Construction employment grew in 253, or 71 percent, out of 358 metro areas between June 2018 and June 2019, declined in 61 and was unchanged in 44, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released July 31 by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the employment gains would likely have been stronger if firms could find more qualified workers to hire.
"Demand for construction remains robust in most metro areas," said Ken Simonson, the association's chief economist. "But, with record job openings in construction and the lowest overall unemployment rate since 1969, it is likely even more metros would be adding construction workers if there were enough qualified jobseekers available."
The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., metro area added the most construction jobs during the past year (13,200 jobs, 11 percent). Other metro areas adding a large amount of construction jobs during the past 12 months include Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (11,400 jobs, 8 percent); Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (8,800 jobs, 6 percent); Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. (8,000 jobs, 6 percent); and Nassau County-Suffolk County N.Y. (7,600 jobs, 9 percent). The largest percentage gain occurred in Auburn-Opelika, Ala. (24 percent, 600 jobs) followed by Pocatello, Idaho (18 percent, 300 jobs); Camden, N.J. (17 percent, 4,000 jobs); Spokane-Spokane Valley, Wash. (16 percent, 2,400 jobs); Toledo, Ohio (14 percent, 2,100 jobs) and Monroe, Mich. (14 percent, 300 jobs).
The largest job losses between June 2018 and June 2019 occurred in Baton Rouge, La. (minus 5,400 jobs, minus 9 percent), followed by Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, Ill. (minus 2,500 jobs, minus 2 percent); Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C. (minus 2,400 jobs, minus 4 percent); Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. (minus 1,600 jobs, minus 8 percent) and Longview, Texas (minus 1,500 jobs, minus 10 percent). The largest percentage decrease took place in Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J. (minus 15 percent, minus 1,000 jobs) followed by Longview; Baton Rouge; Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford and Ithaca, N.Y. (minus 8 percent, minus 100 jobs).
Association officials said that one of the biggest challenges facing many construction firms is the lack of available, qualified workers to hire. Part of the problem is that the nation's higher education system does not place career and technical education on an equal footing with traditional college education. For example, federal Pell grants cannot be used for construction-focused training programs offered by community and technical colleges. They called on Congress and the administration to pass the bipartisan JOBS Act, which would remedy this Pell grant problem.
"It's time to reverse the federal funding bias against career and technical education and allow students interested in vocational education to have the same opportunities available to students attending four-year colleges," Sandherr said. "Creating a level playing field will help introduce more young adults to the many opportunities that await in the construction industry."
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Paving planned in Brookfield
Julia Perkins
BROOKFIELD — A few roads are scheduled to be paved in the coming weeks, with other streets planned for later this year.
Beverly Drive is under construction, while paving began on Obtuse Road North on Thursday, according to an update from the Department of Public Works on the town’s Facebook page.
Work on Kimberly Drive begins Aug. 26.
The schedule for Falls Drive, Cherry Lane, Pasture Drive, Old Grays Bridge Road and Obtuse Rocks Road have not been set yet.
The department is using a process called “fiber mat” that, if it works, could be used as an alternative to micro paving, the post said.
Costco roadwork in East Lyme faces delays
Mary Biekert
East Lyme — Worries that ongoing Costco-related roadwork at the Interstate 95 Exit 74 interchange will extend through September have prompted a Department of Transportation project engineer to schedule an "all-hands-on-deck meeting" Monday with the town, Costco developers and DOT.
Brent Church, the engineer responsible for ensuring roadwork in the Exit 74 Interchange area is being carried out properly, said by phone Thursday that communication among the town, DOT and Costco developers has been inadequate since the roadwork began earlier this summer. Drivers traveling through the area have experienced significant delays in recent weeks, with Church concerned that the project will continue on as the school year approaches and as a Route 1-Boston Post Road bridge replacement begins.
“The communication between the developer and the town needs to be much clearer, and there needs to be constant communication going across the board on a daily basis,” Church said. He said he was forced to shut down “Costco’s entire operation” Wednesday because southbound vehicles trying to get off I-95 had to stop on the Exit 74 off-ramp due to the construction. The backed-up traffic extended all the way onto the highway, which is two lanes wide there. “These projects are very difficult and this is a very difficult area to do work in. It’s the summer crowd, there’s a lot of people moving through that area. So we have to do what’s right for the town and the people that live there.”
Church said Thursday that he doesn’t believe Costco work will be finished until early October “at best.” He said that’s because Costco developers have not yet submitted final “signalization plans” outlining how and when they will install signal lights to control traffic traveling along the exit’s southbound off-ramp.
According to Costco’s plans, the southbound on-ramp and off-ramp will be extended into a T configuration on a frontage road running by Pools Etc., allowing drivers coming off the interstate to either turn left toward Costco or right toward Route 161 after a stop light. The northbound on-ramp entrance also is being altered.
As part of the work, Church said that the exit’s northbound on-ramp will need to be closed for 14 to 16 hours over a night in coming weeks to finish its reconfiguration, while the southbound ramps will need to be closed for three to four days. Church said those closure times have not yet been scheduled because of planning delays on Costco's end, stalling the entire project through September.
“This needs to legitimately be straightened out before the schools start their bus schedules,” he said. “It needs to be clear that the town is responsible for getting on top of the developer, who should be getting on top of his engineering and inspection firm out there to de-stem this congestion. It is up to the town, its police force and the developer to coordinate to keep traffic flowing safely along Route 161, while I'm responsible for the interchange and the highway.”
The ongoing Exit 74 work comes as Costco plans to open its East Lyme store in the coming months and is not part of a more extensive Route 161 widening and Exit 74 bridge replacement project being planned by DOT. Construction for that project is anticipated to begin in summer or fall 2021, and is expected to last approximately three to four years, DOT spokesman Kevin Nursick said by email last month.
Costco developer Newton Brainard, vice president of development and acquisition for The Simon Konover Co. of West Hartford, which is developing the Costco site with KGI Properties of Providence, was not immediately available by phone for comment by Thursday’s deadline.
Public Works Director Joe Bragaw said Thursday that Costco developers haven’t been updating the Public Works Department on a regular basis and until now, he thought they were running on time to finish roadwork by September.
“I think we have to wait for Monday’s meetings to know for sure what is happening,” Bragaw said. “I think it’s too early to say anything, and once we hear from the developer, we will know more about where we are.”
Ideanomics’ 2Q revenues plummet as biz model evolves
Matt Pilon
The New York-based tech company readying a $400 million “Fintech Village” on UConn’s former West Hartford campus said Wednesday its second-quarter revenues plummeted as it continued to retool its business model.
Ideanomics booked $14.5 million in revenue for the three months ended June 30, compared to $133 million a year ago.
The steep decline was due mainly to Ideanomics’ previously announced transition out of crude oil trading and other logistics-related business lines, which it found to be unprofitable and previously made up the bulk of the company’s overall revenues.
Instead, the company has begun to book more revenue from digital asset management and other financial-technology offerings, which is its main business going forward.
Developers to break ground on S. Windsor senior-living facility
Joe Cooper
o-developers planning to erect a 113-unit senior living community in South Windsor’s Evergreen Walk said they will break ground on the project Wednesday.
Florida-based Harbor Retirement Associates (HRA) LLC and Denver’s Confluent Senior Living said the so-called HarborChase of Evergreen Walk complex will include 65 assisted-living and 48 memory-care apartments in one- and two-bedroom units when the facility opens in Dec. 2020.
It was unclear when the development, whose pricetag isn’t known, would be completed after the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission last summer unanimously approved the nearly 112,000-square-foot development.
HRA, a management company focused on developing assisted-living communities, will manage Harbor Chase and Confluent Senior Living, a subsidiary of Confluent Development, serves as the project owner.
The South Windsor project will mark the first Connecticut development for both companies, and their seventh working together.
Original plans for the development said the facility would create 90 full- and part-time jobs when it’s fully operational.
Wisconsin-based Plunkett Raysich Architects LLP is serving as architect on the development and Baltimore’s Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. as general contractor. Whiting-Turner was the contracting firm that was hired in 2016 to takeover the $71 million development of downtown’s Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Founded in 2002, HRA said it operates 34 communities in 10 states and is partnering in the construction of another 10 communities in an additional five states. It manages more than $150 million in revenue and approximately $1 billion in assets.
Naugatuck mayor hopes roundabout will give Rubber Ave. a ‘boost’
ELIO GUGLIOTTI
NAUGATUCK – The Board of Mayor and Burgesses has given its blessing to move forward with a modern roundabout as part of a Rubber Avenue reconstruction project.
The board voted 8-0 last week to proceed with the roundabout, which will be built at the four-way intersection of Rubber Avenue and Meadow and Cherry streets. The roundabout will replace the traffic signals at the intersection.
The preliminary design is for a one-lane roundabout that is 120 feet in diameter with a raised island in the center. The roundabout requires some land from the Rite Aid property at the intersection to build. Splitter islands will be built where traffic approaches the roundabout to divide vehicles entering and exiting it.
Vehicles that pull up to the roundabout yield to those inside it, before entering the roundabout.
Officials favored the roundabout, pointing to studies conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Federal Highway Administration that state roundabouts reduce collisions and traffic congestion.
A February memorandum from Weston & Sampson, an engineering firm working on the reconstruction project, states that an average of 12,726 vehicles traveled through the intersection daily based on traffic counts taken in December 2018 while school was in session. The memorandum also states traffic backed up anywhere from 75 feet to 550 feet at times at different parts of the intersection.
Scott Bushee, a highway design engineer with the state Department of Transportation, said it takes about two to three months for people to get used to roundabouts, after which they work well.
“I’m not going to lie to you, when it first opens up there’s going to be some growing pains,” he said.
While the board members all favored the roundabout, the discussion wasn’t without questions.
Burgess Michael Bronko said he heard from residents who raised concerns about how the roundabout will impact children who walk through the intersection to go to school. He questioned how that will be addressed.
There is one crossing guard stationed at the intersection before and after school, Police Chief Steven Hunt said. After the roundabout is built, he said, the department will assign an officer at the intersection when school starts to get a feel for whether another crossing guard needs to be added.
Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess felt the roundabout can be a catalyst for the project to upgrade Rubber Avenue.
“Rubber Avenue needs a boost,” he said. “I mean that road has fallen apart over the years.”
The roundabout is part of a project to reconstruct Rubber Avenue from Elm Street to Melbourne Street. The project, slated to start next year, will include drainage improvements and new sidewalks and landscaping along the road.
The project will be funded through the state Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program, with the borough covering the design costs.
Director of Public Works James Stewart said the design costs, which aren’t finalized yet, will be funded from a $5 million capital bond previously approved by voters.
Committee says ‘yes’ to downtown Torrington apartments, retail
BRUNO MATARAZZO JR.
TORRINGTON – A development project on Franklin Street inched closer to city approval Thursday after the Architectural Review Committee unanimously green-lighted the 60-unit, mixed-use complex.
A hearing is set for Sept. 11 during the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
Dubbed 100 Franklin, the four-story apartment building will feature retail space on the ground floor, along Franklin Street. The site of the complex is a 2-acre, L-shaped property currently owned by the city.
Architect Joseph Healy told committee members that Philadelphia-based developer Pennrose wants to prominently feature a brick exterior on the complex because of the city’s concentration of brick in its older buildings.
“It’s a fairly constrained site,” Healy said. “We knew the investment up in this area on Franklin Street, so we really wanted to draw the building as close as possible to that end. There is also a metal facade on parts of the building as a nod to the city’s industrial past.”
The site of the proposed complex was home to Torrington Manufacturing Co. until 2010, when the buildings were demolished.
For years, the city has sought to transform the area from a manufacturing hub into a riverfront trail, green space and mixed-use buildings in a project Mayor Elinor C. Carbone has dubbed “Riverfront Recapture.”
The 2-acre parcel the city is looking to develop does not include the property owned by Nidec.
“The modern expression of the architecture we are proposing is a way to sort of elevate it (to) a slightly industrial aesthetic to a point where it fits into the scene,” Healy said.
The complex will include 72 parking spaces, but City Planner Martin Connor said the complex would not be required to have any because of the building requirements for the downtown. The building will be a mix of one- to three-bedroom units. There will be nine three-bedroom units, but most will be two-bedroom apartments.
Architect Vera Kiselev said the units will extend up to 1,200 square feet and include a washer and dryer, as well as a community room, fitness area and storage area.
Pennrose wants to have most of the design work completed before the fall deadlines to apply for tax credits and subsidies to fund construction. It plans to apply in November to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority for tax credits and the state Department of Housing for a low-interest loan.
Pennrose can only go forward with the project if it is successful with both agencies. If not, it will apply again next year.
“It’s very competitive funding,” said Charlie Adams, Pennrose regional vice president.
Funding announcements by the two agencies will be made next spring. If Pennrose is successful, Adams said he’d like to get “a shovel in the ground” six to eight months later.
Adams said Pennrose isn’t building the complex to flip it and make money. It manages all of the apartment properties it builds.
Questions were raised about the Naugatuck River’s water level by committee members.
Carbone said she and her office have had conversations with the Army Corps of Engineers about the water levels. The flood-control measures enacted after the Flood of 1955 often make the downtown portion of the river a slow trickle, especially during the dry summer months.
The mayor said once the city has the plaza area and apartment complex completed, it will be easier to show the Army Corps the need to increase the water flow.
Despite opposition, Woodbury Zoning Commission approves construction of apartment complex
STEVE BIGHAM WOODBURY — The Zoning Commission has approved the construction of 12 garden apartments at 219 North Main St.
The approval ends what had been a lengthy process and one that drew strong opposition from residents.
Commission member Jack Well cast the lone dissenting vote, while Robert Clarke, Tom Amatruda, Chris Griffiths and Jon Quint all voted in favor of the plan.
With the town’s OK in hand, Woodbury resident Gerali Cenkoli can now move forward with his plans to construct three buildings. Each building will have four one-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 900 to 1200 square feet, on a 3.5-acre lot south of Flanders Road.
Residents have spoken out against Cenkoli’s plan for nearly two years. In 2018 he sought to amend the town’s land-use regulations by reducing the minimum lot size required to build apartments from 10 acres to three. At several public hearings, speakers said they worried that the loosening of the land-use would open the door for similar apartments to go up all over town. The town approved the change.
More recently, during Cenkoli’s return to the board for additional permits, neighbors argued that cars pulling out of the complex would be vulnerable from southbound cars speeding over the crest of a nearby hill. The apartment driveway sits at the bottom of that hill, an area that residents say can be hazardous.
Two traffic experts, one representing the applicant and the other independent, both concluded the 425-foot sightline to the north for cars exiting the complex, while not ideal, meets the parameters for approval.
At this week’s meeting, Zoning Commission members granted a special permit for the apartments and a request to change the zone from a residential district to one that supports garden apartments.
In approving the request, the board required Cenkoli to regrade the area near the entrance to the apartments to improve sight lines. It is also requiring him to landscape areas of the property to provide a buffer between the apartments and nearby houses.
The commission also recommended that the applicant request approval from the state and town to install advanced warning “speed reduced ahead” signs along the southbound lane of North Main Street.