposal deadline.