CT Construction Digest Friday September 30, 2022

Concerns arise as QU looks to designate its Hamden campus as planned development district

Chatwan Mongkol

HAMDEN — The Planning and Zoning Commission took issue with the zoning process and the area Quinnipiac University wants to designate as a planned development district, a zone change the legislative body itself passed in July.

The concerns came as the university presented its expansion plan consisting of three new buildings Tuesday night with nearly 80 people in attendance, around 15 of which were there for another item.

Quinnipiac is looking to designate the whole area within its Mount Carmel campus from the existing R-2 zone as PDD, a new zone that allows flexibility for developers beyond bulk-written zoning rules.

The public hearing portion for the PDD designation was, however, postponed to Oct. 23 after Quinnipiac's presentation ran over 2.5 hours — to the point one of those in attendance shouted mid meeting: "This has gone on long enough, let's move on."

The main concern from the commissioners was that if the construction for the three new buildings would only take part in the southern part of the campus, why changes the whole campus area to PDD.

Tim Lee, an attorney representing the town, said the PZC has the authority grant less than what the university has requested.

Bernard Pellegrino, an attorney representing Quinnipiac, said all the areas proposed are “connected” and that future development plans that weren't included in the initial plan Tuesday night would still require approval from the PZC. 

He noted that, however, about 95% of the university’s master facility plan has already been presented to the board over the years.

And since the Tuesday meeting was only for a PDD designation and the initial project plan, commissioners worried what authority the PZC still has if the university ends up changing the already-approved initial plan in the final stage. 

According to Town Planner Euguene Livshits, if the PDD zone changes and the initial plan is approved, the university still needs to submit a final site plan for approval, and the commission may hold a public hearing on it if the final plan differs significantly from the initial plan.

Quinnipiac's $244 million expansion, "South Quad" project, includes a 79,000-square-foot,  School of Business and a 137,000-square-foot general academic building and a 417-bed residence hall. Pellegrino said the construction would take around two years.

University Provost Debra Liebowitz said the university hasn’t built any new standalone academic buildings since the 1990s.

“Education has changed dramatically in that period,” Liebowitz said. “So is Quinnipiac. It has already done the growth, but we haven’t done the growth of academic facilities that they need in order to meet the needs that we currently have.”

For residents who are concerned about the growth of the student population, Bethany Zemba, the university’s vice president for strategy and community relations, said the number actually got small in the past years, noting that the three-year housing requirement will reduce off-campus population too.

Tom Ellett, university’s chief experience officer who lives on campus, said “our strategy isn’t to grow” the student population as the university aims to keep new students at 1,600 per year.

Ellett said the three new buildings will allow the university to implement a “faculty-in-residence” program, which aims to bring more adult presence on campus to engage more with students.

“This is a new vision for community life where it’s co-created with faculty and staff rather than having students, on their own, create culture that they think they want to have,” Ellett said.

As Quinnipiac is the biggest non-public employer in town, Zemba said “a strong Quinnipiac is a strong Hamden, and a strong Hamden is a strong Quinnipiac.”

Mayor Lauren Garrett, who was also in attendance Tuesday night, has said earlier when the PDD was approved that Quinnipiac’s building permit would bring the town about $3 million.

The university’s project for the three new buildings has recently received approval from the Inland Wetlands Commission.

West Haven says more The Haven site buildings to come down

Brian Zahn

WEST HAVEN — The Indianapolis-based owner of a long-stalled mall project along First Avenue has paid for nine demolition permits for blighted, rotted buildings on the site, according to the city's attorney.

The fenced-off site of The Haven mall project has sat mostly dormant for years, with multiple buildings deteriorating across the street from neighborhood residences. Although members of the city's delegation to the General Assembly have said it is apparent to them that the development will not happen, city officials like Mayor Nancy Rossi have said they are taking it one step at a time.

"I don’t know what’s going to go there. There are hypotheses, but I just want it knocked down,” Rossi said in August.

This week, West Haven Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan told the City Council Monday that Simon Group had paid for demolition to begin with the former site of Nick's Luncheonette at 423 First Ave. "and work its way up." However, he said that remediation concerns have stalled the demolition with the city's building department.

Neither developer Simon Property Group nor city building official Frank Gladwin immediately responded to a request for comment Thursday.

Councilman Gary Donovan, D-At Large, asked whether the city had been citing the developer for violating the blight ordinance.

"Excuse my French, but they screwed us," he said. "Why not hit them harder in their pocket for blight?"

Tiernan said that Rossi was "adamant" about issuing blight fines and that those fines "will continue to accrue."

Tiernan said a $5 million state Department of Economic and Community Development grant intended to support that development may need to be "repurposed."

"The grant does provide for improvements along Elm Street with the anticipation of a high-traffic user of that site. I don't know that until we have evidence there's going to be a high-traffic use of that site that it makes sense," he said.

Although the development had initially been pitched as a cornerstone of economic revitalization near the city's shoreline, offering luxury shopping just off the highway to attract revenue to the city, it has become a source of agony for residents. Recently, residents of the area were startled by loud explosions stemming from an FBI public safety drill that they had not been warned about beforehand. 

Developer proposing age-restricted development in Southington

Hanna Snyder Gambini

Alocal development company is looking to build an active adult housing complex on a new private road off the Waterbury-Meriden Turnpike.

Anthony A. Denorfia of Southington-based AA Denorfia Building and Development LLC and property owner Cecelia Docar submitted site plan and special permit applications to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission in early September.

The Highland Ridge development at 570 Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike would have 23 individual homes ranging in size from 1,400 to 1,600 square feet each, with 10% of the units deemed affordable. 

Developers would build a new cul-de-sac road called Highland Ridge Lane, and the project would cover 8.7 acres and include preserved open space. 

The development would have access to public sewer and water utilities, storm drainage and other improvements.

Conceptual plans and a zone change from residential to age-restricted cluster housing zone were approved in the spring.
 
The project now needs a special permit, and a final site plan must be approved prior to the start of construction. Developers expect work to begin this year and finish by 2025.
 
Projects by Denorfia Building and Development include Winding River, Walker’s Crossing and Hawk’s Nest in Southington, and Country Hill Estate in Prospect. 
 
The applications will go to a public hearing Tuesday before the regular Planning and Zoning meeting.

CT Construction Digest Thursday September 29, 2022

Park City Wind Asks Connecticut to Adjust Energy Bid ‘to Reflect Current Economic Realities’

Brendan Crowley

Avangrid Senior Vice President for Offshore Projects, Sy Oytan, said that the company will ask Connecticut for a “modest adjustment” to the state’s contract to buy power from the company’s planned 804 megawatt Park City Wind project south of Martha’s Vineyard, to “reflect the current economic realities.”

In a call with investors on Thursday, Oytan said the company would be delaying by a year both its Park City project and the 1,200 MW Commonwealth Wind project, and would ask both Connecticut and Massachusetts to adjust contracts to buy power from those projects. 

Since Connecticut agreed to buy power from the Park City project in 2019 at a price of $79.83 per MWh, Avangrid has faced the same challenges as other businesses around the world – inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain shortages and escalating commodity prices, Oytan said.

“As both Park City and Commonwealth Wind were bid at a time of 40 years of inflation stability, we are working hard to examine every opportunity to improve the business case of both projects,” Oytan said.

Avangrid representatives did not immediately answer Friday afternoon when asked what new price it would be seeking from Connecticut for the power generated by the Park City project.

A spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said that the department will review any request for an amendment to the Park City contract when it is submitted, and will determine if it is “in the interest of ratepayers and helps further the state’s energy goals,” including reliability, economic development and equity.

Park City is now scheduled to come online in 2027 instead of the original state date of 2025. Oytan told investors that the delay will allow Avangrid to use newly-developed wind turbines with a capacity of between 17 to 20 MW each.

That is a significant advance from the 13 MW turbines Avangrid is using for the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project it is building now, which is still expected to come online by the end of 2023, Oytan said. He said Avangrid is also exploring whether the Park City and Commonwealth projects could benefit from any tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act that Congress passed in August.

Delay “not a surprise” given global economy

Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, said that Avangrid’s announcement was not a surprise considering Avangrid is facing the same challenges as just about everyone in energy around the world – a tightening supply chain and increasing commodity prices.

“I’m curious about them throwing out the concept of trying to renegotiate some of the prices and the costs [of their contracts with Connecticut and Massachusetts],” Dolan said. “Unfortunately, given the broader global dynamics, it’s not a surprise right now.”

Melissa Birchard, director of clean energy for the nonprofit renewable advocate Acadia Center, said that the “short delay” of the two projects is understandable given the global challenges in energy.

Birchard said it’s good news that the delay still keeps the projects in line to be completed within the timeframes laid out in their contracts with the states. She said the push for offshore wind needs to continue on multiple fronts, to make sure that progress is still being made even if individual projects are delayed.

“We need to do everything we can to bring offshore wind to customers as soon as possible, along with other renewables,” Birchard said. “The spiking costs of fossil fuels are hurting families and businesses and the impacts of climate change are getting worse every year.”

Dolan said the delay shows the challenges that come with making big bets on individual projects that are funded by ratepayers under contracts that span multiple decades.

“It puts a lot of eggs in one basket, rather than trying to set up a more robust market signal through something like carbon pricing that can have a lot of other projects in line to backfill, should there be any delays in any one,” Dolan said.

State Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, a member of the Energy and Technology Committee, said that given permitting delays in the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and global supply chain issues, she was not surprised that costs have increased since the agreement was made.

“Am I surprised, no,” Cheeseman said. “But I would be very skeptical of a producer coming back and saying they want a higher price than they put in a bid for, because that’s not in the best interest of the Connecticut ratepayer.”

State Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, also said he was not surprised that inflation would have an impact on offshore wind costs. But without knowing what kind of increase Avangrid is asking for, he couldn’t say whether it was a reasonable request. 

“If it’s a modest increase, and DEEP thinks that it’s fair, then so be it,” Needleman said. “The devil’s in the details here, and I think DEEP will be thorough.”

Eversource/Ørsted partnership says it’s still on schedule

The partnership between Danish energy giant Ørsted and Eversource is the other developer with a contract to sell power to Connecticut from an offshore wind development. The partnership signed agreements to sell 304 MW of power from its 400 MW Revolution Wind project planned off the coast of Rhode Island.

Eversource has said it plans to sell its stake in the partnership soon to cash in on booming prices for offshore wind leasing areas, and pay off short-term debt.

In a statement, the joint venture between the two companies said that the offshore wind industry is seeing the same supply chain and inflationary pressures as the rest of the global economy, but said that its projects are still on track. 

The 132 MW South Fork Wind being built off of Long Island is on track to be operating before the end of 2023, and Revolution Wind and the 880 MW Sunrise Wind are still expected to be operational in 2025.

The statement said the venture locked in more than 80 percent of its supply costs for those projects because they were “early movers” in the offshore wind market, which has helped keep them on track.

“As we move forward, we remain committed to developing a new domestic supply chain in the U.S. that will play an important role in reducing costs and minimizing disruption to future offshore wind projects, while creating well-paying jobs for American workers across the country,” the statement said.

The partnership did not say whether they thought they would need to negotiate their contracts with Connecticut. The venture agreed in 2018 to sell Connecticut about 200 MW from the Revolution Wind project at a price of $99.50/MWh, as well as a 104 MW expansion of that project for $98.43/MWh.

The impact of those fixed-rate contracts on Connecticut electric customers depends on the market price of electricity. If market prices are below the price of the contract, customers pay more for the fixed-price contract. If prices are high, they save money.

When low natural gas prices led to low electric prices in 2020, Eversource blamed a similar contract for Connecticut to buy over 1,000 MW from the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford at $49.99/MWh for a rate increase. 
This year, as record-high gas prices have led to high electricity prices in New England, the relatively low price of that Millstone contract led to a rate decrease.

Cromwell hires firms at cost of $3.14 million for new middle school project

Austin Mirmina

CROMWELL — The town has executed contracts totaling about $3.14 million with two companies that will work on the new middle school building.

Perkins-Eastman, a Stamford-based architectural firm, and Arcadis, a Middletown-based project management company, were both hired by the town last week to plan, design, and oversee construction of the new Cromwell Middle School.

The contracts with Perkins-Eastman and Arcadis — signed by Town Manager Anthony Salvatore Sept. 22 — are worth about $2.48 million and $662,000, respectively. 

Arcadis was founded in 1888 and has provided construction management services for projects in over 70 countries, according to its proposal. The company is based in the Netherlands but has an office in Middletown. It has overseen projects in many towns across the state, including Middletown High School.

The companies were recommended by an appointed selection committee comprised of three members of the Cromwell Middle School Building Committee and Assistant Finance Director Sharon DeVoe, a project official said.

"I'm very excited to start moving forward with these two new companies," Building Committee Chairwoman Rosanna Glynn said Wednesday. "They have a really strong, passionate team who's devoted to the entire process. I'm looking forward to getting this building built as quickly as possibly for the community."

According to the committee, Cromwell will be responsible for about $36.5 million of the project's total cost, which is estimated at about $58.6 million. The state will reimburse the town about $22.1 million for work on the project.

Founded in 1981, Perkins-Eastman described itself in its proposal as "one of the largest primary and secondary school design firms in the region." The firm has completed dozens of public schools similar in scope to the anticipated project.

Its portfolio includes work on the North Haven Middle School, Charter Oak International School in West Hartford and Bassick High School in Bridgeport.

"Middle schools are great opportunities because it’s really that transition period ... getting (students) ready for the high school experience," Joe Costa, a principal at Perkins-Eastman, told the building committee during its meeting last week.

"The direction of the children will depend on what happens here. We want to create a tool so that teachers, educators, parents and students can make that transition as successful as possible," he added.

Perkins-Eastman will start working on general designs for the new building in November, with a more detailed design phase set to begin in January, according to the company's presentation. Construction is expected to commence in October 2023 and last about 18 months, ending around March 2025. 

Demolition of the current middle school building will follow, the projected timeline shows.

Since its inception, the committee has gathered community feedback to help inform and guide the middle school's design process. According to the committee, that feedback has centered on sustainability, improved athletic facilities, health and safety, and culture.

The topic of sustainability has come up repeatedly during the process, one committee member said. Suggestions include installing solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations. The community has also said it wants the new building to be energy-efficient.

Because the new middle school will be built on the site of the local soccer field, the committee said, it will consider recommending construction of a new turf field where the current middle school is situated once that building has been demolished.

A turf field would be better suited to handle the rain, members said.

"There’s a lot of controversy around the soccer fields in town, because, every time it rains, they basically have to close all the fields because none of them can withstand any amount of rain, and they get really muddy," Glynn said. "So they would like at least one turf field."

Shelton receives $240K in CT grants for downtown projects

Brian Gioiele

SHELTON — The city’s downtown revitalization received a financial boost from the state of Connecticut. 

Shelton has received two Small Town Economic Assistance Program, or STEAP, grants totaling $240,000 — with $120,000 going toward the extension of the Housatonic Riverwalk on Canal Street and $120,000 toward creation of Shelton Canal Lock Park. 

These grants were among more than $31.8 million given to cities and towns throughout the state.

“Both of these activities will enhance the city’s ongoing efforts to revitalize Canal Street,” said Mayor Mark Lauretti, who praised Gov. Ned Lamont and his staff for their continued support of the city. 

State Rep. Jason Perillo said these grants are one more step toward the redevelopment of the downtown. 

“I congratulate (Lauretti’s) office for this success," said Perillo. "There is more work to be done and I’ll be working with Rep. Ben McGorty and Sen. Kevin Kelly in the months and years ahead to make things happen for downtown businesses and residents.” 

The $120,000 in state funding for the walking path along the Housatonic River will be matched by $25,000 from the city. 

The $120,000 in state funding approved for the restoration of the Shelton Canal will be matched by $30,000 from the city. This money will be applied toward creation of the Shelton Canal Lock Park. 

"This is great news for Shelton," added Kelly, who represents Shelton, among other towns. “These projects will support historic preservation of our community, environmental restoration, and the creation of open space." 

Lauretti called the Riverwalk an integral element of downtown’s rebirth. The Riverwalk will, once complete, be nearly a mile from the southern tip of Veterans Memorial Park north along the Housatonic River to the Shelton Canal Lock. 

Lauretti said this grant will allow the city to construct a 220-linear-foot section behind 223 Canal St., which will be home to River Breeze, a 64-apartment development. 

The second grant will cover the city’s costs for hiring an engineering firm to complete the study necessary to establish a new public open space at the northern end of Canal Street. 

“The concept will support the historic preservation of Shelton’s last remaining canal lock, the environmental restoration of the Shelton canal and the development of public open spaces which will support passive and active recreational opportunities,” Lauretti added. 

Since 1996, the state of Connecticut and the city has invested more than $21 million into Shelton’s Brownfields Remediation Program. 

“The results have been transformative as Shelton has revitalized a once blighted and decayed industrial zone,” Lauretti said. 

As a result of these public investments, according to Lauretti, the city has been successful in leveraging nearly $110 million in private investments leading to the construction of more than 600 residential units and the creation of dozens of new business opportunities downtown. 

"I am grateful that the city of Shelton will be able to bolster its development and revitalization with the help of these grants,” said McGorty. 

The STEAP grants are awarded through a state program managed by the Office of Policy and Management that delivers grants to small towns for economic development, community conservation, and quality-of-life capital projects. 

New state board allocates $76.4M for economic development; Middletown, New Haven, Waterbury big winners

Michael Puffer

The Community Investment Fund 2030 board – a new group led by top lawmakers – approved $76.4 million in state grants Tuesday for development and community projects in distressed municipalities.

Middletown is in line for $12 million to fund its "Return to the Riverbend" plan, an effort to make better connections with parkland and redevelop industrial, commercial and waste treatment sites along the Connecticut River. 

Waterbury is teed up to get $10 million, which local officials say is enough to finish cleaning a roughly 20-acre brownfield adjacent to its downtown. The administration has already spent millions fixing infrastructure and demolishing abandoned buildings in the area, aiming for an ambitious redevelopment. 

New Haven is the other big winner, with a $10 million allocation Tuesday. 

This list of projects blessed by the Community Investment Fund 2030 board now needs Gov. Ned Lamont’s approval to go on the state Bond Commission Agenda for funding. But no cuts are anticipated.

“We certainly don’t anticipate rejection or amendments because it’s been well vetted and worked out,” House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, told the CIF board Tuesday. “But he ultimately is the governor. So, in theory, until he says 100% yes, there could be changes and feedback to this group.”

Approved by lawmakers last year, the Community Investment Fund Board has a mandate to approve up to $875 million in projects and grants in distressed communities over a five-year period.

Ritter co-chairs the CIF board with Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven.

Under the 2021 law, funding priorities will be decided by a 21-member board that includes 10 state lawmakers; nine heads of state offices and commissions, or their designees; and two appointees by the governor.

The Department of Economic and Community Development received 183 applications asking for about $900 million.

Gov. Ned Lamont will have 60 days from receipt of the CIF list to pass along to the Bond Commission. Members of the CIF board asked Ritter to postpone sending that list, allowing more time during a busy fall season that includes elections.

The CIF board did approve opening a second application round from Nov. 1 through Jan. 6.

DECD staff were not able to immediately supply details of the approved projects Tuesday. The names and amounts approved by the CIF Board were published online with the meeting agenda. Lawmakers started issuing statements celebrating the funding Tuesday afternoon. 

Waterbury lawmakers issued a release celebrating $10 million that will allow them to "finalize" demolition and cleanup at 20 acres along the city's Freight Street corridor. Adjacent to downtown and near access to highways and rail, the site once served Anaconda American Brass.

"This funding approved in the inaugural round of the Community Investment Fund will enable the city to boost the completion of a reimagined Freight Street District, culminating in hundreds of mixed-use and commercial jobs in a previously blighted and abandoned industrial wasteland," said State Sen. Joan V. Hartley, D-Waterbury, according to the release. Hartley thanked the board, other Waterbury lawmakers and Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary for advocating for the funding. 

Middletown leaders separately issued a release, praising funding for their effort to reconnect to 220 acres of riverfront separated from its downtown by Route 9 or occupied by industrial development and the city's former wastewater treatment plant. 

"This project, with potential that is almost immeasurable, will serve our residents and connect our neighborhoods to the riverfront," State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said, according to a release. "The Connecticut River is the beating heart of our region. This historic investment in Middletown's riverfront will be transformative for our region and Middletown's future." 

State Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, also issued a release late Tuesday, celebrating $5.5 million that will help Bloomfield build a new library in place of the current Prosser Library. 

The list of recipients approved Tuesday includes:

Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association, Hartford, $1,247,038

Baldwin Holdings Bridgeport, $1,756,164

BIMEC Housing Development, New Haven, $2,132,250

City of Ansonia, Ansonia, $6,500,000

City of Meriden - 85 Tremont/Locust Street Project, Meriden, $3,000,000

City of Middletown - Remediation & Demolition, Middletown, $12,000,000

City of New Haven - 596-598 George Street Project, New Haven, $1,500,000

City of Waterbury - Freight Steet Demo/Remediation Waterbury $ 10,000,000

CitySeed, Inc New Haven, $1,092,500

CONNCORP New Haven, $10,000,000

Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, New Haven, $500,000

East Main St. Revitalization Association, - planning, Bridgeport, $750,000

Fair Haven Community Health Clinic New Haven, $3,000,000

International Hartford, Hartford, $1,137,514

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), statewide, $1,000,000

MATCH Inc., New Haven, $780,000

NCDC - Reid and Hughes – Norwich, $550,000

New Haven Jewish Community Council Housing Corp. – planning, New Haven $155,000

New Reach, Inc. New Haven, $312,619

North Hartford Collaborative Hartford, $4,500,000

Sheldon Oak Central, Inc Hartford $3,750,000

Town of Bloomfield - Library Bloomfield $5,526,000

Town of East Hartford - Church Corners, East Hartford, $2,500,000

Town of Hamden - drainage – planning, Hamden, $750,000

Town of Stratford, Stratford $1,600,000

Winsted Health Center – planning, Winsted $438,750

Glenbrook Residents Question Mayor’s Math for Rehabbing Community Center in Stamford

Angela Carella

STAMFORD — Mayor Caroline Simmons’ first public meeting with Glenbrook residents opposed to her plan to sell their community center to an affordable housing developer has them fact-checking her information.

It’s not adding up, resident Christopher Twardy said.

Simmons repeated during Wednesday’s meeting with residents what she has said many times since she began pushing her plan for the 35 Crescent St. community center early this year – the cost of fixing it is $23 million.

The Board of Finance would never agree to spend that much money, Simmons has said, so if the building is not sold to the developer, it will be left to deteriorate.

However, when a Glenbrook man during the meeting asked Simmons what the cost would be to refurbish it as a community center, not a 51-unit housing complex, Simmons said she didn’t know and referred the question to a member of her administration.

The answer was $5 million or $6 million, possibly higher if more work is needed to bring systems up to code.

That’s much lower than $23 million, but still too high, said Twardy, a building materials distributor who grew up in the Glenbrook area and visited the community center for most of his life. Twardy is friends with Jerry Pia, who operated his Activities for Kids program in the center for decades.

“A couple of years ago I brought a bunch of specialists to the GCC to look at all the systems and give Jerry an assessment of what needed to be done,” Twardy said. “The building was structurally sound. The big things are that it needs new windows and the elevator has to be fixed. Some things need renovation, new paint. I would say the total cost would be between $500,000 and $1 million.”

Jamie D’Agostino estimated the same amount, though he said he might include a roof replacement in the list of repairs. 

D’Agostino sent the Simmons administration a proposal in which he offered to pay market rate for the building, move his small IT business there along with his wife’s day-care operation, and leave the rest as a community center. His plan was rejected because it did not include affordable housing, said D’Agostino, who also grew up in the community center.

He did a walk-through of the building last year, D’Agostino said.

“The building isn’t bad. I’m not intimidated by the condition,” said D’Agostino, a mechanical engineer. “I wouldn’t have to fix it all on day one.”

That fits with the conclusion of a 55-page facility conditions assessment dated March 6, 2020, and conducted by Silver Petrucelli & Associates, a Hamden firm hired by the city. 

Silver Petrucelli’s detailed report prioritizes the work and itemizes the estimated costs.

The company found “urgent priority” repairs that would cost a total of $6,000. 

It identified “high priority” repairs costing a total of $567,000, including $250,000 to fix the windows. 

The report identifies “moderate priority” repairs totalling $337,000. 

“Low priority” fixes are “maintenance and aesthetic issues” that could wait five to 10 years and would cost a total of $380,000, according to the report.

Added up, all the work would cost $1.3 million, or just under $1 million without the low-priority repairs.

“I have a bad taste in my mouth for how the mayor and her administration are going about this. I feel betrayed,” Twardy said. “I tried to speak to Simmons after the meeting but someone on her staff pulled her away. I wanted to say, ‘It’s not truthful what you said this evening about the $23 million. It stinks.’”

Twardy had his hand raised for nearly all of the half-hour that Simmons and her staff took questions during the meeting. But no one called on him. When he tried to speak anyway, the president and vice president of the Glenbrook Neighborhood Association, which ran the meeting, shut him down.

Twardy said he thinks it’s because of another piece of misinformation being put out by the administration – that the Glenbrook Community Center did not close because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simmons said during the meeting that the center has been closed for four years.

Twardy said that, before the meeting started, he spoke with a member of Simmons’ administration who said the same thing.

“I said, ‘Sir, that’s just not true. It was a fully functioning center until they shut it down along with the schools when COVID started,’” Twardy said. “I think after that he told them not to call on me because they didn’t want me to bring that up.”

But Pia, now retired and living out of town, said the same thing in a letter he sent to the Board of Representatives. His program, 

Activities for Kids, closed four years ago but the community center stayed open, Pia wrote. 

“The GCC was fully operational and the community center was closed only because of COVID on March 13, 2020, as were city buildings,” Pia wrote. “The building was housing all the same programs except for an after-school program during the school year and a 5-12 summer day camp. There was a summer program for 2- to 5-year-olds. That’s the only difference.”

Simmons explained during the meeting that Stamford, like many places, has an “affordability crisis” and must provide lower-cost housing so college graduates can return, senior citizens can stay in their homes, and families can make rent payments. Stamford especially needs “workforce housing” for employees who are essential to the city’s economy, Simmons said.

All true, residents said on the day of the meeting. But, they said, the administration fails to make it clear that, if the sale goes forward, the 51 affordable units that will be created in the community center building will not be reserved for people who live or work in Stamford.

“They let you think it’s for Stamford people, but it’s not,” said resident Joe Rich.

The developer, Darien resident John McClutchy and his son, Todd McClutchy, of JHM Group, say in their proposal that they cannot limit tenancy to Stamford residents or workers. The Simmons administration put out a fact sheet saying the process for deciding who will be selected for the apartments “is to be determined. The developers have used a lottery system for other properties they own to ensure that the process is fair.”

City Rep. Sean Boeger raised another issue during the meeting that residents say is not portrayed accurately. The administration claims it cannot put more money into the Glenbrook Community Center building, though other centers have been “revived” multiple times, Boeger said.

In fact, the city each year contributes to community centers and similar organizations, since they provide valued services the city would otherwise have to provide. 

According to this year’s operating budget, the city gave the Boys & Girls Club-Yerwood Center $225,000, plus $145,000 for the Mary C. Rich Clubhouse and Teen Center, which is part of the Boys & Girls Club. Each amount was about $10,000 more than the West Side organizations received last year.

In North Stamford, the Stamford Museum & Nature Center this year received $1.3 million, the same as last year, and the Bartlett Arboretum received $334,000, which was $5,000 more than last year, according to the budget.

After the meeting Glenbrook residents said they tried to explain that their densely populated neighborhood of single- and multi-family homes, small businesses, and small apartment and condo complexes already contributes to the city’s affordable housing stock, and will contribute more in the future. 

They said they just want to save the community center, a place that for decades provided after-school programs for kids, activities for seniors, sports, dances, exercise classes, meeting space for substance-abuse recovery programs, music and art lessons, and more.

Twardy said all eyes are on Oct. 3, when the Board of Representatives is slated to vote on whether to approve the sale of the Glenbrook Community Center.

After the meeting with Simmons, he doesn’t know what to expect, Twardy said.

“We weren’t heard. They just tried to sell it to us using misinformation,” he said. “I have such a bad taste in my mouth. It’s hard to swallow.”

Mass. developer drawn to Waterbury by affordable land, receptive officials

Michael Puffer

The Massachusetts company that recently paid $5 million for a nearly 20-acre development site at 3800 East Main St. in Waterbury was convinced to make the investment by affordable land prices and a warm welcome from local officials.

Founded in 2014, Shearwater Development, of Raynham, Massachusetts, has concentrated its development efforts in the Bay State until recently. Rising interest rates and construction materials costs prompted the developer to seek out lower land costs in a search extending into Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was Colliers that drew Shearwater’s attention to the vacant building site at 3800 East Main St., said Jamie Ciffolillo, a partner in Shearwater.

In Massachusetts, building sites near highway access are selling for $50 to $60 per square foot, Ciffolillo said.

Shearwater paid $5 million to Waterbury Retail Investments in a deal recorded Sept. 13.

The Waterbury site – which was previously approved for an e-commerce distribution facility – was once a steep, rocky hill, but has been mined for gravel down to a relatively flat building site. It still requires “a fairly substantial” retaining wall ahead of development, not to mention construction of utility connections. But those costs are manageable when coupled with the relatively affordable land price and excellent access to

Interstate 84 via two nearby interchanges, Ciffolillo said.

“When we are speaking of $50 to $60 per buildable square foot prices here in Massachusetts and we are talking $20 a buildable square foot there, the math still makes sense,” Ciffolillo said.

Ciffolillo said rising interest costs made Shearwater reconsider buying the Waterbury property. But the site is promising, and city officials have proven eager and supportive of development, he said. Shearwater representatives met with Mayor Neil O’Leary, Economic Development Director Joseph McGrath and other members of the city administration.

“It is challenging, but we think the highway access and level of support we will be getting from the City of Waterbury is incredible,” Ciffolillo said.

The building site is located next to a Kohl’s, Costco and Restaurant Depot, all using a shared access road.

On its website, Shearwater lists ownership of nine office and industrial properties, ranging in size from a 15,000-square-foot warehouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, to a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution building in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

Shearwater presented rough plans for a 220,000-square-foot warehouse to Waterbury officials, and are designing to that specification, but it is also trying to remain flexible. The company would be open to building to suit a manufacturer or retailer. It won’t finalize designs or begin building until a user is identified, Ciffolillo said. That way, the building can be tailored to the end user.

The site at 3800 East Main St. had been eyed for development of a Super Wal-Mart and, more recently, for an Amazon “last-mile” warehouse. Ciffolillo said all needed local board approvals are in place. Building permits would need to be pulled prior to construction, but no further regulatory approvals are needed, he said. 

Connecticut Children’s proposed, $280 million expansion would double size of hospital. Here’s what it would look like.

Kenneth R. Gosselin

HARTFORD — An ambitious, $280 million expansion of Connecticut Children’s in Hartford that would roughly double the size of the hospital could be connected to a new parking garage across Washington Street via a pedestrian skywalk.

“We know we are going to need additional parking for the new tower,” Ryan Calhoun, the hospital’s vice president of strategy and business development, said. “We are going to need more space for our team members to park as well as our patients to be able to park.”

The plans for a parking garage, near the southwest corner of Washington and Lincoln streets, were included in a master plan for the 25-year-old campus filed with the city’s planning and zoning commission. The garage, however, would need a separate, future approval.

The commission, in addition to the state, is now reviewing the addition of an 8-story tower facing Washington Street.

At the center of the new 195,000-square-foot tower is a move by Connecticut Children’s into fetal care from its traditional pediatric care roots. Fetal care often includes surgery inside the womb to improve chances of survival.

The hospital also seeks to build on its specialized treatments for rare bone diseases, adding advanced cellular and gene therapy to provide cancer treatment for its pediatric patients.

If all approvals are secured, construction could start this spring and take two years to complete. Financing is expected to be though a combination of debt and foundation fundraising.

The expansion plans include the addition of 50 neo-natal intensive care beds; 14 “acuity adaptable” beds for different levels of care; 6 advanced cellular gene therapy beds; 6 labor and delivery beds and space for 25 future beds. The project also includes two new operating rooms in the fetal care center.

Although the parking garage is not part of the approval being sought for the new tower, it was included as part of the master plan to manage expected increased parking needs. Parking already is at a premium on the campus shared with Hartford Hospital.

Connecticut Children’s now has space in Hartford Hospital’s nearby parking garage. But it isn’t enough, forcing Connecticut Children’s to shuttle employees to the campus from elsewhere in Hartford, Calhoun said.

The garage would be built, owned and operated separately, with Connecticut Children’s leasing parking spaces, Calhoun said.

The hospital is in early discussions with potential builders and operators, but it declined to identify them.

It is still unclear how many spaces the garage would have, or how big it would be. But preliminary renderings show at least five levels above ground.

In June, Connecticut Children’s purchased a half-acre property on the western side of Washington Street, the site of a former car wash, in preparation for the expansion. The hospital paid $2 million, according to city property records.

Connecticut Children’s said it has been working with neighborhood groups as its proposal has unfolded in recent months. The filing with the planning and zoning commission included letters of support from the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance and the Frog Hollow Neighborhood Revitalization Zone.

The Frog Hollow NRZ wrote that it supported the new tower, but it was reserving judgment on the parking garage until it learned more details.

“While a fairly detailed rendering of the expanded building and site plan on the eastern side of Washington Street was presented, there was no information presented on the parking garage,” Carey Shea, Frog Hollow NRZ interim chair, wrote. “Therefore, at this time, the [Frog Hollow NRZ’s] enthusiastic support is strictly limited to support of the building expansion, changes to the street, bus lanes and landscaping proposed for the redevelopment east of Washington Street.”

Construction on the hospital and the parking garage would be timed so they would open at the same time, Calhoun said.

The new tower also is intended to create a new, front entrance to the hospital, Calhoun said. Right now, patients and visitors to Connecticut Children’s enter the hospital in the rear of the building near the emergency room.

“So now, we are really creating a brand new, grand entrance to the Children’s hospital which is really the standard for children’s hospitals across the country,” Calhoun said.

Construction company seeks contractors for New London community recreation center

Johana Vazquez

New London ― Downes Construction Company, LLC, the firm managing the upcoming construction of the city’s $30 million community recreation center, is asking local contractors to submit bids for the project.

The community center will be built on a seven-acre parcel of land that will be known as 1 Recreation Way in the Fort Trumbull section of the city.

According to a news release, Downes is seeking bids on a variety of trades ranging from temporary fencing and power to concrete and masonry work, structural and miscellaneous steel work, roofing, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and fire suppression. Bids also are being sought for site work and the installation of a pool and elevator.

The plans for the 57,000-square-foot community center facility include a two-court gymnasium, swimming pool with seating for swim meets, locker rooms, changing rooms, classrooms, a fitness center and weight room, multipurpose rooms and space for the headquarters of the city’s Recreation Department and Youth Affairs.

Qualified subcontractors interested in bidding on the project should contact Downes Construction at bids@downesco.com or Scott Scholl & Kyle Lentini at 860-229-3755 for bidding instructions.

Bidders can review the bid documents and invitation to bid at https://downesconstruction.sharefile.com/d-s172bcae47fc8444fb3abcd61b839cac6.

CT Construction Digest Monday September 26, 2022

THE CONNECTICUT SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS HAS INVITED US TO JOIN THEM

FOR THE RELEASE OF THEIR 2022 CONNECTICUT INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT CARD

 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022

10AM

METRO-NORTH RAILROAD WATERBURY STATION

333 MEADOW STREET, WATERBURY CT.

SOUTH END OF THE OVERFLOW LOT – ADJACENT TO THE TRACKS

WITH THE RTE.8 / I-84 MIXMASTER REHABILITATION PROJECT IN THE BACKGROUND

Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal

Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary

THIS WILL BE AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION ON THE CONDITION OF CONNECTICUT’S INFRASTRUCTURE

 

THE TIME TO INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE IS NOW!

Hartford firm tapped to partner with Middletown to develop prized lots near river

Cassandra Day

MIDDLETOWN — The city has chosen a firm to be part of a public/private partnership to redevelop three parcels at the site of the former municipal garage near the Connecticut River.

These “opportunity zones” are located on a total of 3.5 acres at 60 Dingwall and 195 deKoven drives, and at the rear of 222 Main St., something officials have described as prime real estate.

Mayor Ben Florsheim announced the city narrowed down proposals to the application submitted by principles of Spectra, Wonder Works, and Crosskey Architects of Hartford. The project is called the “Village at Riverside,” Deputy Mayor Vincent Loffredo said. 

As part of the plan, a new parking arcade would be built to replace the aging structure knocked down in 2018 due to dangerous conditions.

The original request for qualifications sent out early this year solicited only two applicants, Loffredo explained, so the city issued another, which drew three developers. One of the original two firms modified its request and resubmitted it during the second round, he said. 

The final three went through a “vigorous review” by selection committee members, the councilman said.

The plots have “scenic and panoramic views” of the Connecticut River, according to the 26-page request for developer qualifications created in March. Each parcel is in the “heart of Middletown’s thriving downtown,” it said.

Florsheim said in a letter to the selection committee Sept. 1 that he viewed this time as an “engagement period that precedes the actual wedding ceremony (so to speak), which will come later if the engagement goes well.”

The proposal from Spectra, Wonder Works, and Crosskey Architects stood out, Florsheim wrote.

“The biggest factors for me that elevated Spectra over the other extremely competitive applicants were their innovative approach to parking, their successful track record with projects in Connecticut (and strong references from those projects), the diversity and local roots on their team, and their very confidence-inspiring financial approach," he said.

Loffredo said the partnership hinges on an agreement being reached with the firm. If that is successful, documents are expected to be drawn up by the end of the year, at which point the matter will be reviewed by the Common Council.

One of the conditions is the purchase of the Attention to Detail property next door, Loffredo noted.

ADT Properties owns the 0.9-acre plot at 195 DeKoven Drive, which faces the river, and opens up “vistas” to the main site, the RFQ explained.

If conversations are successful over the next few weeks, the agreement will be referred to the Economic Development Committee, Florsheim said in the email.

Loffredo said he's optimistic a consensus will be reached. “I’m hopeful, but there’s a lot of work yet to be done," he said. "This is not going to happen immediately. Hopefully, we can come to some reasonable terms and understandings.”

Florsheim explained that he shares concerns raised by some people that quality of life downtown and in the business district could be affected. “The site should not be overdeveloped to the point where any public parking we recoup will only suffice for the increased traffic driven by new retail and residential,” he wrote.

The city already has committed $20 million of bond funding to construct a new public parking garage, the RFQ said.

The city also has invested “significant dollars” in the Return to the Riverbend project, Loffredo said, where members of the public were invited to jot down their ideas and points of concern at a pop-up shop at Main Street Market.
 
The project would initially kick off efforts to reconnect the city to the riverfront, which was cut off with the construction of Route 9, the deputy mayor said.

A similar situation occurred in Hartford, he added, when officials sought to reconnect “in a very meaningful way” to the riverfront near Constitution Plaza, with pedestrian access over the highway, something riverfront revitalization plans call for in Middletown at Riverview Center on Main Street.

The vision has been around since former mayor Michael Cubeta led the city in the late 1970s, Loffredo said.

According to the RFQ, the city is seeking to construct an “iconic development which will bring people and business to downtown, provide places for people to live and work, and become a regional attraction.

“The city’s opportunity zones offer developers a low-risk project due to the city’s extremely economically vibrant … downtown,” it continues. The site could become the “key connection” between the city’s urban commercial center and future riverfront development,” it reads.

Applicants were difficult to choose, the mayor said.

“Today is a difficult day, because, as with the riverfront master plan, I wish we could work with almost all these teams,” Florsheim wrote in his email. “However, it is also — I hope — a turning point for this site and for downtown, and that means it is also a very good day for Middletown."

A decade after Sandy, Bridgeport flooding project over budget and delayed

Brian Lockhart

BRIDGEPORT — A decade after Hurricane Sandy flooded the city's South End, a massive, federally funded project to fortify that neighborhood from future severe weather is at risk of turning into its own disaster if some major hurdles are not addressed.

What began as a $64 million total vision is, at the 90 percent design stage, going to instead cost another $30 million. And as of this week it was unclear where those additional dollars, a figure that until now had not been made public, will come from or when ground will be broken. The most recent goal had been this winter.

Meanwhile a state official who has been managing the project, dubbed Resilient Bridgeport, insists that, once the network of new pumping stations, flood walls, raised streets and other related improvements is complete, the city needs to assume operating and maintenance costs — a responsibility that has caught some local officials by surprise.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, a Democrat representing Fairfield County, including Bridgeport, has been doing his part to try and get things back on track.

"I've been concerned with this project for a long time," Himes said in an interview this week. "My job is to try to deliver federal money, especially to places like Bridgeport that need it badly. So it is really important to my ability to advocate that we use this money well and quickly."

Himes was first elected to Congress in 2008. He helped Connecticut's largest municipality post-Sandy obtain a pair of federal grants totaling over $64 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 2014 to stop flooding in the South End. Situated along the harbor and Long Island Sound, the area is home to the University of Bridgeport, Seaside Park, a new gas-fired power plant, the now-retired coal-fired plant and lots of working class and low income housing.

Resilient Bridgeport is being planned by the state's housing department, with help from Connecticut's departments of transportation and energy/environmental protection. The progress, or lack thereof, made few to any headlines until the last couple years when Mayor Joe Ganim's administration decided to relocate Bassick High School from the West End to the South End.

Initially there was a debate over whether construction of the new Bassick should wait until Resilient Bridgeport's completion. But city officials, increasingly skeptical the latter will happen, have instead decided to alter Bassick's design to address potential flooding around the campus.

"We were building it there thinking that (and Resilient Bridgeport) would happen at the same time," City Councilman Marcus Brown, chairman of the school building committee, said in a recent interview. "Now we have to think about, 'What if it doesn't happen at all? How do we protect the school?'"

As previously reported, in mid-March Dr. Shante Hanks, a former Himes staffer and Bridgeport activist who inherited the flooding project when hired in 2019 as a deputy state housing commissioner, during a public teleconference acknowledged "the budget is growing." But Hanks at that time declined to say by how much.

Himes this week said, “The last number I heard was there’s as much as a $30 million gap.”

"That is the ballpark, yes," Hanks subsequently confirmed, adding, "This (money) was awarded in 2014. If you start building a house in 2014 but don't put a shovel in the ground until 2023 it's going to cost differently." 

Hanks said "there are certain aspects of the budget that were not taken into consideration" eight years ago, and the global coronavirus pandemic slowed progress down and hiked prices. 

The HUD money was set to expire next year. Himes said that deadline has since been extended until 2025. As of earlier this year, construction was going to begin this winter. But Hanks said that is now on hold.

According to Himes, Gov. Ned Lamont's administration has been working on a way to help cover the additional costs that would include Bridgeport pitching in.

"Whether that's going to happen or not I don't know," he said.

Hanks said there is no more money available from HUD, and scaling back or phasing in the work will make the flood protection less effective.

"I would love to hear Bridgeport would put some funding toward the project," she said. "But I can't speak for Bridgeport."

City Councilman Scott Burns, a budget committee co-chairman, said he has been concerned about the lack of progress. Told Friday about the $30 million issue and asked whether the city could help foot that bill, Burns said, "We don’t have $30 million of capital lying around. (And) I wouldn't be inclined to say we should go bond (borrow) for all that."

Lamont's office in a statement Friday said, "The State of Connecticut is focused on mitigating the negative impacts of climate change in our 169 towns and cities, each one with their own unique needs to protect lives and livelihoods. We’re working with our federal and municipal partners to actualize a variety of climate resiliency projects, and will continue to review each individually to determine an equitable way to fund them.”

But whatever that may be, there are other issues. Hanks and her team are in talks with the Ganim administration and the Bridgeport Water Pollution Control Authority to assume the future costs of Resilient Bridgeport once it is up and running.

Bridgeport Economic Development Director Thomas Gill could not offer much insight into the overall state of Resilient Bridgeport or its funding challenges and efforts to resolve those. Gill, however, was familiar with the push to have Bridgeport take on operations and maintenance expenses, and claimed the message from Resilient Bridgeport's team has been "it's all or nothing" — meaning accept the burden or Resilient Bridgeport will not move ahead.

He said the city has not been provided "concrete numbers" in order to determine the budget impact. He noted any agreement will also need City Council approval and "I wouldn't even be comfortable" taking a proposal to that legislative body at this point without more information from the state.

Hanks said estimates are in the works. She also urged Bridgeport officials to "look at the big picture" of having received significant federal dollars to address a problem which, due to climate change, will only worsen over time.

"The area floods from heavy rains, constantly. That's not going to get better. Sea level isn't going to suddenly stop," Hanks said. "So I'd like it to move forward. But the only way it's possible is if the state and city work together on this."

If and when those fiscal matters are settled, there is still even more to do ahead of a ground-breaking. Hanks said the Resilient Bridgeport project will also need to enter into negotiations with South End private property owners to build some of the infrastructure on their land.

City Council President Aidee Nieves said this is all new information.

"Nobody knows about the $30 million overrun," Nieves said. She wants representatives with Resilient Bridgeport to meet with the council for a status update and to discuss what the state may expect in terms of financial and other assistance.

"At this time I’m not knowledgeable and only hearing it from word of mouth," Nieves said. "It is extremely disappointing.” 

"My concern is we're kind of dabbling in the dark in terms of trying to figure out what's happening," Burns said. 

"We are trying to get on the council's agenda for next month," Hanks said.

State Rep. Antonio Felipe, whose district includes the South End, said he respects the state housing agency's leadership but "the communication within that office has been shoddy."

"It's been difficult trying to really pinpoint what the actual hurdles are. All we want to do is help," Felipe said.

Hanks disputed the allegation that there has been poor communication. And she also sought to address any skeptics who believe Resilient Bridgeport is a failure and will never get finished.

"Let's be clear," she said. "It's beyond 'off the ground' because we're at 90 percent design."

"However," she continued, "There's multiple factors here. These are huge projects. It's not just about 'design it and go build it.' There's other aspects that have to come into play."

Preston residents to vote on amendment to Norwich Hospital sales agreement with Mohegan tribe

Claire Bessette

Preston ― After two years of negotiations between town, state and Mohegan tribal officials over terms of the final cleanup and property transfer of the former Norwich Hospital property, the amended agreement is ready for a town vote.

The Board of Selectmen Thursday endorsed the amendment to the Property Disposition and Development Agreement between the town and Mohegan tribe and scheduled a town meeting and vote for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 at Preston Plains Middle School. The Preston Redevelopment Agency approved the amendment Wednesday night.

Cleanup work has virtually halted at the 393-acre property for the past two years as the parties wrangled over the terms of the final cleanup, to be funded with a $7 million state grant approved in 2020 and a $2 million state loan to the town if necessary.

The amendment being put to voters calls for the town to use $5 million of the $7 million state grant to continue the cleanup to the point where the tribe would be able to take ownership of the property. Mohegan, which is the name of tribe’s development entity, then will receive the remaining $2 million state grant money and use of the $2 million town loan money , if necessary, to complete the cleanup based on Mohegan’s proposed uses for the property.

While no specific development plans have been announced, tribal officials have proposed a mixed-use, non-gaming development, possibly including a sports complex, hotels, major sporting goods retail store, luxury campground, marina and artificial snow ski facility.

Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent said another substantial change eliminates the requirement for the town to clean up the property to the point where it is suitable for residential development. Instead, Nugent said, the language calls for getting the property clean enough to mitigate contamination to the point were work can be done such as erosion control and using clean fill in low-lying areas where water might pool up.

“Kudos to the tribe. They never said, ‘That’s it we’re walking away,’” Nugent said of the change in cleanup standards. “Instead, they said, ‘How can we find a way to move forward?’”

Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman James Gessner said the tribe and the Preston Redevelopment Agency worked together on the amendment. He said the amendment “allows for a more realistic timeline” after the parties reached a better understanding of the environmental cleanup needed and the usage of state funding.

“It is also the perfect example of our shared commitment to this project, which will be an incredible asset to Preston, the Mohegan Tribe, the state, and region,” Gessner said in an email statement. “We look forward to its final approval.”

The amendment changes, and the original Property Disposition and Development agreement is updated throughout the lengthy document, with deletions in red and added language in blue. The documents will be available for viewing at the town clerk’s office and selectmen’s office at Preston Town Hall, at the Preston Public Library and will be posted on the town’s website, www.preston-ct.org.

Nugent said once the amendments are approved by the town and Mohegan Tribal Council, the parties will meet to iron out details on restarting the cleanup. Nugent hopes some work can be done later in fall, but the big push will be next spring.

The delay started in 2019, when testing showed more extensive than expected coal ash contamination throughout the property. The state approved a $7 million grant to be used along with a previous $2 million loan the town had received from the state to finish the cleanup. Another delay occurred when state officials initially required the town to use the loan money first, before the $7 million grant. Legislative action in 2021 clarified that the grant money would be used first.

Another part of the agreement covers terms between the state and the tribe after the tribe takes ownership of the property, called a pass-through agreement.

The amended agreement also changes terms to the $2 million low-interest loan the town obtained several years ago. The original language called for the loan to be forgivable if Mohegan development creates 200 permanent jobs, and the amendment allows loan forgiveness for either the 200 jobs or $200 million in construction value of new buildings.

Once approved, the town will have two years from the restart of work to complete the cleanup and convey the property to Mohegan.

Changing Hands: Sons of developer, lawyer take control of major downtown Hartford developments

Michael Puffer

Before he was 10, Daniel Klaynberg was spending a portion of his weekends answering phones in the Manhattan office of his father’s company, Wonder Works Construction.

As a teen, Klaynberg began tidying up job sites as a laborer. But Wonder Works founder Joseph Klaynberg quickly moved his son into administration, working with financial records, record keeping and event management at job sites.

By the time he was 23, Daniel Klaynberg was helping lead construction of a 163-unit apartment development in Manhattan.

Now 36, Klaynberg is stepping into the forefront of a company that has created more than 550 market-rate apartments in downtown Hartford over the past decade, and many more in New York City.

Daniel Klaynberg has been the company’s face in Hartford for about a year, meeting with city officials and putting his name to loans and agreements on pending projects.

“It’s a little bit of a natural progression,” said the younger Klaynberg, who has been CFO for Wonder Works since 2016. “I’ve been working with Wonder Works and my father for a long time.”

The transition, Klaynberg concedes, may have been accelerated by financial troubles that hit his father in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as one New York condominium project failed. The building was completed, but Wonder Works was unable to show units at the pandemic’s outset, Klaynberg explained.

Joseph Klaynberg filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February in the Southern District of New York. According to Klaynberg’s filing, he has $5.2 million in assets and $121 million in liabilities, which includes his debt guarantees for prior Hartford projects.

“It sure has made changes in our lives and made us have to go about securing deals differently,” Daniel Klaynberg said.

Klaynberg said he took on increasing responsibilities and ownership of projects even before his father’s financial troubles.

“It’s possible I would have been at the forefront and the guarantor anyway,” he said.

Klaynberg said operations at the four Hartford apartment buildings his father helped develop have not been impacted by the bankruptcy filing.

Hartford a good bet

Wonder Works got its Hartford start in 2012, when it partnered with another New York developer — Girona Ventures — to buy a long-vacant hotel on Constitution Plaza for $500,000. The 250,000-square-foot building was remodeled into 193 apartments in a $23.6 million project that wrapped in 2016.

Wonder Works and Girona subsequently remodeled two decaying Pearl Street office buildings into modern apartments. They also purchased and remodeled the former Trumbull on the Park apartment building.

The buildings — operating under the “Spectra” banner — feature premium amenities including a theater, fitness center, rooftop deck and more. Any amenity in the four buildings is open to all Spectra tenants.

These projects made Wonder Works one of the most prominent players in the city’s ongoing efforts to grow its downtown residential population and create a more thriving restaurant/retail culture.

That has become all the more crucial as the pandemic emptied corporate office buildings and taught companies that much of their workforce can effectively work from home.

Daniel Klaynberg said Hartford remains a great investment. He praised city staff as responsive to everything from inspection requests to road closures, which has saved considerable time and development expense.

Even so, the Spectra apartment buildings were shaken by the pandemic. As occupancy declined in 2020, Girona sold its half-share in those buildings to local parking mogul Alan Lazowski and prominent developer Martin Kenny. Occupancy quickly bounced back into the 90s, Klaynberg said.

New projects, new partners

Now, Daniel Klaynberg is teamed up with new partners for mixed-use redevelopments of a former fire station at 275 Pearl St., and a former municipal building at 525 Main St.

In November, the Hartford City Council signed off on a tentative deal to sell the buildings to Wonder Works for $785,000. Under the terms, Wonder Works was to lease the parking lots adjacent to the municipal building for $32,000 yearly, with an option to buy at any point for $162,000.

Klaynberg is partnered with Matthew, Evan and Dean Levy — sons of prominent Hartford-area attorney Coleman Levy — on the redevelopment.

The plan is to build 40 apartments at 525 Main St., and 36 rental units inside the fire house, with retail on the first floors of both buildings. Daniel Klaynberg said he has secured financing through Massachusetts-based PeoplesBank.

Klaynberg said he plans to redevelop parking lots associated with the municipal building into about 80 apartments with parking on lower levels of a six- to eight-story building. That work could begin in a couple years, he said.

Officials and Klaynberg say they are on the cusp of finalizing legal agreements for the sale and redevelopment of the firehouse, municipal building and associated lots.

The municipal building already hosts a deli and shoe repair shop. Klaynberg said both are welcome to stay. A convenience shop operator has signed a lease to move into a roughly 500-square-foot space as well, Klaynberg said.

At the fire station, Hartford restaurant entrepreneur Gina Luari plans to open a 4,500-square-foot pizzeria.

Coleman Levy had provided legal counsel to Joseph Klaynberg since his arrival in Hartford. Daniel Klaynberg said Levy’s local knowledge and banking connections proved crucial to prior efforts.

Matthew, Evan and Dean Levy, as well as their mother, Judie, are principals in Levy Properties. The company is a legacy business from Judie Levy’s side of the family. It has focused on redevelopment and leasing of Greater Hartford retail centers of up to about 65,000 square feet.

Matthew Levy said it was “mutual respect” between his father and Joseph Klaynberg that paved the way for the sons’ partnership. He said his family’s expertise in retail will help keep the first floors of the redeveloped buildings filled with quality tenants.

“Daniel and I have a very nice working relationship,” Matthew Levy said. “They are good people. We have primarily been in retail strip centers, so this is a nice opportunity to diversify into multifamily with retail.”

As with virtually all market-rate apartment developments in Hartford, the Capital Region Development Authority is lined up to provide a portion of financing. CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said Daniel Klaynberg has represented the Wonder Works side throughout the latest deal.

Freimuth said all of the necessary finances and legal agreements for the redevelopments are “pretty close” to being completed.

“It’s really been Dan, not Joe,” Freimuth said. “This is really a whole new creature. We’ve been dealing with Dan and his banks and his investors. The transition is relatively smooth.”

CT Construction Digest Friday September 23, 2022

East Hartford's first new apartment complex in 50 years key piece to revitalization plan

 Jonah Dylan

EAST HARTFORD — Local officials have approved an $81 million project that Mayor Mike Walsh says would be the first apartment complex built in town in nearly 50 years.

The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved the project at its meeting on Wednesday. Plans call for the apartment complex — Concourse Park — to include a pool, dog park and other amenities, and officials hope the development will help bring more people to the town and the surrounding area.

The project will create 406 temporary construction jobs and will bring an annual economic impact of $14.1 million to the community, according to the town’s website.

Concourse Park will be developed by Jasko Development and Zelman Real Estate. It will include 470 units, Brian Zelman, of Zelman Real Estate, said at an August planning and zoning commission meeting.

“It’s a very highly amenitized building,” Zelman said. “Probably great amenities than any project that we’ve toured or been a part of in the region.”

Concourse Park — which is close to moving forward and just needs the land to be transferred from the town to the developers — is part of a larger plan to revitalize the area around Silver Lane Plaza.

The town is negotiating with the current owner of Silver Lane Plaza to buy the property, Walsh said, and is considering using eminent domain to take control of the property. As that stalls, Concourse Park and a Rentschler Field Logistics Center project that could generate 2,000 new jobs are closer to becoming a reality.

Robert Pryor, director of site engineering for Solli Engineering, told officials at the August meeting that the Concourse Park site will be easy to develop because of its developmental history, when it was owned by Showcase Cinemas.

“This is a great project,” he said. “Typically, we’re trying to make the argument at these things, about how the development of sites is not going to be worse for various engineering aspects. The nice thing about this site is it’s all been developed before. We’re really actually redeveloping an existing site. The infrastructure is generally here.”

The town plans to transfer the property to the developers for $1, Walsh said. The project will be funded by $7 million in Urban Act State Bonding and $3 million in Silver Land Corridor GO Bonding, according to town documents.

Walsh said he was pleased to see the Concourse Park development moving forward, but noted that he wants all of the project near Silver Lane to be successful to really revitalize the entire area.

“It’s part of a larger mosaic,” he said. “We just can’t take these things as one-offs and feel like we had a good day. East Hartford has a lot of work to do, and Silver Lane is an example of just how good East Hartford can be.”

Long-dormant Cheshire property could attract 300 apartments and a national grocery store chain

Luther Turmelle

A long-dormant Cheshire commercial property, located near the intersection of two major Connecticut highways, is springing to life with residential construction that is likely to lure a national grocery chain to the site, according to New York City-based retail consultant.

Officials with Eastpointe, a Fairfield developer, have presented Cheshire's Planning and Zoning Commission with plans for a 300-unit apartment complex that would be built within Stone Bridge Crossing. The 107-acre mixed use development, is located near the intersection of Interstates 691 and 84 as well a main entrance off of Route 10,

If approved by the town's PZC, it would join a town home project that a Southbury-based developer began construction on earlier this year near Cheshire's border with Southington.

A Massachusetts-based developer, W/S Development first proposed the idea of a large lifestyle center on the property in 2008. W/S would then shift its plans to an outlet center before scrapping them entirely in July 2015,

The two residential developments that are part of Stone Bridge Crossing are expected to drive interest in the development's retail component. And at the centerpiece of that development is a planned grocery store tenant that a well-known New York retail consultant said is likely to be either a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods Supermarket.

Town officials are declining comment on who that tenant might be. Dan Zelson, a principal at Westport-based Charter Development, said he could not comment on specific tenants.

"But we are making very good progress with a number of fantastic national and local tenants," Zelson said. 

 Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, said it is likely either Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

"Connecticut is still significantly under-stored when it comes to supermarkets," Flickinger said."To me, this is a race between Whole Foods and Trader Joe's to see who gets to prime retail spaces first. That location is prime because of its easy access to highways."

Trader Joe's "is looking to fill holes it has in New Haven County as well along much of the Interstate 95 corridor from New Haven to Boston," he said.

"They have stores in Danbury and in West Hartford," Flickinger said. "Having a store in Cheshire would split the distance between those two stores along I-84. And it's well beyond the five-mile radius that Trader's Joe's has in terms of providing their stores with at least a five-mile unique trading area."

Officials with Texas-based Whole Foods, which is owned by technology giant Amazon, were not immediately available for comment.

The California-based grocery chain has eight stores in Connecticut, but Orange is its only New Haven County location.

"Trader Joe's is fully saturated in Fairfield County, but has room to expand in both New Haven and Hartford counties as well as southeastern Connecticut," Flickinger said. Currently, the chain's only Hartford County stores are in Manchester and Corbin's Corner in West Hartford.

Nakia Rohde, a spokeswoman for Trader Joe's said the chain "considers many locations. "

"All of the locations that are opening soon are listed on our website," Rohde said.  "Unfortunately, Cheshire is not on the list at this time." 

Cheshire has an ordinance that limits retail development to 50,000 square feet or less. Charter Development's online leasing information has the two largest retail space in Stone Bridge Crossing one that is 23,000 square feet and another at 22,000 square feet.

The 22,000 square foot space is listed on the Stone Bridge Crossing web site as having a lease out, while larger space was listed as still available. Charter Development officials were not immediately available Thursday to respond to questions regarding the retail portion of the project.

Flickinger said the smaller space is more in line with a Trader Joe's location than a Whole Foods.

He said  Whole Food's scrapped its experimental 365 locations, which were supposed to deliver the chain's high-end groceries at a cheaper cost. But Flickinger said the company is still experimenting with locations as well as fully automated stores.

"Whole Foods seems to have its new format figured out this time.," he said. The 365 store concept launched in the the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles in 2016, but Whole Foods scrapped the entire concept in 2019.

"Whole Foods has stores already in existence that are as small as 25,000 square feet, so I'm sure they can handle something a little smaller," Flickinger said.

Whole Foods is currently working with Charter Development on building a new store in South Windsor's Evergreen Crossing lifestyle center and Flickinger said, adding "Whole Foods likes to stick with the same developer, when they find one they like."

"They like to stick with a winner and Charter definitely fits that category," Flickinger said.

Plans also call for a hotel and a gas station/convenience store to be built as part of Stone Bridge Crossing. Charter's website lists the hotel as "under contract and the gas station/convenience store as  already leased

Mike Glidden, Cheshire's town planner, said Eastpointe's apartment complex plans will be formally read into the record Monday night with a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 24.

Construction of the town homes, which is named The Reserve at Stone Bridge, got underway earlier this year. The developer of the project is Southbury-based EGHome and models are expected to be available for prospective buyers to tour early next year, though sales are getting underway this fall.

Information on The Reserve at Stone Bridge website has town homes with tandem two-car garages priced from the high $400,000 range. Carriage homes, with a primary suite on the main floor, start in the high $500,000 range.

When asked about which grocery store chain is going into Stone Bridge Crossing, Glidden said "we've heard a lot of things, but we can't really comment."

"My guess is you will see the gas station/convenience store built first," he said. "Once they have a bunch of anchors in place and are ready to build, it could really pop out of the ground at a quick rate. But every one is waiting to see that first residential roof right now."

City Council backs developer’s request for grant funds to convert factory into housing

Michael Gagne 

MERIDEN — The City Council this week voted to support a developer’s application for state funding to rehabilitate a former factory site on Tremont Street that city officials say has been under-utilized.

The council voted to approve an application in partnership with Trinity Financial, a real estate development firm, to seek $1.49 million in brownfield remediation funds from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

Trinity, which has offices in New York and Boston, previously presented to the city’s Planning Commission its proposal to gut and rebuild the four-story former Aeolian factory at 85 Tremont St. into a residential development with 80 one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

The commission voted to back the project, which seeks to convert the former factory into housing under the city’s adaptive reuse program created in 2019. 

Buildings that qualify for the program must be at least 50 years old, at least 15,000 square feet in size and must be “no longer productivity utilized” or severely “underutilized.”

The site is the former home of the Aeolian Organ and Music Co., established in 1887. The company at its height employed 500 people, manufacturing automatic organs and a successful line of player pianos called pianolas. 

Meriden Economic Development Director Joseph Feest said even though the site is currently occupied by what he described as “good businesses,” the building is under-utilized. 

Feest said the city was approached by Trinity representatives more than two years ago “to upgrade this building and make it into beautiful homes for people.”

The apartments would benefit lower to moderate income tenants, Feest said. 

“I really think it’s going to be an upgrade,” he said, describing the designs, including the exterior, as “a huge improvement to what you see now.”

Feest said the company has a “very good track record” repurposing under-utilized buildings, including repurposed buildings in Norwalk, Boston, and Providence, Rhode Island, according to Trinity’s company website. 

“They’re very well versed in how to rehab a building of this sort,” Feest said. 

City Councilor Michael Rohde, who chairs the council’s Economic Development, Housing and Zoning Committee, similarly described the proposal as “a good reuse” of the factory building. 

Mayor Kevin Scarpati, like Rohde, has indicated his support. Scarpati’s public remarks came during a City Council meeting in July, when a similar request for state grant funding for the project came to the council for approval. 

At the time, Scarpati said the proposed reuse would “help turn around that whole neighborhood.” 

A Trinity representative did not respond to a request for an update on the project, including other funding the firm might be pursuing. 

In February, Dan Drazen, Trinity’s vice president of development, told the Planning Commission, “We really appreciate your support and we look forward to working with you and the community.”

Drazen also said, “We were drawn to this because of the historical significance of the building and the Aeolian company. We were excited to see the city had an adaptive reuse zoning district.”

“We think we fit right into the framework you folks established,” Drazen added. When Drazen presented the proposal to the City Council in July, the cost estimate he shared was $52 million.

City Councilor Michael Carabetta, who was not present for Monday’s meeting, voted to support the request made in July. 

During the July meeting, Carabetta had asked Drazen whether there would be sufficient parking for the number of apartment units proposed at the site. Carabetta stated he was concerned the apartments would impose new burdens on city schools and first responders.

On Wednesday, Carabetta said while he did end up voting to support that previous application, he “did make it clear this would be the last new housing thing I would be voting for.”

Mixed-use apartment development eyed for Berlin Turnpike

Hanna Snyder Gambini

A development firm is looking to construct a new multi-building, mixed-use project along the Berlin Turnpike with more than 100 residential units and commercial and retail space.

Nicholas R. Morizio, a broker with Colliers International and manager for property owner 550-554 Berlin Turnpike Associates LLC, submitted applications to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission in July for the development project and a zone change from BT-1, Berlin Turnpike 1 designation, to BTD, Berlin Turnpike Development.

The change, along with the site plan and special permit, would allow for development of a mixed-use project containing 106 residential units throughout three new buildings, with 20% of them affordable, a new retail building and reconfigured parking areas at 502, 522 and 554 Berlin Turnpike. 

“The purpose of the BTD zone is to promote mixed-use development, including housing opportunities and commercial development, along the Berlin Turnpike in a unified master plan,” the application reads.

An industrial building currently occupied by ABC Supply Co. Inc., at 554 Berlin Turnpike, will remain open and operational, Morizio said.  

The other two parcels are vacant and underdeveloped, making the space ideal for this project, Morizio said, giving residents convenient access to housing opportunities, shopping areas, workplaces and major highways like routes 9 and 91.

The residential area in the new development would cover more than 145,000 square feet with 84 one-bedroom and 22 two-bedroom units. The application states that 212  residential parking spaces are required, but only 180 are proposed. Parking for ABC and the new retail building would increase from 25 spaces to 36.

The property at 502 Berlin Turnpike consists of 2 acres appraised at $240,000, and 522 Berlin Turnpike is a 12-acre site appraised at $212,000. The 554 Berlin Turnpike site has nearly 6.5 acres of land and the ABC building, with a total appraised value of nearly $1.9 million. 

The properties are largely vacant sitting in between Woodlawn and Deming roads and busy retail centers there. The property abuts the Mattabesset River, and the application will also require town Inland Wetlands board review.

A public hearing on the applications has been scheduled before the next regular Planning and Zoning meeting Oct. 6, where the board could take a vote.

Judge orders halt to Rhode Island truck tolls, rules system is unconstitutional

Patrick Anderson

A federal judge has slammed the brakes on Rhode Island's truck tolls and sided with the long-haul trucking industry's complaint that the highway charges were unfair and unconstitutional.    

After U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith ordered Rhode Island officials to stop collecting truck tolls within 48 hours, Rhode Island Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisbeth Pettengill on Wednesday afternoon said the tolls would be shut off "probably this evening."

At that point, Gov. Dan McKee was still reviewing his options and the administration had not said whether it would appeal the decision.

The state has collected $101 million in truck tolls since the first one launched in 2018. Without the dozen toll locations across the state, Rhode Island would lose an estimated $40 million annually in revenue.

In a 91-page ruling that recounted the put-down that Rhode Island is “little more than a smudge on the fast lane to Cape Cod,” Smith wrote that by discriminating against out-of-state trucks, the tolls placed an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.

"Because RhodeWorks fails to fairly apportion its tolls among bridge users based on a fair approximation of their use of the bridges, was enacted with a discriminatory purpose, and is discriminatory in effect, the statute’s tolling regime is unconstitutional under the dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution," Smith wrote.

Rhode Island is the only state in the country with a truck-toll system like the one Smith struck down. The trucking industry fought it since 2018 in large part to prevent any other states from trying their own.

On Wednesday the industry celebrated.

"This is a tremendous day for our industry – not just here in Rhode Island, but across the country – had we not prevailed, these tolls would have spread across the country and this ruling sends a strong signal to other states that trucking is not to be targeted as a piggy bank,” Rhode Island Trucking Association President Chris Maxwell said in a news release.

And Rhode Island Republicans who had opposed the tolls and warned of this outcome for years got to say "I told you so."

"As House Minority Leader in 2016 during the floor debate on this bill this is precisely what I and the rest of the House Republicans predicted would happen," Rep. Brian Newberry, R-North Smithfield, tweeted. "Barring an overturn on appeal this is a wholly preventable fiscal disaster for RI brought to you exclusively by Democrats."

Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz warned that the ruling against tolling only trucks would spur ruling Democrats to instead toll all vehicles.   

“It was ridiculous that the General Assembly would adopt a plan that called for new tolls statewide and millions in debt with so little information," de la Cruz said in a news release. "Anyone who tries to implement tolls on cars as a result of this court decision will face fierce opposition from our members.”

Although State House Democrats were not saying much about tolls, they promised that predictions of imminent car tolls would prove off the mark.  

“We want to be very clear: The governor and his administration do not support and would not implement a tolling program on passenger vehicles," McKee spokesman Matt Sheaff said in an email. "As this ruling has just come out, our team is reviewing the decision and evaluating next steps.”

In a joint statement, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio said the Assembly "prohibited the tolling of passenger cars, and regardless of the eventual outcome of this lawsuit, that will not change.”

Smith's ruling did not say anything about the state having to repay any of the tolls it has collected; the DOT's Pettengill said that wouldn't happen.

General Treasurer Seth Magaziner on Wednesday said the state had considered borrowing against truck-toll revenue but never moved in that direction, so the ruling should not have any impact on bond covenants. 

The state hired Kapsch Traffic Com IVHS Inc. on a $69-million, 10-year contract to build, maintain and run the truck tolls. It was not immediately clear whether, if it comes to it, the contract would cover dismantling.   

In addition to the cost of setting up the tolls, the state had paid outside legal counsel Adler Pollock & Sheehan PC $7.1 million as of May to defend the state against the truckers' lawsuit. The legal fight included a battle to prevent Raimondo and former House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello from having to give depositions. 

The truck tolls were a signature policy of former Gov. Gina Raimondo, who is now U.S. commerce secretary, and one of her first big legislative initiatives when she took office in 2015.  

Smith's decision for the trucking industry hinged at least in part on changes the General Assembly made to the original 2015 tolling bill to mollify local truckers and businesses, such as construction, that use heavy vehicles. 

Before the toll legislation was passed in early 2016, lawmakers exempted all vehicles except tractor trailers – including dump trucks and box trucks. They also capped tolls at $40 per day and charged a vehicle only once in each direction at each gantry. All of those changes benefited local businesses over out-of-state operators.

"Rhode Island has a legitimate – even compelling – interest in the maintenance of its ailing bridges," Smith wrote. "But there is no reason that interest cannot be served by a tolling system that does not offend the Commerce Clause. Indeed, many states have implemented tolling systems that fairly apportion their costs across various users and do not discriminate against interstate commerce."

Whether the Rhode Island truck tolling system could survive a legal challenge if it charged all heavy trucks and lifted all caps – as in the original plan – is unclear. 

The state could also seek help from Congress, but that path may be even murkier.