Stamford expands its scrutiny of BLT properties, asking for data on high-rises built like Allure
STAMFORD — City officials are expanding their investigation
into South End developer Building and Land Technology after a terrace at one of
its high-rises collapsed because of structural problems, according to a letter
sent by Mayor Caroline Simmons to BLT Co-President Ted Ferrarone.
After weeks of only examining the conditions at Allure — the
Harbor Point high-rise at the heart of Stamford's inquiry — Simmons wrote to
Ferrarone Friday requesting "BLT's full cooperation with the city" as
it examines the conditions at properties that share structural similarities to
Allure.
"While I am grateful for the cooperation and
information provided to date in response to city inquiries related to the
Allure building itself, it is critically important that the city and the public
be assured that other buildings are safe," Simmons wrote Friday in her
letter to Ferrarone.
A 20-foot-by-15-foot section of the fifth-floor outdoor
terrace at Allure collapsed on Feb. 1, temporarily leaving parts of the parking
garage and building amenity spaces underneath the terrace unusable. No one was
injured, and there was no damage to personal property.
The situation ignited debate among
residents and the Stamford Board of Representatives almost
immediately; board members called for a broader look into the company's
construction practices, especially given the lion's share of property that BLT
owns in the South End and throughout the city.
Twin investigations into Allure conducted by firms hired by
the city and BLT respectively linked the fallen concrete at Allure to anomalies
within a concrete slab inside its parking garage. Engineering consultants from
WJE — hired by the city — and Henderson Rodgers Structural Engineers — hired by
BLT — identified
"missing tendons" in a concrete slab at Allure.
Henderson Rodgers, which also worked with BLT to engineer
the building during its early days, designed the slab to include the missing
supports, according to documents BLT provided to the city. However, a visual
review conducted by WJE showed that the tendons were missing from the final
structure.
To that end, Simmons and her administration have requested
documents from BLT, including a list of any buildings that contain
"post-tension" concrete slabs designed by Henderson Rodgers, built by
Baker Concrete or otherwise reviewed by the same sub-contractors or firms that
worked on Allure. For those properties, the city demanded that BLT provide
design plans, shop drawings, inspection reports and building maintenance
records.
More straightforwardly, Simmons asked that BLT allow city
engineers to access and review "all the exposed concrete slabs for these
structures or other areas as determined by the city's independent
engineer" and furnish any necessary tests of the slabs in question.
When asked for comment, BLT spokesperson Rob Blanchard said,
"We're currently in receipt of and reviewing the mayor's letter. The
safety, health, and wellbeing of our residents remains our top priority and we
look forward to continuing to work with (the) mayor's administration throughout
this process."
When the curving stone pavilion at the newly commissioned Rocky
Neck State Park was constructed in the 1930s, it was one of thousands of
federally backed relief projects that heralded a new era of parks in America.
As a symbol of the building’s place among Connecticut’s
growing park system, workers gathered timbers from each of the state’s existing
parks for the wooden columns that line its rustic interior, according to East
Lyme Town Historian Liz Kuchta.
Nearly a century later, however, those columns support an
aging roof that needs to be replaced, part of nearly $30 million in repairs
that park officials say are needed at Rocky Neck State Park — the most for any
one park in the state.
“It’s like anything else, you look at the amount of money
that has to be spent and you go, ‘Well, I can’t see them wasting the time’,”
Kuchta said. “But we need to preserve our past — and this building, it’s an
absolutely gorgeous building.”
Across Connecticut’s system of 139 state parks and forests,
delays in needed maintenance and repairs have piled up for decades, officials
say, impacting everything from roads, toilets and campgrounds to historic
mansions, museum halls and New Deal-era public works projects.
At a February appearance at Sherwood Island State Park in
Westport, Gov. Ned Lamont pledged
$55 million through his annual budget request to reduce the backlog of
needed repairs by funding some of the park system’s most “basic” needs.
That commitment, if approved by lawmakers, would cover just
a fraction of the estimated costs of repairing Connecticut’s park
infrastructure, according to a review of budget requests and other records by
Hearst Connecticut Media.
Over the last three years, park officials have identified
nearly $130 million in necessary maintenance, repairs and other infrastructure
projects at parks, according to those records. Some of the state’s oldest and
most popular parks along the shoreline — such as Rocky Neck, Sherwood Island
and Hammonasset Beach — are most in need of upgrades, the records show.
Huge footprint
Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection, said during the governor’s event that the issue of
delayed maintenance is pervasive across the parks system, which covers roughly
7 percent of the state’s land area and includes nearly 1,000 buildings.
“It’s a huge footprint in terms of real estate,” Dykes said.
“Unfortunately, for many decades we have suffered from some underinvestment in
maintaining and refurbishing those facilities to bring them up to the standards
that the public enjoys.”
In addition to individual projects, DEEP officials
anticipated that by 2026 the agency would have to spend $1 million to repair
park bridges, $1.5 million to replace shower buildings and $2 million in upgrades
to make facilities accessible for people with disabilities.
Nearly $1 for every $10 in infrastructure needs identified
by park officials would be to build or replace park bathrooms. The agency also
planned to spend $575,000 on waterless toilets across the park system.
“As the mother of small children, I know what it’s like with
a toilet-training child to be in a port-a-potty, it’s not that fun.” Dykes
said. “We know how important having shiny new bathrooms are for our campgrounds
and Hammonasset and Rocky Neck.”
Adding to the strain on Connecticut was the surge
in visitors during the pandemic, which prompted Dykes to remark in
February that some state parks “are being loved to death.”
Passport to Parks
Eric Hammerling, executive director of the Connecticut Forest
and Park Association, said that before Lamont’s commitment of new funds to the
parks, the state’s investment in the system had not kept pace with the growing
number of annual visitors.
When cuts were made in the park system to fill budget
shortfalls during former Gov. Dannel Malloy’s administration, Hammerling noted
that DEEP
reduced maintenance staff and closed campgrounds and visitor centers.
Overall, he said full-time park staffing levels remain at about half of what
they were during the 1980s.
In part to provide a steady source of funding for parks,
lawmakers enacted a Passport to Parks program in 2017 that removed park
entrance fees for Connecticut residents, and replaced them with additional fees
on motor vehicle registrations.
While the program brings in about $21 million a year, a
spokesman for the agency said the funds are primarily dedicated to park staff
and operational expenses, not capital projects.
To tally the full list of projects on the park system’s
maintenance backlog, Hearst reviewed DEEP’s capital budget requests submitted
as part of Lamont’s budget, as well as a “working document” developed by the
agency along with the Division of Construction Services and the Office of
Policy and Management to track infrastructure projects.
The agency has not determined which of those projects would
be first in line for funding through Lamont’s $55 million commitment, if
approved, according to DEEP spokesman Will Healey.
“We are in the process of scoring and prioritizing projects,
which we expect to complete before the fiscal year starts in July,” Healey said
in an email Thursday. “Pending approval of the governor’s budget, we will
finish our prioritization and prepare to begin work on these projects in FY
23.”
Along with DEEP’s routine maintenance needs such as building
bathrooms and repaving roads, the park system also faces millions of dollars in
needed repairs of historic structures.
One of the oldest structures in the park’s system, the Eolia
Mansion at Harkness Memorial State Park, dates to 1906 and needs over
$1 million in electrical work and other upgrades.
Nearby, DEEP has planned $1 million in historic improvements
at Seaside State Park in Waterford, although that is just a fraction of
the total
estimated cost of rehabilitating the former sanatorium located on the
property.
Other historic park structures in need of renovations
include the Chase Cottage at Topsmead State Forest in Litchfield and the
Heublein Tower at Talcott Mountain State Park in Simsbury.
At Rocky Neck, however, Kutcha said the long backlog of
repairs — including the roof over the Ellie Mitchell Pavilion — carries added
significance in a park that was built largely by workers in the Works Progress
Administration and other federal programs that provided the first large-scale
investments in public recreation.
“You hate to see something like that lost, and once a roof
goes, then the rest of the house follows,” Kuchta said. “It’s something that
needs to be preserved for the future.”
Shelton mayor: City eyes condemnation as Constitution Blvd. work looms
SHELTON — Work should begin on extending Constitution
Boulevard West — the key to developing land known as the Mas property — on or
around April 15, according to Mayor Mark Lauretti. Lauretti said this date
remains in place even as city officials plan to use condemnation to acquire 55
Blacks Hill Road, a property which sits right in the middle of the proposed
work area.
“We are going to condemn the land. Let a judge decide,”
Lauretti said after admitting that negotiations with the property owners have
stalled.
Lauretti said he first contacted the owners of 55 Blacks
Hill Road — which the mayor says has been vacant for several years — before
onset of the pandemic. He said the city made an offer to the owners, which was
rejected. The mayor said he could not state the amount offered by the city at
this point.
“They said it was not enough,” said Lauretti, adding that
the owners never returned with a counteroffer. “(The resolution of this condemnation)
should be very quick.”
The Board of Aldermen, at a meeting last month, approved the
city’s purchase of 56 Blacks Hill Road for $590,000, with the cost being
covered through use of American Rescue Plan funds.
Construction of the road — which has been discussed for
decades — is key to the planned development of the city-owned Mas property into
what Lauretti says will become a manufacturing hub. Over the past month,
Lauretti said the city has sold more than 30 of the nearly 70-acre site to two
separate businesses that plan to relocate there.
Lauretti said the road work will cost around $5 million,
with much if not all covered by the state.
Shelton state representatives Jason Perillo and Ben McGorty
and state Sen. Kevin Kelly worked alongside Lauretti to help secure $5 million
in funding for the road extension in the state’s 2021 bond package. The funding
will be available once approved by the state Bond Commission, according to
Perillo.
Extending the roadway and use of the Mas property has been
on the table for years, but Lauretti began the most recent push last April when
he presented preliminary plans for creating the road leading into the
city-owned land, which would be developed into a manufacturing corporate park.
Major construction improvements proposed for Route 85
The Connecticut Department of Transportation has
proposed changes to Route 85 in Salem and Montville that include widening
the roads, a new roundabout and replacing two existing bridges.
The state department conducted a virtual informational
meeting this past week to show the public the preliminary designs and
answer any questions. Members of DOT and Benesch, the project's prime
engineering consultant, spoke throughout various portions of the presentation.
Kevin Flemming, a DOT transportation planner, said the meeting
was a way to gather public input as required by the Connecticut Environmental
Policy Act.
The $38 million proposed project is split into
four separate sections and begins in Salem just south of the
intersection of routes 82 and 85 and extends to just south of the intersection
of routes 85 and 161 in Montville.
Steven Drechsler, the project manager for Benesch, said the
main purpose of the project is to improve traffic along all four project
sections by increasing the road's shoulder width to a minimum
of 5 feet and a maximum of 8 feet to allow drivers to bypass
vehicles making turns. He said areas within the project limits that are not
being improved have been improved through past projects.
Drechsler said 80% of the money to pay for the $38 million
project will come from federal funds and 20% will come from the
state.
The first
project section begins just south of the roundabout at routes 82 and
85 in Salem and extends a mile to Horse Pond Road. Jefferey Koerner,
Benesch's lead highway engineer, said this section averaged 21 crashes from
July 2018 through June 2021, with most occurring at the
intersection between Woodland Drive and Forsyth Drive. Koerner said
widening the road in this area would allow cars going south to bypass another
car making a left turn.
Other improvements to this section include improving sight
lines and replacing the bridge over Fraser Brook so that it
has enough room beneath for better flow of waters associated
with major storms.
The second
section is located on Route 85 near the picnic area in
Salem and ends just south of Valley Drive. Little will be done to
this area apart from widening it to provide consistent lane and shoulder
widths.
Koerner said the third
section runs from Fox Hollow Drive to Beckwith Road in Montville. In
this area, the state is proposing to realign the two roadways at the
intersection of Route 85, Salem Turnpike and Day Road.
Showing pictures of the section's existing conditions,
Koerner showed one image where a stream runs adjacent to the roadway. To
widen the road at the location with Latimer Brook running parallel to the
route, a segment of the channel is proposed to be realigned. Koerner said this
will minimize impacts on the wetlands on both sides of the road.
The bridge over Latimer Brook in the third
section also is proposed to be replaced for the same reasons as the bridge
over Fraser Brook. In order to maintain traffic during construction of these
two bridges, Drechsler said the plan is to utilize a temporary bridge
constructed east of the existing bridges and construct a temporary bypass road
to access it. Koerner said the bridges, however, will not be constructed
at the same time.
Drechsler said the total project wetland impact covered 0.43
acre.
Located north of Chesterfield Road and extending to the
intersection of routes 85 and 161 in Montville, the fourth
project section is the busiest. Koerner said it averaged a
traffic count of 16,000 vehicles per day in 2019 and had 25 recorded crashes
between July 2018 and June 2021.
As a result, the project proposes to improve two
intersections in this section. The first is where Chesterfield Road
and Grassy Hill Road meet opposite each other at Route 85. As it is,
Route 85 has a single lane north and a single lane south, with no turn
lanes at this intersection. The proposed project will incorporate a left-turn
lane on the southbound side of Route 85 onto Chesterfield Road, a left
turn lane to go onto Grassy Hill Road, and an additional right lane on
the northbound side of Route 85 to turn onto Chesterfield Road.
The project also is relocating the Route 161
intersection from its present location to approximately 1,200 feet south to
align opposite Deer Run, turning it into a single-lane roundabout. Koerner
said there were 39 crashes in the corridor south of Route
161 between July 2018 and June 2021 with most around the intersection
of routes 161 and 85.
Koerner said Route 161 had to be relocated because
a pond and historic site surround the present location, making it difficult to
add turning lanes. He said the advantage of a roundabout is the
drivers experience a short stop versus the more pronounced stop they would
make at a traffic signal, improving traffic operations.
Right of way impacts associated with the project include
partial strip acquisitions for the widening of Route 85 and the realignment of
Route 161; easements to slope; and temporary construction easements for the
bridge replacements.
Dennis MacDonald of DOT said impacted property owners
would receive a letter of intent to acquire their land along
with a property acquisition map. Negotiations then would take place until an
agreement is reached. MacDonald said if an agreement cannot be reached, the
state could use the power of eminent domain to get the property rights to keep
construction plans on schedule. But if that were the case, he said the
property owners would still get to negotiate the offer in court.
Drechsler said construction is anticipated to begin in
the summer of 2024 and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026.
The project arrives as others in the region have yet to
finish. During a question-and-answer session after the presentation,
someone asked if the Route 85 project shuts down any hope for the
completion of construction on Route 11. Drechsler said improvements needed to
Route 85 are independent of whether Route 11 is ever completed. He said the
project on Route 85 would not preclude the completion of Route 11, should it be
pursued in the future.
To comment on any environmental concerns or ask questions
about Project 85-146, the public has until March 30 to email the state
Department of Transportation at DOTProject85-146@ct.gov or
call (860) 944-1111.
Connecticut among host of East Coast states vying for piece of offshore wind investment
In parts of downtown New London, you can hear the echo of
the machinery being used to drive piles around State Pier as work progresses on
a $235 million investment to ready the facility's two piers for the arrival of
offshore wind components and the vessels that carry them.
The Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, R.I., is
similarly in the midst of a planned $234 million upgrade project, a portion of
which involves the rehabilitation and extension of a pier that can accommodate
the needs of the offshore wind industry.
With a $40 million investment from Danish wind company
Ørsted and its partner Eversource, the Port of Providence is creating a new
facility to be used for the fabrication and assembly of foundation components
for offshore wind projects.
Examples of large investments in ports can be found
up the Northeast coastline in anticipation of work for the burgeoning
offshore wind industry. States are turning more and more to wind power and
repurposing or building new ports to be used for staging and assembly of
turbine parts or repair and maintenance facilities.
“All of the ports that can be utilized will be utilized,”
said Steven King, managing director for the Quonset Development Corporation, or
QDC, a quasi-state agency that serves as Rhode Island's de facto
port authority.
The QDC oversees the 3,200-acre Quonset Business Park,
which already has more than 210 companies, nearly 13,000 workers and is
one of the top automobile importers in North America.
The QDC is also the terminal operator for the Port of
Davisville — the state's only public port — in the business park.
Plans are in the works for a major investment to upgrade its entire facility,
which includes two piers. King said there are plans to build a third pier to
add more berthing capabilities and space to accommodate offshore wind
businesses.
The Port of Davisville is strategically located near
offshore wind lease areas where there are 2,510 megawatts worth of
projects in the pipeline. It was also the key port for development of
Block Island Wind, the five-turbine, 30-megawatt farm developed by
Deepwater Wind that became the United States' first operational offshore wind
farm when it came online in 2016.
Quonset, already bustling with 200 ships a
year, has signed an agreement with Ørsted and Eversource to homeport
five crew transport vessels.
King said there will be competition among the states along
the Northeast coast.
“We’re really focused on Port of Davisville being a
logistics hub,” King said. “We’re trying to position ourselves to be operations
and maintenance in the long term. That’s where we see the jobs 25 years into
the future.”
Opportunities for ports
The offshore industry was jump started by the Biden
administration with a plan to have offshore wind farms producing 30 gigawatts
of energy — enough to power 10 million homes — by 2030.
The power generated by wind turbines is measured in
megawatts and the size of the turbines determines how much power is produced.
The planned 62-turbine Vineyard Wind I project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard,
for example, is using new General Electric Haliade-X turbines with a diameter
of 722 feet that will generate 800 megawatts of electricity annually, enough to
power 400,000 homes. Block Island Wind Farm’s five turbines generate 30
megawatts, enough to power 17,000 homes.
States have established nearly 45,000 megawatts of offshore
wind procurement to date, according to the American Clean Power Association.
Developers plan to bring about 10,300 megawatts of power online by 2026
with a dozen different offshore wind projects, most in federal waters off
the East Coast.
John Henshaw, executive director of the Connecticut Port
Authority, agreed that the offshore wind industry is changing the face of ports
up and down the coast. The state commitments for procurement of offshore wind
as a green energy source, paired with significant state and federal funding to
support infrastructure projects, “is making ports think about what role they
might play in this evolving industry,” he said.
The Connecticut Port Authority is overseeing the upgrade
project at State Pier in New London that is funded jointly by the state and
partners Ørsted and Eversource. It is to be used as a staging and assembly
facility and one of the few ports that will be able to accommodate the massive
472-foot, $500 million wind turbine installation vessel known as Charybdis,
which is under construction in Texas.
The State Pier project is expected to be completed in 2023
and in time to provide service to Ørsted and Eversource’s Southfork Wind project,
a 130-megawatt, 12-turbine wind farm off Long Island. That project broke ground
in East Hampton, N.Y., in February and will feed power into the Long Island
Power Authority grid.
New York has a goal of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind
power by 2035 and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced a proposal to
invest $500 million in offshore wind.
Southfork will be dwarfed by other projects in the pipeline.
The 800-megawatt, 62-turbine Vineyard Wind 1, a joint
venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners,
has broken ground on what is expected to be the nation’s first commercial
scale offshore wind farm. The farm is expected to deliver power to
Massachusetts next year. Avangrid Renewables is also developing Park City Wind,
a 804-megawatt project named after the city of Bridgeport. Avangrid is leasing
space in Bridgeport’s Barnum Landing for a construction and staging location.
That project is projected to produce about 14% of Connecticut’s electricity.
Ørsted and Eversource also have in the works the
704-megawatt Revolution Wind that is expected to provide 304 megawatts of power
to Connecticut and 400 megawatts to Rhode Island by 2025. Sunrise Wind, a
924-megawatt project also developed by Ørsted and Eversource, will provide power
to New York.
State Pier in New London will provide service to all three
of Ørsted and Eversource’s projects. Delivery ships will arrive with the
various parts of the wind turbines — the towers and blades — where they
will be assembled and transported to the offshore wind farms and placed on
foundations.
Advantages in New London
Connecticut is not alone in development of its ports with
the aid of offshore wind investments. The Marine Commerce Terminal in New
Bedford, Mass., lays claim to being the first port facility in the country
designed to support construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind
projects.
Ørsted and Eversource signed a $86 million supply chain
contract to construct foundation components for wind turbines at the Port of
Coeymans, south of Albany.
At Port Jefferson in Suffolk County, N.Y., Ørsted and
Eversource are creating a regional operations and maintenance hub and will host
the ECO Edison, the first American-flagged service operation vessel. The port
will include warehouse space and a 60,000-square-foot facility to house staff
from South Fork and Sunrise Wind projects
“These are big developments happening. If you include the
New England, the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, those states are targeting
about 26 gigawatts of energy. It’s a lot of energy that will built over the
next decade or so,” said Michael Ausere, vice president of business development
for Eversource.
Ausere joined David Ortiz, Ørsted’s head of market affairs
for New England, for a recent interview with The Day to discuss ongoing
projects by the joint venture partners.
Ausere and Ortiz both reiterated that the lack of any
obstacles, such as bridges, gives New London a clear advantage over other
deepwater ports.
“State Pier has strategic significance not only to Ørsted
and Eversource but to this industry regionally. It doesn’t mean there aren’t
other port facilities we will be utilizing in other functions that complement
what we’re doing at State Pier,” Ortiz said.
Henshaw, of the Connecticut Port Authority, said he
sees the developments as a good thing so long as ports have additional capacity
to take on those roles or are positioned to pivot to accommodate a new
business.
“Ports are also seeking to build additional capacity. Many
states are making significant investments in new or existing port
facilities — with some even committing to purpose-built offshore wind port
projects,” Henshaw said.
“The one caveat is they should keep their eyes on the long
game," he said. "Investments should be made not only for the
wind industry but for what comes after."
If momentum for offshore wind slows, Henshaw said port
improvements such as the project at State Pier will have greatly increased
capabilities relative to general and heavy-lift cargo, resulting in expanded
future business opportunities.
“New London will be well positioned for decades to come,” he
said.
Paul Whitescarver, executive director of the Southeastern
Connecticut Enterprise Region, or seCTer, said there are unused commercial
waterfront properties along the Thames River that could be utilized for
different elements of the offshore wind industry.
SeCTer’s efforts to develop an Offshore Wind Industry
Cluster was one of the finalists for the U.S. Economic Development
Administration’s $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. SeCTer
received $500,000 to fine-tune its proposal to be eligible for the second phase
of federal awards of between $20 million and $100 million. Whitescarver said at
some point the European offshore wind companies will want to bring their
developers and suppliers to the U.S. and the region should be in a position to
“roll out the red carpet.”
“Our goal is to bring economic development to the entire
region and to diversify industry,” he said.
Special tax district unlocks large, mixed-use development in Cheshire
Headline-grabbing proposals for a mall and outlets on an
undeveloped, 107-acre piece of Cheshire’s north end came and went in recent
decades.
This month, bulldozers, excavators and other equipment are
pushing into the wooded area, preparing utilities that will unlock the land for
a large development of housing, retail and commercial uses.
The key to the project finally getting off the ground is a
series of agreements by the town to repay the developers of “Stone Bridge
Crossing” up to $7 million in costs for sewer, water and other infrastructure
investment.
The Stone Bridge Crossing property is part of a slice of
Cheshire cut off from the bulk of town by Interstate 691. There was no direct
access for water and sewer, making utilities installation a major impediment. A
consultant working for the current property owners estimated $8.5 million in
infrastructure costs.
A series of agreements secured in the past two years allow
the town to reimburse developers for the infrastructure investment from new
taxes generated by the project. It’s what’s known as a tax increment financing
(TIF) deal.
That money comes with strings.
The development needs to add at least $50 million in value
to the property before reimbursement can begin, and at least $15 million of
that needs to come from commercial construction.
The property owners – Tri-Star Development and Miller
Napolitano Wolff – have an approved master plan allowing development in three
phases, including:
• Up to 140 homes
• 300 apartments or condos and a 5,500-square-foot gas
station/convenience store
• 90 age-restricted multifamily units, 19,500 square feet of
medical office, a 150-room hotel and three free-standing restaurants.
Cheshire Economic Development Director Andrew Martelli said
these phases don’t need to come in any order. Tri-star and Miller Napolitano
Wolff are close to securing a residential developer interested in building out
the first phase, Martelli said. He has yet to hear of confirmed builders for
other phases.
Attempts to reach representatives of the landowners were
unsuccessful.
Matthew S. Gilchrist, co-owner of Southbury-based EG Homes,
said he expects to shortly finalize the purchase of a 27-acre portion on the
Stone Bridge Crossing property, then in April begin preparations for high-end
duplexes and four-unit townhomes.
Gilchrist said dwellings will be built to order, likely 24
to 30 per year. He expects to begin selling sites in June or July. The homes
would be ready for occupancy in early 2023.
“We are a conservative builder and don’t build a lot on
spec,” Gilchrist said. “We build to customers’ wants and needs as they come
through the door.”
With infrastructure work underway, Martelli said he is
confident of the development’s prospects, despite the long history of failed
proposals that stretch back to the 1980s, including for a mall and shopping
outlets.
“It’s almost been a reality so many times, I’m almost
holding my breath,” Martelli said.
Goman+York Property Advisors, which produced a feasibility
study for the landowners, estimated the final proposal will add $167.8 million
in market value, yielding about $3.9 million in annual property taxes.
Even after factoring in education costs for children of new
residents, as well as other municipal services, the town will still gain $1.6
million in annual new taxes, as well as $251,972 from new motor vehicle taxes,
Goman+York estimated.
New businesses on-site would create 468 jobs, according to
the consultant.
Cheshire Town Council member Tim Slocum said the town needs
new housing stock and development to remain vibrant.
“A place with growth is a positive place and Cheshire is a
positive place in general,” Slocum said. “The bottom line is nothing would have
happened without the infrastructure development.”
A special tax district enabling Cheshire to reimburse up to $7 million of infrastructure costs for the mixed-use Stone Bridge Crossing development covers a lot more than that project’s 107 acres.
In 2019, the Cheshire Town Council adopted a 329-acre
Interchange Zone Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, which has its center
at the intersection of Interstate 691 and Route 10.
Now, Cheshire is negotiating with the state of Connecticut
to acquire 58 acres of state-owned land in the TIF district.
Cheshire Economic Development Director Andrew Martelli said
the details of the agreement are largely settled. Cheshire would pay $1,000 to
cover legal costs of the transfer and would be required to develop the property
within five years.
The state would get the proceeds of any sale, minus town
expenses toward securing development.
The state would also get to sign off on development plans,
Martelli said. The town benefits from newly-generated tax revenue.
If Cheshire’s Town Council agrees, the town would use a
request-for-proposal process to identify a developer.
The addition of sewer and water connections to the
neighboring Stone Bridge Crossing project will greatly ease the addition of
water and sewer to the 58-acre parcel, Martelli noted.
HARTFORD — The redevelopment of a long-blighted corner northwest of
Dunkin’ Donuts Park — seen as part of a critical but broken link between
downtown Hartford and the city’s North End — is expanding in scope to include
two neighboring historic buildings.
The apartments and storefront space planned for city-owned
land at the corner of Main and Ann Uccello streets — where the Arrowhead Cafe
building stands — is now expected to take in the vacant “Flat Iron” building.
The redevelopment also would encompass another historic building just to the
west of the city’s property where there is a housing cooperative.
Fernando Betancourt, executive director of the
Hartford-based nonprofit San Juan Center Inc. and a partner in the
redevelopment, said purchase options are in place for the two buildings. He
declined to disclose negotiated prices. Adding the two buildings would nearly
double the number of apartments to 43 and push the project’s cost from $6
million to $17.5 million. Betancourt said bringing the two buildings into the
project made sense. Plans call for closing off a portion of Ann Uccello Street,
already dead-ended where it meets Main, for a pedestrian plaza. The plaza would
be tree-lined with outdoor seating with space for vendors or trucks and,
perhaps, a fountain.
An application has been made for $6.5 million through the
state’s Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant program. The
grant is seen as essential to closing the loop on the project’s financing. The
Capital Region Development Authority, which has helped finance housing projects
in and around downtown, also has said it could potentially provide funding.
Construction could begin later this year, Betancourt said,
although further city approvals would first be needed.
The “Flat Iron” building, so named because its shape
resembles a similar, more famous structure in New York City, is owned by
Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC, downtown’s largest commercial landlord.
Shelbourne paid $300,000 for the building in 2020.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the addition of the two
historic buildings only strengthens the city’s aspirations for the area.
Last summer, the city chose the San Juan Center and a
partner, Meriden-based builder Carabetta Cos. as the preferred developer for
the city-owned property, a project encompassing renovation of the Arrowhead
Cafe building and new construction on land next door.
“The city acquired the Arrowhead Cafe building because it
was a vacant, blighted structure that we wanted to bring back to life,” Bronin
said. “The opportunity to do that with the renovation and revitalization of the
Flat Iron building would be even more powerful.”
The project also pushes northward from redevelopment of
apartments, storefronts and parking garage space bustling around Dunkin’ Donuts
Park, the city’s minor league ballpark.
The project at Main and Ann Uccello is at the northwestern
end of a block diagonally across from the ballpark, which reflects the
architectural style and scale of the city in the late 1800s. The San Juan
Center and Carabetta are tackling a redevelopment seen as a key step in
stitching back together downtown and the city’s northern neighborhoods, torn
apart by the construction of I-84 in the early 1970s. But the redevelopment
also is a cog in a much broader strategy to push revitalization deeper into the
city’s northern neighborhoods.
The city has its eye on the wider area around the three-way
intersection of Main and Ann Uccello streets and Albany Avenue where it has
acquired wide swaths of mostly abandoned property.
And this summer, a study of the area, starting at the
three-way intersection and running north up Albany and Main is expected to
recommend the best options for further redevelopment.
Betancourt said the project is critical for the San Juan
Center because the Latino nonprofit that serves low- and moderate-income people
in Greater Hartford was founded in the same area six decades ago.
Betancourt also said the area gradually lost population
after the highway was built, and the area fell into disrepair.
“Now there is a possibility of reconnecting and increasing
the density,” Betancourt said, building up the number of both residents and
business owners, again making the area attractive and walkable. Betancourt said
the project at Main and Ann Uccello will be a mix of affordable and market-rate
rents, crucial to ensuring the new development will provide another housing
option to people already living in neighborhoods to the north. “All the pieces
start coming together,” Betancourt said. “Our priority is to create this as
brown and Black opportunities that start developing like everyone else.”
Betancourt said he also believes the demand for the
apartment rentals and storefront leases will be there.
Last year, the San Juan Center, headquartered in the same
historic block opposite the ballpark, completed a $1.35 million renovation of
its building. The project created 10 rentals and 2,500 square feet of
storefront space.
Betancourt said all 10 apartments leased without advertising
and there hasn’t been any turnover. One of the two storefronts is Semilla Cafe
+ Studio and the other is near to being leased, Betancourt said, declining to
identify the tenant.
Contracting Standards Chair Fights Back
The chair of the state Contracting Standards Board pushed
back Friday against a proposal by Gov. Ned Lamont, which he called an
“Orwellian” attempt to functionally end the contracting watchdog agency.
Since at least last year, the Lamont administration has been
at odds with the board, which has authority to halt state purchasing if they’re
deemed illegal. A budget implementer bill passed late in the session
effectively reduced
the agency’s operating funds by $400,000 and Lamont preserved that cut
in his budget proposal this year.
However, it was a separate proposal by the governor, which
board chair Lawrence Fox told lawmakers on the Appropriations Committee he
viewed as Orwellian. The language would add staff to the state Auditors of
Public Accounts and transfer the board’s enforcement authority there.
“Separate and apart from our funding, they actually end the
board– the contracting standards board. It’s a very — ‘Orwellian,’ is the word
that comes to my mind because it’s not straight up,” Fox said during a public
hearing.
Fox told lawmakers it bordered on irony that the proposal
was put together just days before stories about a federal investigation into
contracting projects overseen by a former administration official, Kosta
Diamantis, began to dominate the news cycle.
The board dates back to the contracting scandal that led to
the resignation and eventual conviction of former Gov. John Rowland on
corruption charges. Fox said the small watchdog agency has been a target for
governors of both parties.
He described a state government that does not take
competitive bidding rules seriously.
“Seventy four percent of the time, we’re issuing personal
service agreements in this state worth billions of dollars without competitive
contracting,” Fox said.
“There’s a problem,” he added later, “and we need to get on
top of it and we need the staff to do it. But the answer in this governor’s
bill is, ‘You know what? Let’s not have them do it all.’ So the impact, if this
goes through the way it is, is that the board is basically dead. It’ll exist in
name only.”
Sen. Cathy Osten, a Sprague Democrat who co-chairs the
committee, said lawmakers were considering moving the board under legislative
control.
“We’re trying to put the same guardrails around the state
Contracting Standards Board that are in theory around the ethics and the
freedom of information and some other organizations,” Osten said. “We’re just
trying to figure out that sweet spot that gives you autonomy to do what we
expect you to do and still allow us to protect you so you don’t get cut.”
Max Reiss, the governor’s chief spokesman, said the
administration looked forward to further discussions with the chair of the
contracting standards board and disputed the notion that Lamont’s proposal
weakened the oversight agency.
“Gov. Lamont’s proposal strengthens the mission and role of
the board with additional audit support, exactly the kind of measure which has
been supported by both Democrats and Republicans,” Reiss said. “Any
characterization the contrary is mistaken.”