Fairfield University plans to build new sophomore dorm
FAIRFIELD — Fairfield University wants to build a 165-bed
student dormitory on its campus, but some residents are pushing back.
The new sophomore residence hall is planned to be called
“Regis West” and would be on the school’s campus at 1073 North Benson Road near
Round Hill Road.
The university is seeking site plan approval and a special
exception permit for the dorm, John Fallon, Fairfield University’s attorney for
the application, said at the recent Town Plan and Zoning Commission meeting. He
said the project is part of the school’s master plan, which calls for $225
million in upgrades and renovations.
“Whether it’s been the Egan School of Nursing, the Dolan
School of Business and many other renovations, including the now under construction
convocation center, we continue to attempt to raise the bar in terms of the
overall quality of the student experience and enhance that experience,” he
said. “Hopefully, you’ll agree the university is a very vital asset to the
community.”
Fallon said the university aims to increase undergraduate
enrollment to about 5,000 students, and the proposed dorm would help give
it the capacity to do that. He said the dorm would be built in a primary
residential area of the university.
Fairfield University initial’s application to the Zoning Board
of Appeals called for a five-story, 56-foot tall dorm, but Fallon said the
university downsized it to four stories and 46 feet after discussions with the
ZBA and nearby residents. The ZBA later approved the application, along with
plans to make exterior lighting dimmer, to plant trees every 50 feet on Round
Hill Road and to build a eight-foot berm with arborvitae trees on it.
Fallon asked the commission to make those agreements
conditions of its approval as well.
“The revised proposal... ensures that this will not have any
adverse impact on the neighborhood, will harmonize in an attractive manner with
the character of our campus as it currently exists and it’s going to provide us
the additional housing consistent with our very
carefully planned growth,” he said.
Robert Rogers, a neighbor, said he opposes Regis West
because of possible light pollution and the proposed height of the building. He
also doubted the proposed berm would address those concerns.
“There will surely be an increase in light pollution onto
College Park Drive,” he said, adding he was also worries about how the
university’s growth plan will impact traffic and parking.
Jose Hernandez, an architect on the project, described the
proposed dorm as a brick,“unremarkable” building. He said that is intentional
so it can fit in with the rest of that residential quad.
Hernandez said the building would be nearly 46,200 square
feet, and set up like most residence halls. He noted the dorm would be lower
than the other dorms around it. He added sophomores are not allowed to have
vehicles on campus.
“We see this building as an improvement over what’s there
now,” said David Frassinelli, Fairfield University’s vice president for
facilities. “An improvement over what you see visually, but also an improvement
of general light trespass and night sky illumination.”
Many of the commission’s questions for the applicant
revolved around the plan’s impact on neighbors and the proposed measures to
block their view of the dorm and light from it.
Commissioner Kathryn Braun questioned the plantings, noting
the neighbor’s property trees are lush, natural and wild.
“Honestly, arborvitaes are pretty Disney-esque,” she said.
“It doesn’t look the same at all.”
Fallon said the planting plan was created after numerous
meetings with neighbors.
“When you look at existing conditions, and what we’re going
to have afterwards, I think it’s a major improvement,” he said. “Not only in
terms of mitigating any impact relative to Regis West, but in mitigating
current views and vistas associated with Jogues and Regis.”
Frassinelli said the berm would limit views of the building,
discourage foot traffic, block headlights in the parking lot and improve the
streetscape. He said the changes to lighting in the parking lot will be less
disruptive to neighbors and the plan reduces the amount of light that will be
seen from the building on other properties.
Jeff Cramer, a Round Hill Road resident, said he doesn’t
want existing trees removed and contested Fallon’s claim that the neighboring
community was involved in the process. He said meetings took place between the
university and the two neighbors that would be most severely impacted.
“The rest of the community was not made available to those
discussions until very later in the process,” he said. “At which time myself
and several other neighbors did protest against the berm. I don’t see the need
or the purpose. It’s not necessary.”
Fallon said the existing trees were “mostly dead, scrawny or
invasive type species... that do not provide any visual buffer or any aesthetic
attractiveness whatsoever.”
South Windsor approves 165 more Evergreen Walk apartments after developer makes change
South Windsor planners have approved a proposal to build 165
more apartments at Evergreen Walk after the developer slightly increased the
number of units to be set aside for affordable housing.
Town officials and business owners at the shopping hub have
argued that the new development is essential for nearby retailers and useful
for generating more tax revenue.
But those topics didn’t come up Tuesday night in the
commission’s discussions, which instead focused on strategies for raising the
percentage of affordable housing in new residential projects.
Only 6.8% of South Windsor’s housing qualifies as
“affordable” by the state’s definition; towns are under pressure to maintain at
least a 10% level.
After initially proposing that 10% of its new housing would
qualify, Evergreen Walk LLC recently told the commission that it would increase
that to 12.5% by pricing four additional apartments at that level.
In exchange, it sought to build more of the project as
two-bedroom apartments — instead of one-bedroom units — to generate more
income. It also sought permission to use vinyl siding, a building material not
allowed in that zone.
Commission Chairman Bart Pacekonis balked, saying the town was
giving the developers too much in exchange for too little.
“They’re worried about it being financially feasible — there
are other options they can explore to make it financially feasible,” he said.
“Our job is to put in some good affordable-housing numbers that are going to
get us to our goal that’s been mandated by the state.”
Commissioner Robert Vetere disagreed.
“They are giving us four additional affordable units,”
Vetere said. “So it’s not like we’re giving them these extra two-bedrooms for
nothing. I don’t understand where this is a total loss for us.”
Pacekonis countered that if the town held out for 15%, the project
would have to designate another four to five apartments as affordable.
“They said that at 15, the project is a no-go,” Vetere
relied. “We get nothing then. If that would be the killer to the project, it’s
still better to get four more units of affordable housing. We’re looking to get
affordable housing anywhere we can.”
Commission Alan Cavagnaro agreed: “I know its not a perfect
situation. I would rather have this than nothing. They’ve analyzed this for
probably more than a year now and tried to put in as many affordable units as
possible.”
Cavagnaro also defended the change to vinyl siding.
“It’s not chicken wire, it’s going to be strong, viable
material — not top of the line best, but it would most likely lead to somewhat
cheaper rents than if we regulate more hefty, stronger material.”
By a 6-1 vote, the planning and zoning commission amended
the zoning rules for the Buckland Gateway zone and also modified the general
development plan for Evergreen Walk. Pacekonis cast the only “no” vote on the
first, and Commissioner Michael LeBlanc “no” on the second.
Developers will still need approval for a detailed site plan
later, but on Tuesday night won two crucial votes that will let them move
forward. The new units will be in addition to the 200 apartments currently on
the site.
In letters last month, top town officials along with
business owners in and near the plaza pressed commissioners to approve the
proposal as a way to shore up local retailers, whose customer base has been
eroded by the pandemic as well as the shift to online shopping.
A Costco recently opened nearby, and Shake Shack and Whole
Foods are opening locations at Evergreen Walk later this year. The plaza had
lost several tenants in recent years, and more than a dozen of its retail
tenants called on commissioners to approve the apartments.
In a 31-page report commissioned by Evergreen Walk,
consultant Goman+York called the apartments a way to “better adapt the
Evergreen site to the ever-changing and challenging retail landscape, to create
diversity in use, and to build resiliency.”
43-unit, mixed-use apartment development to help stitch a void north of Hartford’s downtown
For decades, the area north of Hartford’s downtown was a sea
of vacant and surface parking lots dividing the city center from neighborhoods
to the north.
“It sat there like a wound in the city for decades,” Mayor
Luke Bronin said Wednesday, during a press conference celebrating a $6.3
million state grant for a project closing a portion of that wound.
Bronin, Gov. Ned Lamont and other dignitaries gathered in
the rear lot of a long-shuttered brick building off the northern tip of Ann
Uccello Street to celebrate the grant. It will help pay for a $17.5 million
project adding 43 apartments and near 8,000 square feet of retail space in three
buildings, helping to reforge a connection of the downtown to the Clay Arsenal
Neighborhood, North Main Street and Albany Avenue.
Bronin said the first stage to closing the void came about
seven years ago with the launch of construction of what is now Dunkin’ Donuts
Park. That has spurred development interest, evident in developer Randy
Salvatore’s nearly complete 270-unit apartment building a short distance away.
Salvatore has already completed a 330-space parking garage along with the
apartment building, all part of the broader “North Crossing” effort to add
about 1,000 new apartments in buildings erected on vacant lots around the
ballpark.
The nonprofit San Juan Center and Carabetta Development LLC
are partnered in the development at the northern tip of Ann Uccello.
The $6.5 million state grant was first announced earlier
this year, part of a $45 million in allocation to projects in various
communities through the new CT Communities Grant. State officials expect to
spend up to $100 million over five years through the program, helping realize
projects that increase the vibrancy of neighborhoods, especially in urban
centers. The next application round opens in August.
The San Juan-Carabetta project has received approval for a
$3.8 million loan from the Capital Region Development Authority. The city also
plans to commit $1.1 million from its U.S. Housing and Urban Development
allotment, according to the grant application. Another $2.3 million is expected
from historic tax credits. The development team plans to use $3.3 million from
a traditional lender.
The project centers on the four-story, century-old brick
“Arrowhead Building” at 1355 Main St., named for the former Arrowhead Café. The
building is owned by the city and is in process of being turned over to a
business entity controlled by the San Juan Center and Carabetta.
San Juan Center Executive Director Fernando Betancourt said
his partnership has purchase agreements in place with the owners of the vacant
and boarded “Flat Iron” building at 529 Ann Uccello St. and a three-story brick
co-op housing building at 520 Ann Uccello St. Betancourt said both will be
remodeled with apartments. The Arrowhead Building will be remodeled and receive
a large addition, he said.
The city also plans to cede a short stretch of roadway at
the tip of Ann Uccello Street, which will be transformed into a pedestrian
parklet, with trees and seating for the public.
Eric Polinsky, assistant development director for Carabetta,
said the redevelopment of the empty Flat Iron and Arrowhead buildings will
complement existing Carabetta investments in the neighborhood, as well as
planned future developments.
Betancourt hopes to break ground in October and finish about
18 months later.
“I think it will be transformative,” Betancourt said. “If
you see the development in this area, including North Crossing, the completion
of this section and the connection with downtown, this will possibly be one of
the most desirable neighborhoods in the city.”
Waterbury encourages redevelopment of Grand Street with grant money
LANCE REYNOLDS
WATERBURY — Lynn Ward, president and CEO of Waterbury
Regional Chamber, and Joseph Violette, chamber director of public policy and
economic development, walked past several vacant storefronts on Grand Street
Wednesday, hoping a proposed program will soon rejuvenate the area.
Ward and Violette are behind a proposed central business
district investment program that looks to help property owners fill vacant
ground-floor storefronts within much of the city’s downtown. The program would
administer grants of $50 per square foot, with a maximum grant of $100,000 to
eligible property owners who are looking to develop or restore new or existing
ground-floor retail space.
The Board of Aldermen on Monday will consider approving the
program. If approved, the program would receive $1.5 million from the city’s
federal $74 million American Rescue Plan allocation.
Awarded grants would require a 100% match from either the
property owner, current or future tenants, or a combination. Chamber officials
said property owners must be in good standing with the city, prove how the
COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected them and not be delinquent on property
taxes.
Streets in the central business district include Bank, South
Main, East Main, Grand, West Main, Meadow, Freight, State, Church, Leavenworth,
Center and Brook. Roughly 35 of the more than 100 storefronts in the area are
vacant, an increase of an unknown number of vacancies pre-COVID, Violette said.
Special consideration would be given to property owners that
have restaurant spaces, vacant properties adjacent to other vacant properties
and those who are leading space to minority- and women-owned businesses.
Ward said she sees the program leading to a resurgence in
the central business district by small business owners and property owners
working together to improve their properties, driving and attracting more
business.
Ward and Violette on their walk Wednesday passed by John
Bale Book Company, at 158 Grand St., one of the many storefronts in the central
business district affected during the pandemic. The antiquarian bookstore
closed its physical space in the pandemic’s early stages in 2020 and shifted
its focus to online sales.
“We are hoping now with this investment and the promotion
that we’re going to be doing – sometimes people have an idea of starting a
business but they just need that push, they need that little bit of incentive,”
Ward said. “We are hoping that this is what will attract people.”
Businesses outside of the central business district looking
to move to a storefront in the area would be funded up to $10,000 for
relocation expenses through the program.
If approved next week, the program would be up and running
in August, Ward said. Throughout the duration of the program, chamber officials
would highlight vacant properties through open houses, social media campaigns
and business development workshops for new businesses.
Applications are expected to close June 30, 2023
The program would be a partnership between the Waterbury
Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation and city officials. A nine-member
oversight and approval committee would be set up and be responsible for
processing and vetting applications and disbursing funds.
New tenants would be required to sign a 2-year lease on
their storefronts, Ward said, while existing tenants would also sign a 2-year
lease to guarantee it doesn’t expire within two years of the completed build
out or upgrades.
“This is perfect timing for this,” said local developer John
Lombard, a senior partner of Lombard Group. “This is a shot-in-the-arm that
downtown needs right now. Explained properly and put the opportunity out there,
tenants are going to start to have an interest in coming down.”
Getting people back to work following the pandemic has been
a priority for city officials, Mayor Neil M. O’Leary said. The mayor said he
believes the program would go a long way in accomplishing that and could lead
to other programs being created to support downtown properties.
“We are putting in millions of dollars into the central
business district,” he said. “We are trying to protect it. We are trying to put
the right businesses in there. We are trying to move Waterbury in the right
direction.”