Wage theft in CT: Millions stolen from workers since 2019
Greenwich's yearlong Binney Park bridge replacement project starts in July; prepare for detours
GREENWICH — A stone bridge on Wesskum Wood Road in Binney
Park needs to be replaced and work is expected to start July 5, according to
Greenwich's Department of Public Works.
The project is expected to take a year to complete and
traffic will be detoured on Arch Street, Sound Beach Avenue, West End Avenue,
Summit Road, Drinkwater Place and Owenoke Way during construction.
A 2021
presentation on the replacement project stated that more than 1,000
vehicles a day passed over the bridge, which was built in 1950.
Though the bridge is in the middle of Binney Park, near the
tennis courts, the tennis courts, playground, and baseball fields will remain
open to the public via Binney Park Drive during construction.
This project is the latest DPW undertaking in Old Greenwich,
which has been subject to several other traffic detours recently. DPW recently
finished replacing
a bridge on Sound Beach Avenue on the north side of Binney Par, and
crews are working
to improve drainage near the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center.
The Wesskum Wood bridge project has been in the works for
years as the town finalized plans and secured approvals to start work.
In addition to the new bridge, there will also be new
curbing, a sidewalk on the bridge’s interior, a path connecting to Binney Park
trail, decorative crosswalks and accessible pedestrian ramps compliant with the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
Crews will also widen the bridge so cyclists have better
access and parts of Wesskum Wood Road will be repaved.
Replacing the bridge is expected to cost $1.67 million, with
half the construction and inspection fee to be funded by a State of Connecticut
Local Bridge Program grant.
Additional information and updates on the Wesskum Wood
Road Bridge replacement project can be found at greenwichct.gov/1607/Wesskum-Wood-Road-Bridge.
What renovations to Hartford's XL Center mean for UConn games, concerts and CT's pursuit of the NHL
ARTFORD — On a Tuesday afternoon in June, Michael Freimuth
walks through the XL Center and points out things that need
to be fixed on the 50-year-old arena.
Utility parts that can't be replaced because they're
outdated and aren't made anymore. Seats that don't have cupholders. A railing
that isn't high enough.
That's part of the challenge in consistently trying to
upgrade an arena, albeit one that has been around for as long as the XL Center.
State lawmakers recently approved
over $100 million in upgrades ($20 million of which would come from
private funding), but that will only fix critical issues that are desperately
needed, Freimuth said. Then there's Gov. Ned
Lamont's public interest in bringing an NHL team — potentially the
arena-challenged Arizona Coyotes — to Hartford, which would mean even more
needed renovations and perhaps a complete revamp of the XL Center, which the
Hartford Whalers once called home.
"You can make this work," said Freimuth, the
executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority. "Is it
going be the top of the line, top shelf, sexiest building in the NHL?
No. It's an old lady. But you can make it work."
A much-needed renovation
The building will undergo a renovation that Freimuth says
will take about two years, with most of the work done in the summer when there
are fewer events at the arena. The renovations have three main tenets:
Rearrange the floor so that the stage for musical acts can
be pushed back and create more sellable seats. Freimuth said the XL Center does
most of its business on concerts, even though the arena serves as one of two
homes for UConn basketball and hosts the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Rearrange the loading dock. The loading dock only allows for
one truck to load in and out at a time, something Freimuth said lags way behind
most other arenas and entertainment venues. The renovated loading dock will be
able to offload five or six trucks at a time, which should help the XL Center
compete with other venues that have more space.
Rebuild the entire lower bowl of the arena, creating a new
concourse at ground level and creating more luxury-level seats near the floor.
Right now, the arena only has one concourse, which creates long lines at
restrooms and concession stands, Freimuth said. This renovation will have a
positive effect on basketball and hockey games, Freimuth said, as well as
concerts.
Officials had been trying to push through more funding for
the XL Center for years but finally got
it fully included in the budget that recently passed the state
legislature. The deal paved the way for Oak View Group — which runs day-to-day
operations of the XL Center — to invest $20 million in exchange for a
long-term agreement to keep operating the arena.
According to the budget agreement, OVG would be responsible
for any monetary losses but would earn any profit up to $4 million. OVG and the
CRDA would split any money over $4 million.
Retail sports betting site set for this fall
The construction to create a sports
bar that will also offer sports betting kiosks is underway and could
open in September, Freimuth said. The XL Center opened a sports bar that
overlooks the floor and found that people enjoyed the space and would spend
more money there than at traditional concession stands because they can hang
out and watch a game without having to go back-and-forth to their seats,
Freimuth said.
That led to the new sports bar, which will be accessible
from the street. Anyone can walk in, but people will need a ticket to get
through to the arena on the other entrance. The bar will be open on nights
there's no event at the XL Center, Freimuth said.
The Connecticut Lottery will operate sports betting kiosks
and a sports betting window in the bar, Freimuth said. Money from that
operation will be split amongst distributors, but the XL Center could net six
figures a year, Freimuth said.
That project was financed separately and was not part of the
current $100 million.
The future of the XL Center
Freimuth's job right now is to make plans for the renovation
and ensure that they stay within the budgeted $100 million. If he can't do it
for that amount, the entire project could be shelved.
But Freimuth is quick to say these renovations will only
bring the arena up to a normal standard, and will probably keep the building
operational for about 20 years. Other upgrades will be needed, including an IT
revamp to address the fact that people attending events are often unable to
send texts or make phone calls because of bad service.
After that, it'll be time for more renovations, not to
improve things but just to make sure the arena can continue to serve its current
needs. Without the money?
"A slow decline to closure," he said.
In that context, the idea of an NHL team willingly
relocating to play here seems far-fetched. Major renovations would be needed,
probably at least $500 million-worth of them, Freimuth said, which matches up
to Lamont's assertion that it would cost "quintuple" the $100 million
to get the XL Center ready. Getting Climate Pledge Arena ready for the
Seattle Kraken cost over $1 billion, though that included basically gutting the
entire building.
That's aside from all the other logistical challenges
relocating the Coyotes would take, starting with any indication the team or the
NHL is remotely interested in Connecticut. That uncertainty is one of the
reasons Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin stressed last week that the priority is
ensuring the XL Center gets renovations to serve its current tenants.
"Regardless of what happens with this effort to secure
an NHL team, it's important that the XL Center is an arena that is modern,
competitive, worthy of the national champion Huskies who play there and able to
attract entertainment acts of all kinds," he said. "We are focused on
continuing to work in partnership with the Capital Region Development Authority
and with the state of Connecticut to get those improvements underway."
Still, the XL Center is the largest arena in the area and
routinely brings thousands of people to the downtown area. That helps sustain
business for bars and restaurants in the area, meaning the arena serves an
important purpose for the entire region.
That's probably why, faced with the idea that the arena
could continue to decline, Freimuth had this to say.
"Since the Greeks and the Romans, great cities have had
arenas. I mean, let's just get down to it, right? The Greeks always had a
theater. The Romans got the Colosseum, the sucker's still standing. Right? And
you'll pay to go see it. Great cities have always had great public assemblies.
Qualify the word great however you want, but an arena, a big public assembly,
is truly an element of a city. No matter if it's Cincinnati or Hartford or, for
that matter, Bridgeport. An arena — a gathering place, an event — happens in
great cities. Hartford deserves it as well."
Meriden officials plan soccer field complex at Columbus Park
Mary Ellen Godin
MERIDEN — The City Council voted Tuesday to apply
for a $1.4 million state grant to help build a new Meriden Soccer Athletic
Complex Project at Columbus Park.
The new fields in Columbus Park will ensure residents still
have a place to play soccer, since the fields currently located next
to MidState Medical Center on Lewis Avenue are slated to
close. The city has a 99-year lease agreement with the hospital but
MidState has stated it needs the property to build a new medical office
building for cancer treatments. The new medical building will be taxable. MidState
has committed $1.5 million to the city’s soccer fields relocation.
Tuesday’s vote authorizes City Manager Timothy Coon to
submit an application to the state’s Community Investment Fund for an
assistance agreement with the state.
The project has been discussed with the council for several
years, but was delayed by the pandemic, Coon said. Officials worked with
MidState and field users to search for a replacement site.
“The best site available for what would be intended
would be Columbus Park,” Coon said. “We will build two large soccer fields and
one smaller practice field will be retained.”
The existing softball fields are natural turf fields that
the city hopes to convert to artificial turf, which is the reason
behind the funding application and pushes the project price
tag closer to $2.8 million.
“Artificial turf is more effective in this situation
because these fields get heavy use,” Coon said. “They require more maintenance
on a regular basis.”
The fields are currently being used by the Meriden Amateur
Softball Association two nights a week, said Chris Bourdon, director of parks
and recreation for the city.
“Columbus is not in use nearly as much as it appears to be,”
Bourdon said.
MASA has agreed to use Nessing Field and fields at Lincoln
Middle School and Platt High School for games and tournaments. The club
doesn’t use the fields for tournaments, Democratic Councilor Larue Graham
said.
“There were 121 teams 15 years ago, now it’s 28 teams,”
Graham said.
MASA representatives could not be reached for comment.
The vote doesn’t commit the city to paying the $1.4 million
should the grant application fail. Instead, city officials and councilors will
decide whether to bond the added costs or go with a sod field. Work can begin
as early as next fall without having to make a final decision.
The Meriden Raiders will continue to use the fields in the
fall and winter months, and the smaller girls’ softball field will remain. When
asked by Graham if the remaining field will also be upgraded, the answer was
yes.
The work consists of upgrading the fields and relocating
lights. There will be improvements to the parking lot and exterior.
Democrat Majority Leader Sonya Jelks asked if the local
community had any input into the city’s plans. Coon replied that the primary
users were notified because the use is going from athletic field to athletic
field.
But the soccer fields used by the Meriden Soccer Club and
the Mexican Soccer League of Meriden are expected to draw more traffic because
the complex can be used for tournaments.
“I would encourage us to do community communications so
folks are aware of what the change is, especially in a high traffic area,”
Jelks said.
Jelks also called for structured parking on site to reduce
hazards, and provide space for food trucks.
Mayor Kevin Scarpati agreed with the need for public
outreach, comparing it to changes in the North End Field that drew complaints
because not all users and neighbors were included in communications.
The work is being done in phases with the artificial turf,
and the attached grant application the final phase.
“Meriden Soccer with artificial turf and lighting will bring
tournaments,” Scarpati said. “I do believe we’ll see gains. Meriden is going to
see a gain with this field and it’s not just soccer.”
Groton’s proposed data center regs to go to public hearing
Kimberly Drelich
Groton ― After a nearly yearlong moratorium on data center applications,
proposed data center regulations will go to a public hearing on Tuesday.
The proposed regulations conditionally would allow data
centers, which could be no larger than 12,500 square feet, in industrial zones
only.
Data centers are defined under the regulations as facilities
to “house a group of networked computer servers in one physical location or
multiple contiguous locations to centralize the storage, management and
dissemination of data and information.”
The proposed data center regulations are in response to some
of the concerns that had been raised about data center proposals, the town’s
Assistant Planning Director Deb Jones said. Residents had expressed concerns, including about noise and the impact on the
environment.
Accessory data centers ― such as if a business needs a small
data center for its operations ― would conditionally be allowed in all zones in
town, except for green districts.
Both data centers and accessory data centers would need to
comply with a list of standards under the proposed regulations.
Any proposed data center must comply with the state’s noise
standards. A data center also cannot use fossil fuels for power generation,
except due to an unforeseen power loss, and cannot use water evaporation
techniques for cooling purposes. Proposals must include a fire suppression plan
and an agreement with water and electrical utilities to show that the data
center’s utility demands can be met, among other requirements.
The regulations state that accessory data centers can be no
larger than 20% of the gross square footage of the business or principal use,
or no larger than 1,000 square feet.
Applications for data centers, though not accessory data
centers, would require a special permit.
The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission wanted to
establish regulations for data centers and passed a moratorium almost a year
ago to allow time to craft the regulations with assistance from the Horsley
Witten Group, Jones said.
The Groton Town Council last year rejected a potential host agreement with data center developer
NE Edge LLC.
Host agreements, which set parameters for a potential data
center and revenue to the town, serve as the first step in potentially bringing
a large-scale data center to a town, under 2021 state legislation establishing tax incentives for developers investing in data
centers.
The Town Council approved in 2021 a host agreement with Gotspace Data
Partners, but the town has not received a data center application and the
developer would have to obtain the land for the proposal, Burt said.
The proposed regulations, if approved, would apply to the
town, but not Noank, Groton Long Point or the City of Groton, which have their own zoning, said Jones.
The public hearing will be at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s meeting scheduled
for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Hall Annex and via Zoom.
The proposed regulations are available at: https://www.groton-ct.gov/departments/plandev/pendingapps.php
Crystal Mall seen as suitable for mix of commercial, residential development
Brian Hallenbeck
A dying mall near the junction of two interstates and within
hailing distance of a transportation hub might be ripe for what planners call
“repurposing.”
If that mall is in a growing, well-populated area that’s
short on housing, particularly affordable housing, that repurposing might
involve a “highest and best use” that includes a mix of commercial and
residential components.
Count Waterford First Selectman Rob Brule among those who
believe Crystal Mall is such a mall.
“Given the demographics, the location ― it's an incredible
location ― near public transportation, I-95, I-395,” Brule said early last
week. “If we can have a vision of what we want there, I think the Planning and
Zoning Commission would entertain quite a few things.”
He said the mall’s vast parking lots need to be “greened up”
and there needs to be a focus on “recreation for kids and families.” He said
the site is “perfect” for affordable housing.
Brule made the comments during an interview days before the
outcome of a change in Crystal Mall’s ownership became known. A deed filed Thursday with the town clerk’s office
revealed Namdar Realty Group, a Great Neck, N.Y., real estate investment firm
with a penchant for acquiring struggling properties, had landed Crystal Mall at
auction last month, submitting a winning bid of more than $9.5 million.
Namdar Realty’s news clippings indicate it and its partner,
Mason Asset Management, also of Great Neck, have little interest in repurposing
the malls they acquire. As of Friday, Namdar representatives had yet to discuss
their intentions with town officials.
Neither Brule nor Namdar responded Friday to requests for
comment.
“Economically, what they’re doing makes sense,” John Clapp,
professor emeritus of real estate at the University of Connecticut, said of
Namdar. “Bottom fishing, they get in at a very good price for the amount of
real estate they’re getting. They keep the restaurants open, a few stores, then
they go to the town to get a reduction in taxes so they can afford to hold onto
it, waiting for something good to happen.”
Since 2019, Namdar, which owns more than 60 U.S. malls, has
acquired three in Connecticut, in Enfield, Meriden and Trumbull, and has
continued to operate them as malls.
If Waterford has a plan of development for Crystal Mall, the
town eventually may have to buy the property itself to pursue the plan, Clapp
said, as the City of East Hartford did in acquiring an abandoned Showcase
Cinemas on Interstate 84, once pitched as a casino site.
Clapp, who has studied and written extensively about the
subject, said he expects malls, battered by consumers’ turn to online shopping
and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will continue to decline, especially
enclosed ones like Crystal Mall, which he said need to generate lots of traffic
to pay heating and air-conditioning costs.
“Open-air malls do a lot better,” Clapp said.
De-malling the mall
In Woburn, Mass., a city of 42,000 residents nine miles
north of Boston, a mall repurposing has become something of a model for
communities elsewhere.
The Woburn Mall, about the same vintage as the 39-year-old
Crystal Mall and less than half its size, was “well past its prime,” Mayor
Scott Galvin said in an interview, when Edens, a national real estate owner,
operator and developer, approached the city with a plan to turn the mall into
Woburn Village, a mix of commercial and residential development. Backed by the
City Council, the transformation advanced apace, starting with Edens’ 2017
acquisition of the site in a direct sale for $44 million.
Ground was broken in 2019 and, despite the pandemic,
construction was largely completed by the end of 2021. By last summer,
virtually everything was in place.
In a 2022 report, “Rethinking the Retail Strip,” the Metropolitan Area
Planning Council, a regional planning agency that studied more than 3,000 strip
malls and shopping centers in Greater Boston, put it this way:
“Woburn, like many other cities, was facing a host of other
pressures (besides changing consumer tastes): increasing housing demand, a need
to grow the tax base, and a desire for more placemaking and character. The
mall’s decline was not helping. It was no longer the financial asset for the
City that it had been, and it was devolving into an eyesore.”
Today, Woburn Village is an attractive mix of commercial
space ― including connected retail stores as well as freestanding restaurants,
a bank branch and other buildings that help break up the parking lot ― green
space and two six-story apartment buildings containing 350 rental units, 25% of
which are categorized as affordable. A half-dozen stores are attached to the
apartments. Commuter rail is a mile-and-a-quarter away.
Market Basket, a popular local grocery chain, and a T.J.
Maxx/HomeGoods store, two Woburn Mall holdovers, anchor the retail portion of
the property.
Mark Vaughan, an attorney for Edens, said the apartments at
Woburn Village supply customers for the stores and restaurants.
“Restaurants have become the equivalent of new (mall)
anchors,” Vaughan said. “With the slowdown in the apparel and retail
businesses, restaurants have become the new draw. They bring in a lot of
activity.”
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, the traffic at Woburn
Village’s Tavern in the Square restaurant was brisk. The mall parking lot was
nearly full.
The repurposing involved a fair amount of demolition. The
retail portion was rebuilt without any interior corridor, a staple of
traditional malls. Each of the stores is only accessible from the outside.
Galvin and Tina Cassidy, Woburn’s planning board director,
said the project has been a resounding success, having encountered little
opposition, aside from traffic concerns, during the permitting and approval processes,
and proving to be a boon to the city’s housing stock and tax base.
Galvin said the mall, valued at $40 million in the city’s
2017 fiscal year, was valued at about $80 million in fiscal 2023, a figure he
said could eventually go as high as $85 million to $90 million.
“For us, it’s worked out really well,” Galvin said of the
repurposing. “We’re in a good location, where I-93 and I-95 meet. We have a lot
of amenities, good schools, a low tax rate …”
If there’s been a downside, it’s that families with children
who’ve settled in the Woburn Village apartments have had a
greater-than-expected impact on school enrollment, Cassidy said, since many of
the tenants are new to Woburn.
Ryan Leeming, Edens’ vice president of development and
construction, said Woburn Village was the product of a three-way partnership
among Edens, the city and the state, whose 2004 Smart Growth Zoning Overlay
District program, known as “Chapter 40R,” encourages municipalities to create
dense residential or mixed-use zoning districts for developments that include a
high percentage of affordable housing units.
By taking advantage of the program, Woburn qualified for
$1.4 million in incentive payments from the state. And, under state law,
because 25% of Woburn Village’s 350 rental units are deemed affordable, the
city can apply all of the units against the requirement that 10% of the city’s
housing stock be affordable.
Cassidy said that since 2012, Woburn has added close to
1,500 residential rental units, counting those built, those under construction
and those for which permits have been approved. The 350 units at Woburn Village
put the city over the 10% threshold. The city now stands at 11.5%.
Tenants of the affordable units at Woburn Village ―
AvalonBay Communities developed and owns the residential component ― must have
incomes of less than 80% of the area median income, which for Woburn is $46,000
for an individual and $92,000 for a household, according to Cassidy. Affordable
monthly rents for one-bedroom apartments at Woburn Village exceed $2,000.
Despite the success of Woburn Village, Leeming, the Edens
executive, is not ready to sound the traditional mall’s death knell.
“Malls are not obsolete,” he said. “Plenty of traditional
malls are successful in places all over the world. But they don’t work
everywhere. I don’t think retail is dying by any means. It’s evolving.”
New London to get $17 million for transit hub improvements
Greg Smith
New London ― The U.S. Department of Transportation has
awarded New London $17 million for planned transit-related infrastructure
improvements downtown, the largest portion going toward expansion of the city’s
Water Street parking garage, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, announced on
Thursday.
The city has for years sought federal funds for the garage expansion
and improvements that would alleviate pedestrian safety and congestion concerns
in the area, especially in anticipation of the completion of the National Coast
Guard Museum on the city’s waterfront.
Initial plans for the garage expansion would add 400 spaces
― it currently has 910 ― to the top three floors of the five-floor garage and
expand the garage over the existing surface lot adjacent to Water Street. The
ground level would serve as a tourism center and transit hub for Southeast Area
Transit (SEAT) buses, moving buses off Water Street and passengers out of the
elements.
The $150 million museum project, now under construction and
expected to be completed in 2025, is expected to draw an estimated 300,000
people a year to the city in an area that is already home to the parking
garage, train station, busing hub and waterfront ferry service. The grant money
announced on Friday will in part fund ADA improvements and the parking garage
expansion, the new transit hub, a restoration project planned at Union Station
and Cross Sound Ferry’s new high speed ferry terminal. A breakdown of the
funding was not immediately available.
A portion of the grant is also earmarked for support of the
$20 million state-funded pedestrian bridge that links the museum and the
parking garage and will carry visitors over Water Street and the railroad
tracks.
“Today’s federal grant announcement is a big deal for New
London,” Courtney said in a statement. “The award of this funding reflects
years of persistent, diligent work by the city, and our congressional
delegation, to make the case that the thriving downtown hub of New London
deserves the support of critical federal infrastructure funding.”
The money is coming through the Rebuilding American
Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, discretionary grant
program, funded by the federal infrastructure law Congress passed last year.
The city’s years-long effort to seek funding was led by New
London Parking Authority Director Carey Redd II and supported by Courtney and
Sen. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.
While the money ― the city had applied for nearly $25
million ― is not expected to cover the entire cost of the parking garage
expansion, New London Mayor Michael Passero said the city will continue to seek
outside funds to complete the project.
Courtney said the projects will continue a “dramatic
transformation of New London’s downtown and boost economic opportunity for the
entire region.”
Murphy said in a statement that he expects the number of
visitors to New London to “skyrocket” when the National Coast Guard Museum
opens.
“This project will bring a major boost to the local economy
and help make sure the city can manage the influx of visitors and traffic. The
future of New London is bright, and I am laser-focused on fighting for federal
funding to support the growth of southeastern Connecticut,” Murphy said in a
statement.
Redd thanked the Congressional delegation for support of the
grant application and said while the project’s focus is safety, “it will also
greatly enhance economic opportunities in the City and beyond.”