Fenn Road Square in Newington, a $10 million development, breaks ground on long-vacant site
NEWINGTON - A $10 million development broke ground on a long-vacant
parcel of land off Fenn Road this week.
An official groundbreaking ceremony took place Monday at
“Fenn Road Square” – the future site of a 9,000 sq. ft. retail complex,
122-room extended stay hotel, four-story, 238-unit apartment complex and car
wash.
Elected officials and project developer Hayes-Kaufman
Partnership put shovels in the ground to commemorate the new construction.
Mayor Beth DelBuono later told the Herald she and fellow
elected officials were very proud their administration was able to bring this
long-awaited project to fruition.
“We are very proud that we will be seeing not only this
9,000 square foot retail complex on this corner but also will soon be seeing a
car wash, hotel and housing development,” DelBuono said.
The town seized the former National Welding site for unpaid
taxes back in the 90s and previous administrations secured funding to demolish
and abate contamination at the former factory site. However, efforts to secure
a developer were unsuccessful until recently, following the appointment of Town
Manager Keith Chapman by the Town Council in Jan. 2020.
Seeing the town’s high mill rate, Chapman made economic
development a priority and was able to successfully negotiate an agreement with
Hayes-Kaufman for a 10-year, 40% tax abatement to develop the site.
“Mr. Chapman and his economic development team have shared
our message that Newington is open for business and we now have numerous
projects coming forward,” the mayor said. “All of this means more people coming
to Newington to support these new businesses as well as our existing
businesses. We look forward to the increased tax revenue and grand list growth
helping our community.”
During Monday’s groundbreaking Hayes-Kaufman partner Richard
Hayes told the media his father built the Stop & Shop that sits in the
plaza to the north.
“I want to thank him for getting us here to begin with,”
Hayes said. “My father was the general of the project at that time and was able
to get us all down here looking at the town of Newington.”
Construction is expected to continue for the next 18 months.
A man who only identified himself as David, riding his
bicycle by the new construction Tuesday, shared his thoughts on the future
complex.
“If people can benefit from it then that’s good,” he said.
“They transformed this property when they built the busway and that’s when
those pad sites first became available. I’m not sure what stores they’re
putting in here but if they can be of use to me I’m sure I’ll be shopping
there.”
Should Stamford build more affordable housing or build it faster? Developer argues quantity
STAMFORD — Should the city prioritize building affordable
housing quickly, or should it focus on creating more housing in general?
Because of statutory changes over the past two years,
Stamford's zoning board found itself debating just that. The question before
zoning officials now, in part, comes down to timing.
Sound End developer Building and Land Technology argued at
the board's Sept. 27 meeting that more housing was an essential step in solving
the local housing crisis.
BLT in 2019 obtained approval from the zoning board to build
two high-rise buildings in the Sound End. Less than a year later, in January
2020, the board approved a $5.7 million payment meant to partially cover the
developer's affordable housing obligations in the city.
Yet, even with that payment, BLT fell short of fulfilling
its affordable housing responsibility. To meet its required threshold for its
two upcoming Harbor Point properties, the developer still owed just under $1.9
million to the city or nine affordable housing units at its upcoming buildings,
so far known only as P3 and P6.
"We took that to mean, 'don't be afraid to come back if
there's another good idea,'" said BLT attorney Bill Hennessey at the last
meeting. BLT's good idea involves making a payment to Stamford's Affordable
Housing Trust fund, a procedure that is now a standard part of Stamford law.
Before the trust became official, developers who wanted to
pay a fee instead of building affordable units had to address the zoning board
with projects already in tow, as BLT did with its first $5.7 million
allocation. Now, the trust — created in November 2020 — takes care of that
option. With the trust, developers who choose to pay instead of building
affordable units pass their money on to the fund, and interested parties can
make bids and put forth proposals.
According to the trust itself, the end goal is to create
more diverse kinds of affordable housing. Most of the housing that Stamford
makes exists for people at a particular income level.
Through the local Below Market Rate housing program — which
mandates that every apartment building with more than 10 units include
dedicated affordable housing — developers regularly create one and two-bedroom
apartments for people at 50 percent of Stamford's median income, according
to materials from the city.
As of 2021, the median income for a family of four in the
Stamford-Norwalk metropolitan area is $151,800. For a single-person household,
50 percent of the median income falls at about $53,000. For a family of four,
50 percent of the median income is $75,900.
Stamford does a good job at helping people at that income
level, according to Hennessey. But for people making less money, he argued, the
existing affordable housing stock is insufficient.
Talking to the nonprofit world, Hennessey said, the city is aware
that housing that costs less “is where we’ve done a poor job so far.
"That is: family-sized units. Large two-bedroom units
or three-bedroom units at below 50 percent of AMI, a very hard target to
reach," he said.
Although zoning's original approval mandated BLT's money go
to "shovel-ready" projects and create housing on a faster timeline,
Hennessey emphasized that combined with other funds, a fee-in-lieu payment to
the fund could "get a game-changer kind of project going."
Hennessey wasn't the only one to make the argument to board
members. The attorney said Stamford's affordable housing coordinator Ellen
Bromley confirmed that the nine units BLT would have to provide on-site
wouldn't "(hit) the need in the community."
Richard Freedman, president of the nonprofit Garden Homes
Fund, made a similar argument.
"There are a lot of goals for affordable housing,"
Freedman — whose company has received fee-in-lieu money in the past — said.
"Where is the housing constructed? Should it be family units? Should it be
units for individuals? At what income level? Should it be targeted? Should it
be equity? Should the market units be identical to the affordable units? But I
actually think the most important goal is quantity."
And significant quantity, he said, was possible through the
trust fund.
"The only way to get quantity is to leverage the
money," he continued, and the city had already designed the Affordable
Housing Trust fund explicitly to create leverage.
Despite Hennessey and Freedman's rationalization, zoning board
president David Stein held out on making a verdict.
"Nine units immediately of affordable housing is an
opportunity as well," he said.
The board is slated to continue its discussions on BLT's
fee-in-lieu payments at its next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 18.
Milford zoning board denies zone change for CT Post Mall site
Saul Flores
MILFORD — A series of proposed zoning regulation
changes at the Connecticut Post Mall brought forth by Centennial, the
mall owner, were denied by the planning and zoning board recently.
The zone change application was denied, 7-3, with Peg
Kearney, John Mortimer and Chair Jim Quish in favor, and Nancy Austin, Joseph
Castignoli, James Kader, Brian Kaligian, Carl Moore, Robert Satti and Marc
Zahariades voting against the plan.
“We are disappointed in the P&Z decision, as we feel
strongly that it is imperative for a property like Connecticut Post Mall to
diversify its offerings to better serve the needs of the community,” Steven
Levin, Centennial’s chief executive officer, said.
“The mixed-use plan that we’ve proposed will transform the
suburban mall into a place where people come to work, shop, dine, and live,
allowing the center to remain a vibrant destination for years to come,” Levin
added. “We remain committed to the long term success of the project and will
continue to work with the city to find a mutually beneficial solution for all
involved.”
Some commissioners expressed concern that a regulation
change would have unintended consequences during deliberations held Oct. 5 over
the proposal, the public hearing for which was closed at the September meeting.
Centennial’s zone change proposal called for making 5
percent (15 units) of the total 300 planned units state statute 8-30g, or
affordable housing, compliant, expanding the types of schools permitted in the
zone, explicitly allowing outdoor dining in the zone for all types of food
service establishments, and reducing the height of apartment buildings.
Both Castignoli and Kader agreed that housing on-site would
compete with the downtown area and be a detriment rather than a positive
impact.
Mortimer said housing is already allowed on-site and asked
the board what material change was before them.
“I don’t think it is alarming,” he said. “It is just a
change to the format of the already-permitted housing use.”
City Planner David Sulkis said the proposed regulation would
allow mixed-use with commercial and residential in the same building, and the
applicant is asking for a height reduction.
“Right now, buildings can go up to 120 feet, but the request
would limit these new mixed buildings to 85 feet,” he said. “Another proposed
change is making the minimum lot size 4 acres to permit ownership subdivision
like what is used by Target.”
Sulkis added the smaller lot sizes still function as part of
the mall, and the proposed parking change would not base calculations on gross
square footage but would section off areas of the mall based on use, such as
retail, warehouse, or residential.
John Knuff, representing Centennial, told the board during
the Sept. 21 meeting that the proposed changes were in the best interest of
Centennial and the city for the mall to thrive since neither side wanted the
property to be vacant.
“While this application is a very modest first step, it
opens the next step in taking the next bigger step together,” he said. “We want
to do something (that makes) the center productive, makes the city proud, adds
vitality to the center.”
Knuff said the changes are modest tweaks to the regulation,
and it will have a critical impact at the mall whether the P&Z approves or
denies the application.
“But in terms of the application itself,” said Knuff to the
board on Sept. 21. “In the overall scale and context of the existing shopping
center and design and regulations, it is a very modest request we are making.”
The redevelopment
project of the Connecticut Post Mall is planned to be completed in
phases. Phase 1 would include about 300 apartments around a central plaza in
the area formerly occupied by Sears Auto Service. Phase 2 includes demolishing
the entire wing of the mall formerly occupied by Sears, which would free up
450,000 square feet of commercial space.
Kearney said after listening to the previous proceedings
four or five times, she wished she had voted for the original plan that
features housing being more distinct from the mall area.
“I would prefer to see a new tenant in the Sears building
that would bring jobs, possibly a tech company, and add housing in the rear,”
she said.
Quish said the mall is a gateway to the city.
“I have become convinced that the mall owner wants highest
and best use of the property for the city,” Quish said. “If their proposed
solution to re-imagining the mall doesn't work for Milford, it won’t work for them
either.
“The relationship between the city, board and mall is
symbiotic,” he added. “And I don’t think there will be much of a downside to
implementing the regulation change.”
'Difficult decisions' as Biden, Democrats shrink plan to $2T
LISA MASCARO, AP Congressional Correspondent’
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the calendar slipping toward a new
deadline, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is warning that “difficult decisions must
be made” to trim President Joe Biden’s expansive plans for reimagining the
nation’s social service programs and tackling climate change.
Democrats are laboring to chisel the $3.5 trillion package
to about $2 trillion, a still massive proposal that would be paid for with
higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. And with no votes to spare, they
must somehow satisfy the party's competing moderate and progressive lawmakers
needed for any deal.
It’s all raising tough questions that Biden and his party
are rushing to answer by the deadline for passage, Oct. 31.
Should Biden keep the sweep of his proposals — free
childcare and community college; dental, vision and hearing aid benefits for
seniors — but for just a few years? Or should the ideas be limited to a few,
key health and education programs that could become more permanent? Should the
climate change effort go bold — a national clean energy standard — or stick
with a more immediate, if incremental, strategy?
“The fact is, that if there are fewer dollars to spend there
are choices to be made,” Pelosi said Tuesday at the Capitol.
Republicans are dead set against the package. So Biden and
his party are left to deliberate among themselves along familiar lines,
centrists and moderates, with all eyes still on two key holdouts, Joe Manchin
of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, whose votes are crucial in the
evenly divided Senate.
Time is growing short for the president on what has been his
signature domestic policy initiative, first unveiled in March and now having
consumed much of his fitful first year in office.
Biden’s approval rating is down after a turbulent summer,
and impatience is growing, particularly among House lawmakers heading into
tough elections and eager to show voters an accomplishment — unlike senators
whose staggered six-year terms leave only some of them facing reelection in
2022.
At the White House, Biden agrees that “this is really the
point where decisions need to be made," Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.
Conversations are quietly underway with Manchin and Sinema,
who continue to infuriate their colleagues by holding up the package while
still not making fully clear what they are willing to support or reject.
“The president’s view is that we’re continuing to make
progress, we’re having important discussions about what a package that is
smaller than $3.5 trillion would look like,” said Psaki. But it's time to get
it settled.
The debate among Democrats is part substance, part strategy.
The White House and lawmakers are considering which proposals would bring the
most benefit to the most Americans — and also how best to accomplish their
goals with fewer dollars.
On one side, the progressives argue for keeping the broad
scope of Biden's vision, with many different programs, even if they expire in
just a few years. The idea is to view shorter terms as an opportunity, with
lawmakers free to campaign in the future for their renewal.
Progressive leaders said Tuesday they are willing to reduce
the duration of some programs to less than 10 years as a way to lower costs,
but they are unwilling to yield on their core priorities of child care, health
care, climate change action and others.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, leader of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus, said their priorities are “not some fringe
wish list” but the agenda the president and Democrats campaigned on.
Pelosi, though, appeared to side with some of the more
centrist lawmakers, who have argued that it would better to narrow the scope,
building on the expansions that have been underway with the coronavirus aid
packages and making them more lasting.
Pelosi has been a staunch supporter of expanding the
Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to more people and in more
states. That law is her own legacy legislative accomplishment. However, with
the dollar topline for the big bill now shrunk, that could bump against Bernie
Sanders of Vermont and other progressives who are intent on expanding seniors'
Medicare to include vision, dental and hearing aid services — among his own top
priorities.
“Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from members is
to do fewer things well,” Pelosi said in a letter this week to colleagues.
Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state, chair of the New
Democrat Coalition, made a similar push during a meeting of moderate lawmakers
last month at the White House.
The group has focused on just a few main priorities,
including two that emerged in the COVID-19 aid packages — extending the child
tax credits that are funneling about $300 a month to most families but expire
in December, and making permanent the higher health care subsidies that were
offered during the pandemic to those who buy their insurance through the
Affordable Care Act. Those moderates also want to expand the ACA into the
states, largely those run by Republican governors, that have rejected it under
previous federal funding proposals.
DelBene told Biden they should aim to “do fewer things
better,” said an aide familiar with the private conversation and granted anonymity
to discuss it.
What remains clear, however, is that nothing will move
Biden's big package until Manchin and Sinema are on board, and that remains a
work in progress.
Manchin's priorities are largely in line with his party on
the tax side of the equation, according to a memo he shared over the summer
with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, but diverge on spending. A Democrat
familiar with the document was granted anonymity to confirm its veracity.
Manchin proposed a 25% corporate tax rate, which is close to
the 26.5% rate proposed in the House bill, both an increase from what is now a
21% rate. He also is on board with a top individual income tax rate of 39.6%,
which Bide has proposed on those earning beyond $400,000 a year, or $450,000
for couples.
But the senator from coal-centered West Virginia who chairs
the Energy and Natural Resources Committee wants more control over his party's
climate fighting strategies, and he also wants income limits on many of the
social services, something many progressives oppose.
On a call with reporters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts said income should not be a factor in many of the services being
proposed.
“We don’t ask how much money you make before you drive on a
road,” she said. “These are public goods that we create.”
Report: Offshore wind supply chain worth $109B over 10 years
WAYNE PARRY
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A group studying the economics of
offshore wind energy in the U.S. says building and operating the nascent
industry will be worth $109 billion to businesses in its supply chain over the
next 10 years.
The report by the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind comes
as states on both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico are moving to enter or expand
their role in the industry, and are making crucial decisions on what to spend
and where to spend it.
Multiple states, including New Jersey, want to become the
hub of the supply chain that will support offshore wind energy in the U.S.,
planning and building onshore support sites for manufacturing turbine blades
and other components of wind power.
The group, affiliated with the University of Delaware,
estimated the market at $70 billion just two years ago, but updated its
estimates as the industry continues to grow quickly.
One caveat: the report notes that most of the initial
components to be used for U.S. offshore wind projects will come from Europe. It
does not attempt to predict when or where a shift might occur.
The U.S. has set a goal of generating 30 gigawatts of power
from offshore wind by 2030 — enough to power over 10 million homes.
Supply chain spending is already happening.
On Friday, Orsted and Eversource signed an $86 million
supply chain contract with Riggs Distler & Company, Inc. to build
foundation components for wind turbines for New York’s Sunrise Wind project off
Montauk Point on Long Island that will be able to power 600,000 homes.
In August, those two companies also signed a deal with
Kiewit Offshore Services for the first American-built offshore wind substation,
which will be a part of the same Long Island project. The substation will be
constructed in Ingleside, Texas, near Corpus Christi.
“These investments have been a vision for a long time, but
they are becoming a reality today,” said Tory Mazzola, an Orsted spokesman.
New Jersey has often said it wants to be the east coast hub
for offshore wind, and is building onshore manufacturing and assembly
facilities it hopes will be used by many projects.
“We believe the offshore wind industry is going to bring
billions of dollars into New Jersey,” said Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the
state Board of Public Utilities. “It’s a lot of money, to be sure.”
The expenditures forecast in the report include nearly $44
billion on 2,057 offshore wind turbines and towers; $17 billion on 2,110
offshore turbine and substation foundations; nearly $13 billion on nearly 5,000
miles (8,000 kilometers) of cables; $10.3 billion on 53 on-and-offshore
substations; as well as other construction and operational costs.
It also projects the amount of power states will generate
from offshore wind by 2030. New York is forecast to have 9,314 megawatts; New
Jersey to have 7,558; Massachusetts to have 5,604; Virginia to have 5,200;
Connecticut to have 2,108; Maryland to have 1,568; and Rhode Island to have
1,000.
Currently, 8,000 megawatts worth of power are under contract
in those states.
“Collectively, these state commitments are equivalent to the
electrical capacity of 32 large nuclear power plants, an extraordinary (capital
expenditure) that requires many suppliers,” the report read.
The initiative describes itself as an independent project at
the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment that
supports the advancement of offshore wind. It receives funding from
organizations including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Offshore wind energy is viewed as a way to combat climate
change by providing the globe with cleaner energy. At a forum in Atlantic City
last week on offshore wind, New Jersey’s environmental protection commissioner
said the industry will come with adverse impacts as well as benefits, and said
much more study is needed about its impact on the ocean and sea life.