Joe Cooper
A 220-unit retirement community in Cromwell is slated to add another 54 units under a proposed $48 million expansion.
The Covenant Village of Cromwell at 52 Missionary Road is expected to receive all necessary approvals from the town's Planning and Zoning Commission by the end of November, according to the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA), which is funding the proposed expansion through tax-exempt bonds.
CHEFA helps not-for-profit organizations gain access to low-cost debt capital through tax-exempt public/private debt.
Stuart Popper, Cromwell's director of planning and development, said the Covenant Village, a faith-based Christian community, has received several zoning approvals recently and is nearing final stages of approval.
The expansion comes at a time of significant growth of senior-living facilities in the state to meet the needs of an aging population. It includes adding an additional 76,000 square feet for housing and another 34,000 square feet of a common area. Known as a "town center," the space will include three dining venues, lobbies, a game room, an art studio, a wellness center, event center and other amenities, CHEFA officials said.
If approved, construction would begin in Feb. 2019 with an 18-month construction period ending Nov. 2020.
Michael Morris, CHEFA's managing director of financing programs, said 75 percent of the new units were sold within 10 weeks of launching the sales effort. Most tenants move to the village from a 25-mile radius, he said.
"The facility is doing well and has a high occupancy rate, which is part of the need for the expansion," Morris said.
Established in 1964, the Covenant Village houses an assortment of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, deluxe apartments, patio homes and courtyard cottages scattered across its roughly 38-acre campus.
The complex offers three levels of care: independent, personal and skilled nursing care, including rehabilitation and therapy services.
As of Dec. 2017, Covenant Village said it had 350 residents and 230 employees in Cromwell, according to its website.
Owned by Covenant Retirement Communities Inc., the Cromwell site is the company's only complex in Connecticut. It also operates 16 other communities in Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Washington, Colorado and California.
Downtown Hartford Apartment Project Finally Gets Off The Ground After Nearly Two Years
Kenneth R. Gosselin
An $18.4 million apartment project in downtown Hartford between the XL Center and Union Station is now getting underway after being on the drawing board for nearly two years.Developer Paul Khakshouri has secured financing to convert three historic buildings on Allyn Street — once at the heart of the city’s bar and entertainment district — into 66 market-rate apartments. Construction is expected to begin in the next few weeks, and the apartments could be ready for occupancy in early 2020.
Since 2015, projects approved for loans or equity investments through the Capital Region Development Authority, a quasi-public state agency, have added 885 rentals in the downtown area. Occupancy in those projects is generally 90 percent or better.
CRDA sees the Allyn Street corridor between the XL Center and Union Station as ripe for redevelopment and transformation into a more stable neighborhood. CRDA also sees opportunities for transit-oriented development, the area being close to the train station.
CRDA has financed several apartment conversions along the stretch, including The Grand on Ann at 201 Ann Uccello St. and 179 Allyn St., the former “Professional Building.” Two others at 28 High St., the Lewtan Building, and 370 Asylum St., the former Capitol Center, are under construction. The latter, the “Teachers Corner” development, is expected to begin leasing in December and be marketed heavily to educators.
The apartments planned by Khakshouri will include 40 studios, 23 one-bedroom apartments and three two-bedroom apartments. The rents are expected to range from $900 to $1600, plus parking — a bit lower than other apartments recently added to the downtown market, according to Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director.
“The buildings lend themselves to more “affordable” market rate housing than the high rises and higher amenity buildings,” Freimuth saidKhakshouri, who also owns the Homewood Suites on Asylum, purchased the buildings at 103-105 and 109-121 Allyn St. in 2017. But he also saw the projected cost of the project rise from about $11 million as construction estimates rose.
CDRA’s taxpayer-backed loan rose from $4 million to $6.6 million. In addition to CRDA, the financing package includes a $5.4 million mortgage from United Bank, $5.3 million in state and federal historic credits and a deferred developer fee of $1.1 million.The historic credits, which aren’t available until late in the project’s development, will be “bridged” by BlueHub Capital, the former Boston Community Capital, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, or LISC, a nonprofit that supports community development.
One of the three buildings gained notoriety early in 2017 when it was occupied by the now-shuttered Angry Bull Saloon. A Central Connecticut State University student fell from the rooftop to her death.
All the bars in the buildings now have been closed.
Khakshouri also has been adamant that bars will not occupy the 3,750 square feet of storefront space in the buildings. In the past, he has talked about coffee or ice cream shops. But Thursday, he declined to reveal specifics except to say, “it is going to be something that the city needs.”
O’Leary appoints committee to oversee $4 million makeover of Waterbury’s East Main Street
WATERBURY – The head of the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury branch campus, a philanthropist and a deep-pocketed investor will join two city officials planning the redesign and reconstruction of East Main Street downtown.
The Connecticut State Bond Commission awarded Waterbury $4 million in September to rebuild a quarter-mile stretch of East Main Street and associated sidewalks between the downtown Green and police headquarters.
Mayor Neil M. O’Leary put himself on a committee overseeing the design, along with Waterbury Development Corp. Interim CEO James Nardozzi; developer Joseph Gramando, UConn Waterbury Branch Director William Pizzuto and philanthropist Cathy Smith.
Smith has volunteered to help oversee various city projects, including the recent $2.2 million renovation of the Green and a planned Library Park renovation. O’Leary said he turned to Pizzuto and Gramando as area stakeholders.
“I’m really invested in seeing this city do well,” said Gramando, one-half of Green Hub Development. “When we came here, the goal was to do business and help the mayor with his downtown plan.” This is something I really want to see work.”
Gramando and his brother-in-law, financier Louis Forster, recently renovated two-thirds of the 68,388-square-foot Brown Building on East Main Street into dormitory style housing for college students. The pair – operating under Green Hub Development – are nearly done with a $15 million renovation of the former Howland Hughes Department Store as well.
O’Leary said he hopes to begin the six-month project in the spring. The city has picked design firm Milone & MacBroom for the job and is currently negotiating a contract.
Nardozzi said the public will be invited to comment on preliminary designs and make suggestions at a forum tentatively scheduled for Dec. 20.
Cost to replace Waterbury middle school roof more than $1.3 million under budget
WATERBURY – The final cost of replacing the roof at West Side Middle School last year was just under $1,742,000.
That cost is a little more than half of the $3.1 million the city had allocated toward the project, and far lower than the $7.2 million that was at one point floated as the project’s expected cost.
That was because two years ago officials had been concerned that the decking beneath the school’s then-leaky roof, which is coated with the fireproofing material vermiculite, had contained asbestos. The projections included the cost of potential asbestos remediation. However, subsequent testing showed no evidence of the material at the time.
Acting School Inspector Chris Harmon provided the Board of Education with an update on the project Thursday night. The board is scheduled to vote to approve submitting that paper work, and a an application for school security grant funding at its next regular meeting, scheduled for Weds., Nov. 14th.
Closing out the project as complete would enable the city to recoup its state reimbursement, just under 80 percent of the total cost for the project, which was completed during the summer of 2017.
“We had from the very beginning, good luck with the roofers,” Harmon told board members during discussions. Overall, there were only a few minor issues during the course of the project, which Harmon said were resolved quickly by the contractor, Silktown Roofing, of Manchester. The new roof comes with a 30-year warranty, Harmon said.
Despite tests not showing evidence of asbestos, precautions were taken to monitor air quality throughout the project, including during the tear down of the roof and subsequent clean up after the replacement roof had been installed, Van Stone said.
School officials are asking the board to sign off on a new application for state school security grant funding. That application would seek funding, which — like the roof replacement project — the state would reimburse at a 79.29 percent rate, for security upgrades at several schools, according to school officials.
Those security improvements likely would include new radios for communication, electronic locks and card readers, replacement cameras, upgrades to vestibules, new video-intercom phones and other items, according to officials.
School District grant writer Louise Allen Brown said a projected total cost of the upgrades was still being determined. She said the estimated range is between $500,000 and $800,000.