A Passion for Building Drives O&G’s Third Generation Chief
The idea of working for a single company for an entire
career may seem like a relic from a distant age, but it has worked well for
Raymond R. Oneglia in helping guide his family-owned contracting business into
the 21st century—and into its own next 100 years—while preserving bedrock
values of dedication, loyalty, respect and consensus-building.
Under Oneglia as vice chairman, Torrington, Conn.-based
O&G Industries Inc. has thrived and expanded beyond its home state to take
part in major projects around the country. But the company has not lost focus
on its core New England market, with Oneglia striking a balance between growth
and keeping the company, one of the largest privately owned contractors in the
Northeast, at a manageable size.
The firm ranks at No. 287 on ENR’s current list of Top 400
contractors, reporting $332.6 million in 2021 revenue. The executive also has
been prominent in sharing his decades of expertise with peers and with the next
generation of industry professionals.
The successes have made Ray Oneglia this year’s selected
recipient of ENR New England’s 2023 Legacy Award. It is given annually to an
individual in the region, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, who has established a solid record of
lifetime industry achievement and service to colleagues and community.
“Ray is a very focused, dedicated person,” says Kenneth
Merz, O&G corporate secretary, who has worked alongside Oneglia since 1970.
“He is always thinking about what to do next or what we should get involved
with.”
Family Affair
To say O&G is a family business doesn’t do full justice
to Oneglia’s corporate commitment to the firm—and that of his brother David and
several cousins.
The company was founded in 1923 by Oneglia’s grandfather, Andrew,
and business partner Flaviano Gervasini. Oneglia’s father, Raymond, quit high
school as a sophomore to help run the company, and he and brothers Francis and
George were devoted to O&G before passing leadership to the third
generation, Oneglia notes.
Driving with his father as a boy to construction sites,
Oneglia got an early sense of industry life. He worked for the firm as a teen
during summers, and by 16 was capable enough to be a foreman and scraper
operator on the Colebrook Dam project in Connecticut. He also admits to a
short-lived adventure with the dynamite crew on one project that ended when a
state inspector sent him home for being under age.
Oneglia graduated in 1970 from Union College in Schenectady,
N.Y., but there was little question of what career he planned. Soon he was
overseeing a 16-mile sewer and roadway job, managing the reconstruction of
Connecticut Route 7 from Danbury to Brookfield and running the repaving of I-84
from Danbury to Newton.
“It was just a passion—it was a total passion, and it is to
this day,” Oneglia says. “I still get up at 5 and I’m in the office at 7.”
As he rose through the ranks, Oneglia began to push the
company into new market niches, expanding a small rock quarry his grandfather
had bought and acquiring other quarries and construction material yards.
Diversification has been good for the company’s bottom line,
making O&G one of Connecticut’s top construction materials suppliers, with
a recent investment in a factory to produce components for low-embodied carbon
concrete.
The efforts also have harnessed the skills and drive of
other family members to manage new units “so everyone has the kind of place
where they could follow in a line of work behind their fathers,” Oneglia says.
“I have a cousin whose father ran the building division and now he has run it
for many years.” He notes another cousin who followed in his father’s footsteps
into the firm’s asphalt operation.
The family approach, however, extends well beyond biological
ties between various members of the Oneglia family. Across the firm at all
levels, there are longtime employees who may be the second or even third generation
of a family to work at O&G.
“We have had an incredible workforce —all union—and they
have made the company what it is,” Oneglia says. “Everybody who has been with
us for a long time, when they leave, it’s because of age or illness. We don’t
lose [employees] very often. We have a company of very loyal people who have
contributed immensely over the years to the success of the company.”
Safety Lesson
The strength of that bond was tested more than a decade ago
after a Connecticut power plant
site explosion in 2010 that killed six employees of O&G
subcontractors as workers were clearing debris from plant pipes with hundreds
of thousands of gallons of natural gas.
Oneglia declines to comment on the 2010 Kleen Energy plant
accident, citing still active litigation with victims and families, but he acknowledges
that the company learned hard lessons about safety over the years.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
levied $16.6 million in fines against the plant operator, subcontractors and
O&G, which had the largest single penalty, $10.6 million. “We had a couple
things happen over the years that were tragic,” Oneglia says, speaking in
general of safety and efforts to reduce onsite accidents. “Could they have been
prevented? You never know—you try and analyze” what happened, he adds. “We are
very, very safety conscious.”
The lessons learned are key as O&G has pushed into new
geographies and more complex project work. Oneglia led development of
successful partnerships with contractors Perini Corp. and Tutor-Saliba, now
Tutor-Perini Corp., forging a relationship with CEO Ron Tutor.
That paved the way for O&G to participate in complex
projects such as a lock and dam in Louisiana, a nine-mile Chicago tunnel, a
rail line through the Alameda Corridor in California and runway construction at
Los Angeles International Airport. Oneglia is a board director of publicly
traded Tutor-Perini.
“He definitely grew and developed over the years,” Merz
recalls. “He was very good at meeting people and getting to know them and
figuring things out about them as well.”
Oneglia says O&G has helped Tutor-Perini sharpen its
pencils when drafting bids and provides a key financial backstop, which ensures
that the California firm does not have to use all of its bonding capacity on a
few projects. “None of the projects we have ever done with Tutor were finished
late or had claims,” Oneglia says.
Community Impact
Oneglia has also assumed industry leadership roles over the
years. His contributions include many years of service to the Connecticut
Construction Industry Association—for which he headed several labor negotiation
committees and its legislative committee and served as overall group chair. He
also is past president of the Connecticut Road Builders Association.
A longtime member of The Moles, the national heavy
construction professionals group, he was president in 1999 and received its
member award in 2015. Former group executive director Tom Groark recalls
Oneglia as a meticulous planner, “one of those contractors who thinks before he
does anything and makes sure he has it all figured out before he starts
anything.”
Oneglia, who says his father was also very active in the
industry, takes pride in labor contracts he and other construction executives
helped negotiate with trades on behalf of the Connecticut Construction Industry
Association. “It was sometimes very time-consuming,” he says. “You could be
there until 11 o’clock the night before.”
The executive has also been active in industry and union
efforts to train young workers for construction careers, focusing on ways to
remove potential job barriers for students in local high schools who are
learning English. Oneglia has volunteered his time and money to support
programs in local technical high schools. He also is dedicated to supporting
veterans, having served in the Army National Guard and now serving as a board director
of the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation. “It has been a very positive thing in my
life to see what people do in the military, ” he says.
Looking ahead, Oneglia is planning the transition of O&G
leadership, with seven fourth-generation family members involved in the
company, including son R. Bradford “Brad” Oneglia, vice president in charge of
asphalt, and nephew Ryan Oneglia, a heavy civil division vice president. Other
extended family members hold vice president titles in the firm’s building,
masonry and construction materials units.
“I think the most important thing is the full turnover of
the organization to the next generation,” he said. “We are midway through that,
if not a little further.”
Director of CT's controversial school construction grant program resigns
Dave Altimari
The person hired to replace Konstantinos Diamantis to steer
the state’s school construction grant program has resigned after barely four
months on the job.
Douglas Rogers resigned from his job as director of the
Office of School Construction Grants & Review on March 13 in an email to
the state Department of Administrative Services human resources department. The
email didn’t give a reason for his sudden departure.
“As of March 13, 2023, I resign my position as Director,
School Construction Grants and Plan Review, DAS,” Rogers wrote.In an interview
this week, Rogers said he couldn’t adjust to the slow pace of state government
work.
“I’ve been doing school construction for years, and I felt I
was the right person for the job, but I just couldn’t get used to the state’s
pace,” Rogers said. “I’m conditioned to move quickly, because time is money in
construction, and I just couldn’t execute things in a timely manner.”
Rogers cited the example of trying to fill at least two
vacancies on the OSCGR team. Rogers said he conducted several interviews and
selected possible candidates but they found other jobs before the state’s
hiring process was finished.
“If I had spent 10 years (in state employment) before taking
this position, I would have been prepared for how slow things move,” Rogers
said. “‘I just didn’t feel the work was being supported, so we mutually agreed
I’d leave.”
Rogers began his job at OSCGR on Oct. 31 and was earning
about $150,000 a year, according to state records.
He was hired after an extensive search to replace Diamantis,
who was removed as the director in October 2021 after state officials were
informed that a federal grand jury was investigating several school
constructions projects.
DAS spokesman John McKay said the agency “is currently
evaluating the next steps to fill this role.”
“The Office of School Construction Grants and Review
continues to function as intended, and the office is being overseen by DAS
Deputy Commissioner Darren Hobbs,” McKay said.
While state officials had little to say about Rogers’
resignation, DAS Commissioner Michelle Gilman told legislators during her
confirmation hearing in January that she was “really proud” to be working with
him.
She told lawmakers Rogers’ background made him a perfect
person to lead the unit in the aftermath of Diamantis’ departure.
“He has a background of working at CREC [Capitol Region
Education Council] and also with other school districts on school construction
facilities management as well as a military background, which we have enjoyed
because there is not a lot of diversion from procedures and process in the
military,” Gilman said.
“He has been able to not only bring that vision to the
school construction team but also a great deal of knowledge overseeing the
OSCGR team in particular,” she added.
Diamantis, once the state’s second-highest budget official
and a former state representative, was hired in 2015 to lead the school
construction grants office. He took the grants oversight responsibility with
him when he was appointed deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and
Management in 2019.
OSCGR, which controls millions of dollars in state funding,
has been in a state of flux since Oct. 28, 2021, the day Gov. Ned Lamont
removed Diamantis from his appointed position as undersecretary of OPM and
suspended him with pay from his position as the director of OSCGR. Diamantis
resigned hours later that same day.
The move to oust Diamantis came shortly after reports
surfaced that his daughter had been hired by then-Chief State’s Attorney
Richard Colangelo’s office at the same time Colangelo was seeking Diamantis’
help in getting raises for state’s attorneys.
State officials also at that time released grand jury subpoenas
revealing the federal investigation into the school grant program that included
construction projects in Enfield, Manchester and Tolland.
After Diamantis was removed from OSCGR, Deputy DAS
Commissioner Noel Petra was put in charge of the unit and tasked with helping
to review previous school projects as well as approving grants for new ones.
DAS hired an outside auditor to review all of the grants
OSCGR had issued since 2018, which is the same time frame federal authorities
began investigating the program and for which issued the grand jury subpoena.
The 23-page report that was produced by Marcum LLP, an
independent auditing firm, included an analysis of more than 111 school
construction projects undertaken in Connecticut between 2018 and 2021.
The state paid Marcum $240,000 for the audit, which was
immediately criticized by some legislators because no local officials were
interviewed, and it only conducted a review of internal files and did not
interview anyone outside of DAS.
Local officials from several towns alleged in the wake of
the federal investigation that Diamantis pressured them to hire specific
contractors for their school projects.
Those allegations included contracts for construction
administrators, general contractors and demolition and remediation
companies.
Owner of former Bridgeport Stop & Shop making 'some changes' to self storage plan
Brian Lockhart
BRIDGEPORT — The developer who wants to build a self-storage facility at the site of a long-shuttered Stop & Shop on Madison Ave. said he requested this week's zoning hearing be delayed another month to incorporate "some changes" into his plan.
But those who have been urging Hugh Scott to completely scrap his proposal and replace it with affordable/senior housing may not want to get their hopes up just yet. He clarified Monday that the intent is for self-storage to remain in any revised design.
Scott said "we continue to evaluate" some sort of housing concept, but "we believe that self-storage is an important component of the development of the property."
"We're in the process of making some changes ... that we hope everyone will find more acceptable," Scott said when asked why his scheduled presentation to the zoning commission Monday night was put off until late April. He declined to elaborate further.
This is the second delay. His proposal was originally supposed to be brought to the zoning board in February.
Scott is just the latest property-owner to face a backlash in the North End, where some residents, elected officials and activists have in the recent past rallied to successfully oppose large-scale developments, from privately-run dormitories aimed at college students attending nearby Sacred Heart University, to a new two-year campus run by Fairfield University and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.
At least some of that resistance to big changes can be traced back a couple decades to the neighborhood's initial experience with the old Stop & Shop. An odd fit, the large supermarket, despite intense opposition, was built in the late 1990s at 2600 Madison Ave. on the former Dewhirst Dairy site in a mostly-residential neighborhood. It closed in 2012 and the building has since sat empty.
Scott bought the property a year-and-a-half ago for $4 million. At a public meeting last month at the North End Library organized by council members Michelle Lyons and AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia, he sought to convince the audience of around 50 people that he had studied various possibilities and a self-storage facility was the most realistic, and least intrusive and disruptive, use of the old store.
But an alternative plan urged by Lyons, former state Rep. Christopher Caruso, state Sen. Marilyn Moore and others to instead build some sort of affordably-priced and/or senior housing there appeared more popular with the crowd. The next week Mayor Joe Ganim announced that he too embraced that concept.
Scott has countered housing would require "massive" public subsidies to be feasible.
Told Monday of Scott's desire to still pursue some-sort of self-storage but with a possible residential piece, neither Lyons nor Caruso expressed enthusiasm for any such a mix.
"I just feel they're adding the housing to try to get the self-storage as well there," Lyons said. "How could you put storage and housing together?"
Caruso agreed, stating he did not think there was enough land for both. He also questioned whether anyone would want to live right next to a self-storage structure.
"The people, what I'm hearing, they want senior housing and a senior center," Lyons said.
Ganim meanwhile on Monday said he would hope Scott would address the North End's issues with his original plan.
"If he doesn't, he's going to continue to get vocal opposition from the neighborhood and that has an impact. I think they raised legitimate, valid concerns," Ganim said.
This can also be a political issue for the mayor and his administration. North End voters will potentially play an important role in this year's upcoming elections, and he is running for another four-year-term.
The mayor and council appoint members of the zoning commission. That body, however, cannot simply turn down an application without providing legally defensible reasons should a developer appeal in court.
Last April, following weeks of public back-and-forth between Fairfield University, the Bridgeport Diocese and their critics on the two-year college plan for diocese property elsewhere in the North End, the mayor's office issued an opinion from the law department that reversed a municipal lawyer's earlier conclusion that such a use of the land was allowed under zoning.
No one has so far questioned the actual legality of a self-storage facility where Scott wants to locate it.
Short by One Vote, Halls Road Overlay District Defeated in Old Lyme
Cate Hewitt
OLD LYME — After many months of presentations, public
hearings and deliberations, the Zoning Commission narrowly denied the Halls
Road Overlay District application that would have allowed the construction of
mixed use buildings in the town’s main commercial district.
At Monday’s special meeting, the application received three
votes of approval and two against, which normally would have counted as an
approval. But due to a negative
referral from the Planning Commission in January, the application
required a supermajority vote, or four out of the commission’s five
votes.
The overlay district would have allowed property owners and
developers to build new mixed
use buildings – with commercial space below and residential units
above – provided that the buildings fronted Halls Road according to
certain rules. The biggest limiting
factor to building high density residential units was the sewer or
septic capacity, according to the attorney for the Halls Road Improvements
Committee. The issue dates back to 2015,
when the committee first convened.
During Monday’s nearly two-hour discussion preceding the
vote, commission secretary Jane Marsh – who voted to approve – requested a
number of language changes to the December 16, 2022 draft, including changes
recommended by town attorney Matt Willis.
Among Marsh’s requests were that the commission specify a
maximum length for buildings fronting Halls Road to avoid the possibility of
long, continuous structures that lacked gaps where pedestrians could walk
through to the parking lots located behind the buildings.
The idea, Marsh said, was to approximate Lyme Street, “so
we’re looking for that same feeling, just having some small break up in the
buildings.”
The commission approved a maximum length of 125 feet per
building, as well as a building maximum of 10,000 square feet.
The maximum building height was lowered from 40 feet to 35
feet, and the maximum lot coverage was lowered from 50 percent to 40 percent
because the area is in the town’s conservation zone – and its regulations would
supersede the overlay district’s, said Marsh.
Commission chair Paul Orzel urged the commission to present
the best legal document possible to allow a developer to present a proposal to
the commission.
“What are the legal guardrails that this overlay should
have?” he asked.
Orzel, who voted to approve the application, said that
infrastructure constraints would drive the amount of development on Halls
Road.
The overlay presented opportunities for developers, said
commission member Mary Jo Nosal, who voted to approve the proposal.
“I think we’re trying to redevelop what we’ve had since
1950s and 1960s. We’re trying to do what towns are doing throughout the state
in developing usable, livable streetscapes so that people can age in place,”
she said. “It’s a mindset that’s different from what we had before to what we’d
like our vision to be in the town of Old Lyme.”
Nosal said the town had held meetings over the past three
years to ask people what they wanted to see in their shopping district.
She also noted that the Halls Road Improvements Committee
had not been represented at the Planning Commission meeting when the negative
referral vote took place.
Alternate Michael Barnes, who replaced commission member
Mike Miller at the meeting, said he was concerned about potential bulk frontage
on Halls Road and as well as lot coverage and density, which he said would
increase.
Barnes, who voted against the application, also said the
potential housing on Halls Road would be rented at market rate and would not
accomplish the goal of creating affordable housing in the community.
Sloan Danenhower, who replaced commission member Tammy
Tinnerello because she had not attended the previous meetings concerning Halls
Road, said the “elephant in the room” was the lack of infrastructure for sewer
and water.
“The town pays for it down the road,” he said.
Proposed warehouse in Ashford has many in the ‘Quiet Corner’ up in arms
Eric Bedner
Residents of Ashford are in an uproar at a proposal —
similar to one that was shot down in Willington — that could place an enormous
warehouse in their rural town, raising concerns that it would destroy the
character of the “Quiet Corner.”
Massachusetts-based Campanelli Construction is proposing a
1.1 million-square-foot, 55-foot-tall warehouse on the site at the intersection
of Interstate 84 and Route 89 in the northern section of town, a parcel that
includes the Ashford Motel.
The structure would be about the same size as the Buckland
Hills Mall in Manchester.
Any construction is a long way off, as the Planning and
Zoning Commission is considering amending its regulations to allow for a
building on the site to be as tall as 55 feet.
The current regulation on the Interstate Interchange
Development zone, or IID, the only one in town, limits the height of buildings
to 35 feet.
The developers initially wanted to extend the height limit
to 75 feet, but scaled it back to 55 feet after hearing from the public.
If the rule change were to be approved, the regulations
would apply to any future structures on the parcel.
Developers of the proposed warehouse would have to return to
get the commission’s approval for a special permit to begin construction, a
lengthy process that would also include more public hearings.
An ‘outrageous’ proposal
Hundreds of residents already have attended two public
hearings in February and March, with a large majority of speakers opposing the
project. A third public hearing is scheduled for April.
“The majority of those who have spoken seem to be negative
toward it, but there are also a number of people who are in favor of it,” First
Selectman Bill Falletti said.
Speaking as a resident and taxpayer, not as first selectman,
Falletti said that he supports the rule change to allow the process to go on to
the next step.
He notes that if the proposal were to move forward to the
special permit process, it would face more scrutiny, such as environmental and
traffic studies, both of which are sticking points for many residents.
Despite the polarizing issue leading to residents calling
for a townwide vote, the Planning and Zoning Commission has the final say under
state law, Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael D’Amato said.
While Campanelli Construction is seeking a similar warehouse
that was proposed in Willington, it is not the same developer and the projects
are not connected.
D’Amato, who also serves as a zoning agent in Willington,
said the project was scrapped in that town because the developers were seeking
to change the proposed area from residential zoning to allow for what would
have been a 1.5 million-square-foot warehouse.
No tenant has been lined up for the Ashford proposal,
leaving residents to further speculate about the impact to their rural
community.
Ashford resident Michael Maglaras, who also serves as the
superintendent of the captive insurance company fixing crumbling foundations,
said his main concern is that the site off Exit 72 of I-84 is the last undeveloped
exit off the highway in the area.
He opines that millions of cubic yards of land would have to
be moved from a “pristine” site next to a state wildlife sanctuary.
“This is a massive, massive construction project” with no
planned public water or sewer, Maglaras said. “Simply put, it’s the wrong
project for a rural environment.”
He said he and his wife moved to Ashford from Greenwich
after 30 years specifically because it is rural and quiet.
“We’re going to fight like hell to keep it that way,”
Maglaras said, adding that he’s hopeful the proposal doesn’t get past the
initial rule change, saying that if the amended language were passed, it would
be “opening Pandora’s box.”
Charles Vidich, an Ashford resident with four decades of
experience in land-use planning on the local, state, and federal level, also
opposes the project.
Specifically, he is concerned that whatever tenant to occupy
the building would have to “self-police” their water and septic systems.
“It is a public water supply issue,” Vidich said. “It’s not
a question of if a disaster will happen, it’s a question of when.”
He also doubts assertions that trucks going in and out of
the warehouse property would only use I-84, saying that many are more likely to
take the local Route 89 when traveling south.
“This is really an outrageous urban proposal for a rural
area,” Vidich said.
Town impact
John Knuff, an attorney representing Campanelli
Construction, said that no public water would be affected as all wastewater
would be collected and treated on site, and that 30% of the land would remain
open space, according to Planning and Zoning Commission meeting minutes.
Maglaras said he understands some residents support the idea
because of the tax revenue.
Knuff said that the expected impact on the town’s tax rate
would result in an average savings of about $850 per year on property taxes,
depending on the assessed value of a resident’s home.
He said that the location represents only about 0.5% of the
town’s land, but could possibly support up to 10% of Ashford’s budget,
according to meeting minutes.
Residents of Willington and Stafford shot down a similar
proposal last year, as a warehouse was proposed off Exit 70 of I-84.
At that time, developers said they expected at least 900
tractor-trailers a day coming on and off the interstate using local roads.
They also estimated that at least 1,500 cars would be
commuting daily to the building as well.
Developer to tweak affordable housing plans after Rocky Hill, Glastonbury projects rejected
ANew York-based developer of several proposed “attainable”
apartment buildings around Connecticut said he will resubmit new plans for
projects in Rocky Hill and Glastonbury after both applications were denied by
those towns’ Planning and Zoning boards.
Vessel RE Holdings LLC is looking to build a five-story
apartment complex on vacant property at 2369 Main St. in Rocky Hill, with 30
one-bedroom units, nine of which would be rent-restricted for low- and
moderate-income households.
The Rocky Hill Planning and Zoning Commission last month
denied Vessel’s application, citing concerns with traffic flow, lack of
amenities like sidewalks or greenspace, inadequate parking and electrical grid
capabilities.
Glastonbury Plan and Zoning officials last week rejected a
plan by Vessel RE Holdings LLC to build 48 apartments on a vacant lot at 51
Kreiger Lane.
That plan called for 30% of units to be affordable for 40
years, which was a condition for receiving certain zoning exemptions through
the state’s affordable housing law.
Glastonbury’s town attorney told land use officials that the
parcel is in a “Planned Commerce” zone, and therefore wouldn’t qualify for
those exemptions because it’s an industrial area.
Neil Rubler, founder and CEO of Vessel, said his firm plans
to submit new applications for both projects, but has not yet determined
a timeline or which changes they will make to each set of plans.
Vessel RE Holdings LLC is an affiliate of New York
City-based Vessel Technologies, which also has an apartment project underway in
New London and is planning a similar development in Simsbury.
Vessel’s approach is to build small, energy-efficient
apartments that are accessible to middle-income professionals like first
responders, teachers and other residents who don’t qualify for subsidized
housing but for whom luxury or even market-rate rents are out of reach.
$327M Connecticut Children’s Hartford expansion stirs debate with included $47M parking garage
HARTFORD — An expansion of Connecticut Children’s in
Hartford that would roughly double the size of the hospital could come with an
equally imposing $47 million parking garage on the opposite side of Washington
Street, rising as high as 8 stories with 900 parking spaces.
The proposed parking garage, at the southwest corner of
Washington and Lincoln streets, would accompany a new, $280 million tower now
under construction across the street on Connecticut Children’s campus.
The garage, which would be connected to the hospital via a
pedestrian skywalk, is critical to the expansion, the hospital says, and will
provide parking for hundreds of new employees Connecticut Children’s expects to
hire and convenient access for an increased number of patients.
Currently, the hospital leases parking in multiple places.
The new garage would give patients, visitors and employees a dedicated parking
option, Connecticut Children’s said.
But the garage also is stirring debate in the city’s
surrounding Frog Hollow neighborhood, not only for its size but for a design
that doesn’t do enough to add life to the streetscape and better blend into the
neighborhood.
The project illustrates the tension that exists between
hospitals in urban areas that want to expand and innovate, and the older,
sometimes historic communities that surround them. In Hartford, the proposal
also comes as parking throughout Hartford — particularly downtown — is
increasingly being debated and whether its existence is holding back more mass
transit alternatives.
Neighborhood leaders in Frog Hollow are quick to acknowledge
the contributions to medicine made by Connecticut Children’s. They strongly
supported the 195,000-square foot tower, which will get a ceremonial
groundbreaking April 28.
But some of those leaders are equally fast to point out that
existing parking garages in the hospital district along Washington Street that
encompasses Connecticut Children’s and Hartford Hospital already present a
physical barrier of sorts to the surrounding neighborhood.
“To further that, i.e. just build a pure parking garage that
will further wall off their community from ours does nothing, in my mind, to
benefit the neighborhood nor does it help them become a more integral part of
our neighborhood and community,” Aaron Gill, a longtime Frog Hollow
resident and activist, said.
Connecticut Children’s said it has worked with the Frog Hollow Neighborhood Revitalization Zone since
last fall to improve its design, adding more storefront space and cloaking the
garage with a mesh that would mask the parking decks that could be covered with
murals designed by local artists.
The hospital said it also has made concessions on reducing
the height of the structure on Lincoln Street to better blend with its
residential nature. Residents of that street also would be able to park for
free during snowplowing and trash collection.
“The reality is: we, one, can only afford so much,” Bob
Duncan, Connecticut Children’s chief operating officer, said, noting that the
most recent designs have evolved from discussions with the NRZ. “We’re in the
hospital business. We take care of kids. That’s what we do.”
The cost of the parking garage already has grown from an
initial $28 million, pushed higher not only by design changes but also the
higher cost of materials and persistent supply-chain troubles, Duncan said.
More can be done
Frog Hollow’s Gill and others in the neighborhood argue more
can be done with the facade of the structure, perhaps adding office space on a
third upper floor that could also be used by the hospital.
In addition, measures could be taken to reduce overall parking,
such as eliminating free parking for employees to encourage other
transportation alternatives. An overall reduction in parking demand could help
chip away at poor air quality and higher childhood asthma rates, they say.
Duncan said imposing parking fees on employees would put
Connecticut Children’s at a recruitment disadvantage. The hospital’s two main
competitors in Hartford — Hartford Hospital and St. Francis Hospital — don’t
charge employees, Duncan said.
“I’m sure you’re well aware of the recruitment wars and the
shortage of staffing that we have in health care at this given time,” Duncan said.
Duncan said air pollution is just one part of a complex mix
affecting asthma rates that also includes cigarette smoking, animal dander,
dust, mites and indoor pollution.
“The idea of a car driving, pulling in and parking versus
driving around the neighborhood, looking for parking at street level,” Duncan
said. “You’re using more energy and creating more pollution.”
The garage proposal is still in the early stages and would
require approvals from the city’s
historic preservation commission and its planning and zoning
commission. If approved, construction of the garage would not begin until early
next year, to be timed with the completion of the new tower, expected in late
2025.
In an unusual move, the NRZ recently voted neither to offer
a letter of support nor to oppose the garage. Instead, the NRZ decided to draft
a letter with the pluses and the minuses of the garage project, clearly
signaling it wants more discussion with the hospital.
“There is opportunity for discussion, and maybe if we can
move the needle a little further, we can actually get to where the NRZ may
support the project,” Carey Shea, co-chair of the NRZ in Frog Hollow, said.
“But I don’t think we’re there right yet. But I also don’t think we’re ready to
cease discussions. We’re still open to bringing good ideas forward.”
‘Not just put up, but kept up’
The parking garage proposal — and Connecticut Children’s new
tower — also are part of a larger plan by the city that envisions the
Washington Street corridor as a health and innovation corridor, anchored by
Connecticut Children’s and Hartford Hospital. The corridor was listed in the
plan as one of the 10 projects that could transform the city by 2035,
Hartford’s 400th anniversary.
At the center of Connecticut Children’s expansion is a move
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 specialized treatments for rare bone diseases. Both aim
at raising the hospital’s profile nationally.
For Frog Hollow, the expansion and parking garage project
also has a third component: a mixed-use development on the site of a former car
wash on the northeast corner of Washington and Lincoln. The hospital purchased
the property last year and is now using it as a staging area for construction.
Connecticut Children’s has committed to securing a developer for the property,
after the new tower and garage are completed.
But to build the parking garage, there is a cost to
neighborhood.
The structure would encroach on a historic district,
requiring the acquisition and demolition of four houses on Lincoln Street.
Lincoln Street is part of a historic district created in 2003 of mostly two,
two-family structures built between 1890 and 1915.
The project also would include buying and razing the J
Restaurant and Bar building at 297 Washington St., a fixture for more than 50
years. J Restaurant and its predecessor, Pizza Plus, have been operated by two
generations of the Dikegoros family.
Jordan Dikegoros, the restaurant’s owner, declined to
comment on the project. But hospital officials told a recent meeting of the
Frog Hollow NRZ that Dikegoros is considering moving into some of the
storefront space in the proposed garage.
The garage would be built, owned and operated by LAZ Parking
Realty Investors, an arm of the Hartford-based parking giant. The hospital will
lease it and through those payments will eventually pay for the construction,
Duncan said.
At a recent NRZ meeting, even those who support the parking
garage still have concerns.
Andrea Richardson, a property owner on nearby Madison Street
and an employee at Connecticut Children’s, observed that the existing garages
aren’t that attractive, and she wondered, as time passes, what would happen to
the proposed garage.
“We’re talking about this happening now,” Richardson said.
“But then, 5, 10 years from now, what is that structure going to look like? It
just needs to be, not just put up, but kept up.”
Pool, bathhouse to go as Hamilton Park project begins
LIVI STANFORD
WATERBURY – Hamilton Park’s pool, bathhouse, “Bubble”
building, and athletic center are scheduled to be demolished next month,
signifying the beginning of phase 1 of a massive renovation project at the
92-acre park that has been three years in the making.
“It is an exciting first step as this has been a priority of
the mayor’s administration to look at our parks and enhance them where we can,”
said Thomas Hyde, interim director of the Waterbury Development Corporation.
At the Board of Aldermen meeting on April 10, the board is
scheduled to decide whether to approve a multimillion-dollar contract to
construct a new pool, a 3,200-square feet pool house, and a promenade adjacent
to Seven Angels Theatre.
These projects are all part of Phase 1, which Mayor Neil O’Leary
said is expected to cost $8 million, which will be funded with American Rescue
Plan Act funds.
He described the project as a “quality of life issue” that
is long overdue.
O’Leary said the swimming pool would be “state of the art”
and the pool house would have amenities and be compiant with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
On March 20, the Board of Aldermen unanimously approved
allocating $700,000 from American Rescue Plan funds toward phase 1
improvements.
In that same meeting, the board also approved two contracts
for tree removal on the site and the construction and demolition of the
buildings.
“We are looking to do a lot of work in Hamilton Park and
this is the start of it,” said Board of Aldermen President Paul Pernerewski.
“It is a good project and people have been waiting awhile to get the work done
in Hamilton. This is the first step to clear the way to get into this project.”
O’Leary said work on the master plan for Hamilton Park began
three years ago, with neighborhood community meetings and the hiring of the
Chesire-based design firm SLR Consulting, which helped with the design of the
park.
The firm included 25 recommendations, of which SLR landscape
architect Suzanne Schore has cited the conversion of Hamilton Park Road into a
pedestrian walkway and multiuse trail with amenity space and lighting as one of
the most significant. All 25 recommendations are part of the master plan.
The 12-foot walkway would close traffic between a new
parking lot where the tennis courts are and Seven Angels Theatre. According to
the park’s master plan, vehicle access to the road would be restricted to
emergency vehicles.
Officials are recommending the road closure because Hamilton
Park Road over the years has been used as a shortcut from East Main Street to
Plank Road, where there have been car accidents involving pedestrians.
The pedestrian and safety improvements are not part of Phase
1 but city officials say the goal is to do every single item on the master plan
contingent on funding and grants.
Michael LeBlanc, the city’s director of finance, said the
city was pursuing several funding opportunities.
Bilal Tajildeen, president of the Bouley Manor Neighborhood
Association, said he was excited to hear about a potential new pool. He said
his biggest concern is the lack of sidewalks and bike paths on Meriden Road and
East Main Street leading to the park.
“If you wanted to ride your bike to the park, you couldn’t
ride your bike,” he said. “That creates a lopsided park system.”
Hyde said certainly officials would look into this issue to
potentially address in future phases.
Developer pursues tax break to build new hotel in Southington
Jesse Buchanan
SOUTHINGTON – Hotel owners are eyeing a property off Queen
Street near Interstate 84 and are looking for a tax abatement to open in
Southington.
KARM Properties is interested in a tax abatement for
development at 95 John Weichsel Crossing, a small road off Queen Street near
the Hartford HealthCare HealthCenter and just south of the I-84 ramps.
The property is in an enterprise zone, which allows the
possibility of a tax abatement that’s partially funded by the state.
Mark Sciota, Southington’s town manager, said the council could
vote to send the tax abatement question to the Southington Enterprise Zone and
Economic Development Committee (SEED).
Even if the council and SEED were in favor of the idea,
building a hotel would require Planning and Zoning Approval. Sciota said hotel
owners want to know if they’ll get the tax abatement before taking on the
expense of drawing up plans and filing town applications. He said it’s early in
the process.
“There’s an applicant investigating putting in a hotel
there,” Sciota said.
The seven-year tax abatement reduces the property tax burden
by 100 percent the first year, declining gradually to zero by the end of the
program.
Such tax abatements help encourage development, according to
town officials. Earlier this month, a similar tax break was given to Anthony
Properties, a Texas-based developer building a $100 million residential and
retail project on West Street.
Boost to other businesses
Barbara Coleman-Hekeler, Southington Chamber of Commerce
president, is also on the SEED committee. While she didn’t want to comment as a
committee member without seeing the tax abatement request, she said as a
chamber director the addition of a hotel is usually welcome by area businesses
including other hotels.
Southington’s location and attractions draw people from the
state and region, she said, so it’s not surprising that a hotel was looking to
start up. That might even be welcome to other hotels that at times struggle to
keep enough rooms available.
“I know that all of our hotels on West Street are super busy
in Southington,” Coleman-Hekeler said. “They work very closely together so that
if there’s an overflow for a specific time period, they feed into each other’s
hotels.”
“As a chamber, if it’s a business that’s coming to town to
not just conduct business here but to be supportive of everything that’s here
as well, that’s the main focus of everything that we are as a chamber,” she
said.
KARM Properties could not be reached for comment Monday.
Stores to open at Newington development by year's end; supermarket remains a mystery
NEWINGTON — The retail component of a mixed-use complex
under construction on a nearly 25-acre site formerly owned by Eversource Energy
on the Berlin Turnpike is expected to open by the end of the year, according to
a principal for one of the project's developers.
Meadow
Commons will offer 99,500 square feet of retail space, with 45,000
square feet of that space carved out for a yet-unannounced grocery store
anchoring the development, said Jeremy Grossman, a senior vice president with
the Massachusetts-based Grossman
Development Group. The retail portion will also include restaurants, with
Sally's Apizza and Shake Shack taking some of the space, Grossman said.
The residential component will include 269 apartment units,
with residents expected to begin moving in some time during the spring of 2024,
he said.
"We have spent a couple of years getting to know this
community," Grossman said of Newington. "We think we have a pretty
good idea what people in this market are looking for in terms of shops and
services."
Mixed-use development projects have become increasingly
popular because of the symbiotic relationship between the residential and
retail elements, said David Cadden, a professor emeritus at Quinnipiac
University's School of Business.
"For the retailers in these developments, you get a
captive audience, a captive customer base with the people who live there,"
Cadden said. "And for the developer of the homes, one-stop shopping is a
selling point for potential buyers."
The Meadow Commons site was formerly the home of a training
facility for Eversource, according to Mitch Gross, a company spokesman. The
property was sold for nearly $3 million in July 2022, and construction on the
mixed-use complex started in November.
The name of the grocery store anchor has not been released
at the request of that company, Grossman said. Several of Grossman
Development's retail centers elsewhere are anchored by supermarkets.
The company acquired a retail center last year in
Waterville, Maine, that has a Hannaford Supermarket as its anchor. Lakeway
Commons, which the company developed in Shrewsbury, Mass., has a
50,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market as its anchor.
Grossman described Lakeway Commons as "a very similar
site and a very similar plan," to Meadow Commons. Both developments have
about the same amount of retail space and nearly the same number of housing
units.
The supermarket that goes into Meadow Commons will have the
difficult task of competing against Stew Leonard's, which is located less than
a mile south of the new development on the Berlin Turnpike.
Based on the size of the largest retail space in Meadow
Commons, retail consultant Burt Flickinger said the likely tenant for the new
development is either a Whole Foods or a Lidl, a German discount grocery chain
that does not currently have a location in New England.
Whole Foods officials "like to work with developers
that they already have existing relationships with" when opening new
stores., said Flickinger, managing director of the New York City-based Strategic Resource Group.
Whole Foods has 10 stores in Connecticut with an 11th store
under construction at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor. The closest Whole Foods
to Newington is 10 miles away in Glastonbury.
Lidl stores are typically 30,000 square feet to 35,000
square feet in size, he said. The grocery chain has about 170 stores in nine
U.S. states along the East Coast from Georgia to New York.
Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are two grocery chains that are
"trying to fill in the holes of where they don't have stores in the
state," said Wayne Pesce, president of the Connecticut Food Association.
With the exception of a Whole Foods store in Milford, all of
the chain's other locations are clustered in either Fairfield County or
Hartford's suburbs. Trader Joe's has nine stores in Connecticut that follow a
similar pattern: Five are in Fairfield County and four are in Hartford's
suburbs.