UI planning $208 million transmission line upgrade between Southport and Bridgeport
The United Illuminating Co. announced Thursday it will spend
$208 million over the next seven years to upgrade 8.1 miles of transmission
line between Southport and Bridgeport along the Metro North railroad tracks.
In addition to upgrading the transmission lines, UI will
relocate the transmission lines from their current spot on the existing
railroad overhead wire systems and install them on independent utility poles
with new insulators, hardware and conductor adjacent to the railroad corridor.
“Right now, our engineers are working to complete planning
work for this project so we can begin construction in the third quarter of
2024,” said Hallie Rimkunas, the project manager overseeing the Fairfield
County project. Engineering work will be complete by the first quarter of 2024,
according to officials at the Orange-based utility.
Construction is expected to get underway in the third
quarter of 2024 and be completed sometime in 2029. The project needs approval
from the Connecticut Siting Council, the state agency that oversees the
placement of utility infrastructure.
Franklyn Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of
UI, said the project “is part of our overall investments in Connecticut to
upgrade our electric infrastructure and help ensure we meet the growing needs
of the customers and communities we serve.”
UI customers shouldn’t see the financial impact of the
upgrade trickle down to their monthly electric bills until after the project is
done.
Typically, electric utility infrastructure projects like
this one are paid for initially by the company securing funding first. Once the
project is completed and in service, the utility then goes before state utility
regulators to seek to recover its project costs.
The state’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority then
determines how much the utility can recover. Once that is determined, only then
do consumers see the increase in the transmission charges portion of their
monthly electric bills.
This is the third major transmission line upgrade announced
by the company since March. One involves upgrades
in Ansonia, Derby and Shelton, while the other is being done along
the Metro North railroad tracks between Milford and New Haven.
UI, which is a subsidiary of Orange-based Avangrid, has
3,600 miles of electric distribution lines and 138 miles of transmission lines
in the 17-town within its service territory. The utility serves about 341,000
customers in the Bridgeport and New Haven areas.
Expansion of dementia care facility Livewell underway in Southington
Jesse Buchanan
SOUTHINGTON — Construction is underway at Livewell on an
expansion that will add more buildings and more capabilities to the dementia
care facility on South Main Street.
Livewell leaders say new housing and the new Center for
Resilient Living will bring a fresh approach to helping those with dementia and
cognitive diseases.
Dorm-style housing will allow community living for dementia
patients as well as family members. The resilient living center will offer
classes, screenings and help for Livewell residents as well as those who live
elsewhere. After the buildings are completed next year, the facility’s existing
buildings will be renovated.
Livewell president Michael Smith said the campus upgrade was
inspired by community-style facilities in other countries, input from dementia
patients and college campuses. Livewell was built in 1992, Smith said, and the
work will help it remain a leader in cognitive disease care.
The nonprofit group was formerly known as the Alzheimer’s
Resource Center.
Options for living
Dementia care is often performed in memory care units of
assisted living facilities. Smith said the model is to have a secure and locked
wing of a larger facility and to bring in all the things residents need.
“That doesn’t feel robust, that doesn’t feel like living
well,” Smith said.
While Livewell will continue to have assisted living and
skilled care options, the new housing under construction allows for
apartment-style living. The entire campus will be secure, Smith said, using
technology such as wearable devices that can track where residents go. This
allows residents to use the whole property.
“Because you live with a diagnosis of dementia doesn’t mean
you have to resign yourself to withdrawing from community,” Smith said.
The buildings under construction are designed to imitate
four single family homes in a New England style. Each will have four
two-bedroom apartments and a third floor apartment for a non-patient resident,
such as an occupational therapy student.
They’ll be located by the Quinnipiac River and called the
river homes.
Getting rid of ‘wait list’
Heidi Gil, Livewell’s chief strategy officer, said the
facility often receives calls from families in a crisis. There’s not enough
screening and diagnosis for cognitive diseases, she said, which leads people to
ignore warning signs until a loved one is exhibiting major cognitive problems.
Even after a dementia diagnosis, there’s little care until
someone needs assisted living. Smith said this was like waiting until a cancer
patient was at stage four before starting treatment.
“No one would do that,” Smith said.
The resilient living center was designed to help residents
strengthen their brain and learn to live with the disease.
Some of the resources planned for the center are cognitive
health screenings, classes on cooking for brain health and physical fitness.
People shouldn’t have to wait until they’re in a facility to
get that type of help, Gil said. Livewell’s center will be open for
non-residents, can help people remain in their homes for longer and avoid a
scramble for help during a crisis.
“We don’t want there to be a wait list anymore. We want a
person who experiences dementia to get resources when they need them,” Smith
said. “You’ve got diabetes, here’s how your lifestyle changes. You’ve got
dementia, here’s how your lifestyle changes and what we can do to support you.”
Older styles of living with multiple people to a room will
be renovated to single-room accommodations. Although the facility is adding new
housing, its total living units will remain about the same due to configuration
changes.
While the existing residential buildings are under
renovation, Smith said intake will be restricted from this fall until the
spring of next year. By that time the resilient living center will be open.
Town approval for expansion
Livewell is able to borrow up to $90 million in tax-free
bonds for the work following support from the Town Council last summer. The
Internal Revenue Service requires a public hearing and vote of support from the
highest municipal body in order to issue the bonds.
Southington won’t be responsible for repaying the bonds.
Town leaders spoke in favor of Livewell’s expansion and the
services it provides following the vote.
Those with suggestions about how Livewell can serve the
population living with dementia can call the facility at 860-628-9000.
Centerplan, city of Hartford head back to court June 24 amid yearslong battle
Alawsuit against the original developer of Dunkin’ Donuts
Park will go back before a trial judge later this month, following a decision
by the Connecticut Supreme Court.
In the suit, filed by Centerplan Construction against the
city of Hartford, the North Haven-based contractor accused the city of
breaching its contract and sought more $90 million in damages. The city
terminated Centerplan from the project in May 2016 amid contractual disputes
and construction delays.
The city’s performance bond insurer, Arch Insurance Co.,
hired a new contractor to complete the stadium, which opened in April 2017 as
the home to Colorado Rockies’ minor league affiliate, the Yard Goats.
The city filed a counterclaim against Centerplan, blaming
the contractor for alleged construction delays.
A jury found the plaintiffs responsible for cost overruns
and delays, and ordered them to pay the city $335,000 in damages. Superior
Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher ruled that the contract gave the plaintiffs “the
power to direct the design” of the ballpark in addition to “the responsibility
for the architect's errors and omissions.”
However, in a 5-0 decision last month, the Supreme Court
overturned the decision, holding that the trial court’s ruling improperly took
questions of fact from the jury’s consideration. The case has been remanded to
Superior Court for a new trial.
The case will be heard in courtroom 409 at 95 Washington St.
in Hartford, before Superior Court Judge Cesar A. Noble. A hearing is set for
10 a.m. June 24.
The court has asked the parties to file a joint case
management report three business days before the conference. It should include
a summary by the plaintiffs and defendants of no more than 100 words each, a
jointly filed list of pending motions and a proposed scheduling order with
deadlines.
Kenneth R. Gosselin
WEST HARTFORD — The first rental construction in six years
in trendy West Hartford Center is expected to begin in a month as two forlorn
buildings are torn down to make way for luxury apartments that could test the
upper limits of the area’s asking rents.
The 48-unit apartment building will replace the buildings at
920 and 924 Farmington Avenue — an area considered the gateway to the heart of
the Center. The new rentals could be ready by the fall of 2023.
The mixed-use project — expected to cost more than $15
million — has been christened “The Byline” after a writer’s credit at the top
of a newspaper story. The name also draws on the town’s legacy of publishing
and being the birthplace of Noah Webster.
“So, the idea of ‘The Byline,’ as when you write a story, we
felt this was a new beginning for West Hartford, and we wanted to give it a
very classic name and also the feel of all the branding that goes with it,”
said Jeremy Staub, owner of Box 8 Creative in New Haven, a designer on the
project.
Developer Avner Krohn, of New Britain-based Jasko
Development, a major force in apartment construction in central Connecticut,
has partnered with Brian Zelman, a principal in Zelman Real Estate, and Richard
Korris, of Jaz-1 Investments on the 4-story project. A ground floor will
include 10,000 square feet of commercial space.
The one- and two-bedroom units are projected to rent for
between $3,000 and $4,000 a month. The apartments are expected to range in size
from about 700 square feet to 1,300 square feet, with two-bedroom units having
two baths.
“We believe that if any market in Hartford County has the
ability to achieve those rents, it is West Hartford Center,” Krohn said.
Krohn said the cost of construction is almost double per
square foot of other projects in central Connecticut, based on town building
requirements.
Inflation and supply-chain disruptions also are pushing up
costs, increasing prices for materials such as steel that is necessary for the
project, Krohn said.
“We are hopeful that future tenants will appreciate the
level of finishes, location and visibility,” Krohn said.
The Byline will be among the tallest structures in the
Center, second only, Krohn said, to the DELAMAR West Hartford hotel.
Paying a premium
In West Hartford Center, apartment market occupancy is
extremely tight, well above 90%, with some waiting lists extending out months.
The demand also comes amid a general rise in rents in
Greater Hartford and throughout Connecticut.
At the 18-unit, 24 North Main St. apartment building, opened
in 2016, monthly rents for one- and two-bedroom units range from $2,600 to
$3,375, according to its website.
That compares with $2,500 to $3,200 at the same building
just six months ago.
The projected rents for The Byline would go beyond, and well
above town-wide averages for West Hartford.
“I would realistically say, it is on the higher side,”
Kristen Gorski, West Hartford’s economic development coordinator, said. “I
think, in West Hartford Center, you’re paying that premium for where you are
located.”
Across West Hartford, the average for a one-bedroom unit is
$1,600 and a two-bedroom is $1,900 to $2,000, Gorski said. But that also
factors in older apartments that haven’t been renovated in recent years, Gorski
said.
The ‘Wow’ factor
The development comes as more suburban towns in Greater
Hartford seek to boost housing in their town centers to make them more walkable
and vibrant, a trend emerging across the country.
In addition to The Byline, more housing is planned for the
gateway to West Hartford Center, on the nearby site of The Children’s Museum,
which is relocating.
Gorski said the location of The Byline, just west of the
intersection of Farmington Avenue and Trout Brook Drive, is ideal.
“Obviously, we have housing stock on both sides of the
Center — to the east and to the west — and some of it is older housing stock,
so it’s really nice to have something brand new to the Center,” Gorski said.
More residents in the Center will further enhance
walkability and support for local businesses.
“It’s really great to have additional boots on the ground,”
Gorski said.
The partners in The Byline say they expect an eclectic mix
of tenants, including perhaps young professionals and empty-nesters but not
exclusive to any one group.
Close to both the heart of the Center and Blue Back Square,
there are restaurants, shops and services. A Whole Foods grocery store is just
a short walk away across Farmington Avenue.
“You’ll have folks that will want urban living that can
access everything on foot. There’s a bus line, people who may work in the
Center,” Zelman said.
The building’s exterior defies pigeon-holing, Krohn said.
The design doesn’t fall into a specific architectural category, not purely
contemporary, modern or even historic, Krohn said.
“It’s not a contemporary building that’s cold,” Krohn said.
“It’s a balance between the modern and the contemporary because you have clean
lines, you have angles, you have lots of glazing, but you also have brick, and
we have metal.”
Amenities will include an exterior patio tucked around the
side of the building, a tenant lounge and bike storage, both inside and out,
and some parking under the building. The developers also point to the nearby
Trout Brook Walking Trail as a plus.
An exercise area isn’t planned because there are options a
short distance away from the apartments.
Common areas are being designed to convey an “art
deco-slash-modern vibe incorporating brass accents,” Jillian Tara, a senior
interior designer at Phase Zero Design in Simsbury, said. “We wanted the space
to be really exciting, luxurious, so when people walked in, they’d say, ‘Wow.’”
The apartments will incorporate quartz “waterfall”
countertops, stainless steel appliances, under-the-counter lighting and luxury
vinyl tile floors, Tara said.
“Many luxury buildings may have a little nice facade, and
then you go into the interior, the apartments may be lacking,” Krohn said.
“Here it carries through: The luxury living is going to carry through the
apartments and the common areas.”