Behind Kosta Diamantis’ arrest: Money woes, unfettered power
Andrew Brown and Dave Altimari
The federal criminal case leveled against Konstantinos
Diamantis, a former Connecticut lawmaker and state deputy budget director,
paints a portrait of a man who was desperate for cash, had unfettered control
over billions of dollars in government money and wasn’t afraid to use that
power to ease his own financial troubles.
The 35-page
criminal indictment filed last week provides a look at the hidden
parts of Diamantis’ six-year tenure running Connecticut’s school construction
office, which is responsible for overseeing state grants for local school
projects.
In that position, Diamantis was able to influence the
budgets, schedules and bids for every school project in the state, and he
interacted with a small army of school construction companies, including
project administrators, construction managers, plumbing and electrical
contractors and demolition and abatement specialists.
But the indictment focuses on two companies that dealt with Diamantis,
making the case that he routinely offered favorable treatment in exchange for
cash, favors and checks, which they referred to as “presents” and
“donations.”
Diamantis was charged with multiple counts of extortion,
bribery and lying to investigators.
Federal prosecutors have already secured guilty pleas from
three construction officials — Antonietta Roy of Construction Advocacy
Professionals, and John Duffy and Salvatore Monarca of Acranom Masonry. Roy and
Monarca have agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Several state lawmakers told The Connecticut Mirror, after
the indictment was released, that the charges against Diamantis, if true, are
likely the result of one person accumulating too much power over a
taxpayer-funded program.
Connecticut House Speaker Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said
that while he’d heard of complaints about Diamantis over the past two years, he
never expected to read some of the text messages and other evidence that
federal prosecutors unveiled last week.
“There’s no checks and balances, right, and that can be a
recipe for trouble,” Ritter said.
“Any time you have one person who can make decisions, it’s a
problem.”
Add to that Diamantis’ apparent need for money, and you have
a recipe for disaster, lawmakers said.
“It’s disconcerting at best that he was allowed to get away
with this with no supervision,” said Rep. Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland. “How does
that happen that no one is watching what one person is doing with billions of
dollars of taxpayers’ money?”
Nuccio butted heads with Diamantis over a Tolland elementary
school project, particularly over the idea that the town was going to hire
whomever Diamantis wanted them to hire.
“We were told this is who you are going to hire, and if you
don’t, then you won’t get any state money, and there was no one else to go to
because Kosta answered to no one,” Nuccio said. “Let’s face it — this is
embarrassing for the administration, because this is the guy who they put in
this position with no one to watch him.”
[The
Kosta Diamantis Timeline]
‘No beggar’
Private messages shared between Diamantis and the
construction contractors highlight numerous instances in which Diamantis
bemoaned his financial troubles and begged for the promised bribery payments
from those companies, all while insisting repeatedly that he was “no beggar.”
In February 2019, after trying unsuccessfully to schedule a
meeting with Monarca, the president of Acranom Masonry, and Duffy, its vice
president, Diamantis wrote: “I got no call back two days ago now I’m late
waited for The courtesy of an answer. I always lived in two way street I always
keep my word and do what I say. And I’m no beggar.”
“I have negative in my account. 30 in my pocket,” Diamantis
wrote to Duffy in May 2019. The indictment states that Diamantis’ checking
account balance at the time was -$276.68.
“I need 5k desperately tomorrow from him or anyone. I don’t
care who,” Diamantis added in another message a month later.
In August 2019, Diamantis wrote to Duffy about the money he
said Monarca still owed him: “Well I sure need it johnny I am in tough place
and should not be … I won’t do a thing til he does rt thing for tolland … I
need that coin Johnny like last month.”
At another point, Diamantis pressured Acranom’s executives
to attend an event at a restaurant in Southington, where Diamantis was hosting
a “fundraiser” to pay for his 14-year-old daughter’s $28,000 tuition at the
private Renbrook School in West Hartford.
“The school is not giving out scholarships so we are trying
to raise what we can,” Diamantis wrote to the executives. “Every check counts.
I would like you to come. The checks can be made out to Renbrook School or to
me or my daughter. I sure hope I see you and Johnny there.”
It’s unclear why Diamantis was so short on cash while he was
earning more than $167,000 per year in 2019 while he was serving in Gov. Ned
Lamont’s administration. His salary later increased to about $180,000 as deputy
budget director.
Despite his claimed financial woes, though, Diamantis made
significant upgrades to his home in Farmington while he was the head of the
school construction office.
Construction permits show those upgrades included a new HVAC
system, a renovation of his garage and the construction of a new in-ground
swimming pool. Those improvements, which the permits indicate were worth about
$40,000, occurred in 2018.
The scope of influence
The indictment describes episodes between 2017 and 2021 that
reveal the immense power Diamantis had over every aspect of school
construction.
Over the past two years, Diamantis repeatedly told the CT
Mirror — and federal investigators — that he played no role in deciding which
companies were paid to demolish or construct schools.
Federal prosecutors, however, laid out records that showcase
the influence he wielded on the local building projects.
One example the indictment cited was from the Weaver High
School project in Hartford.
In early 2019, Hartford officials were preparing to hire a
masonry company to perform work on the fourth phase of that $133 million
project.
The project manager for the high school told Hartford
officials they did not want to hire Acranom because of an ongoing billing
dispute over the masonry company’s previous work on the project.
But Diamantis allegedly manipulated that hiring decision by
refusing to chip in the state funds that were necessary to pay a different
masonry contractor that offered to perform the work for $200,000 more than
Acranom’s bid.
The project manager at Weaver told Hartford officials that
Acranom’s involvement on the project could affect the overall schedule, and
they complained that the attempts to sway Diamantis on the hiring decision had
been “rebuffed.”
Messages from Acranom’s executives show the company asked
Diamantis to force Hartford to hire their company for that $3 million
subcontract.
“Please make sure the vote tonight goes to us for Phase 4.
Talk to your guy,” Duffy wrote.
“I did already,” Diamantis replied.
It came down to whether you were on Kosta’s good side.
NEW BRITAIN MAYOR ERIN STEWART
Diamantis also allegedly squeezed Hartford officials on
another contract for the city’s $170 million Bulkeley High School
project.
In that case, he convinced Hartford’s school building
committee to select Construction Advocacy Professionals, the company that hired
his daughter, to oversee the project even though other contractors offered to
perform that work for less money, the indictment claims.
During several meetings, including one at the Capital Grille
restaurant in Hartford, Diamantis allegedly pressured Hartford employees to
allow Construction Advocacy Professionals to revise its bid so it could win the
contract.
The records show city officials eventually went along with
that plan and argued the company’s hiring was justified because Construction
Advocacy Professionals was a “woman-owned firm.”
Diamantis seemed to relish in his ability to dictate aspects
of school construction projects, the messages show. In several instances,
Diamantis openly referred to the local schools as “my projects.”
But nowhere was Diamantis’ control more evident than in
Tolland, where Birch Grove Elementary was torn down and rebuilt through an
emergency contract after cracks were found in the existing school
foundation.
The indictment says Diamantis threatened to have Acranom
removed as a subcontractor on the Birch Grove Elementary project if the company
didn’t pay him tens of thousands of dollars in bribes.
“Bottom line, have him give you 40 for Monday or he is out,”
Diamantis wrote to Duffy in August 2019, adding that if Monarca didn’t deliver
the “present” then he would cut the company out the following week.
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart told the CT Mirror that she
met with Diamantis once to discuss why New Britain hadn’t received final
payments from the state school construction office for some school projects
that had been completed 10 years earlier.
“I went to his office with my staff, and he walked in and
was completely condescending and rude,” Stewart said. “All I wanted to know was
how we could close out some of these projects and get our money, and instead I
got lectured by this guy with a Napoleon complex.”
Eventually, Stewart said, the school board hired
Construction Advocacy Professionals — without going to bid — to help close the
old projects and help finish an update at the high school. Stewart said she was
opposed to hiring Construction Advocacy Professionals without a formal bidding
process.
“Little did I know the school officials were getting
pressured to hire [Construction Advocacy Professionals] by Kosta,” Stewart
said.
The FBI eventually contacted her about Construction Advocacy
Professionals and Diamantis, but she wasn’t surprised.
“The whole process of how they determined who got school
construction money was completely riddled with question marks. You never knew
who to talk to or how to get answers,” Stewart said. “It came down to whether
you were on Kosta’s good side or whether he deemed your project was worthy.”
Diamantis’ alleged influence extended beyond school
construction projects.
In February 2022, the state released a report of an
investigation — launched shortly after Diamantis’ state employment ended — into
how Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr. came to hire Diamantis’
daughter Anastasia, who had previously been employed at Construction Advocacy
Professionals.
The report,
authored by former U.S. Attorney Stanley A. Twardy Jr., found that Colangelo
hired Anastasia Diamantis at the same time that he was pushing her father, the
state’s deputy budget director, to pay salary increases within the Division of
Criminal Justice.
Anastasia Diamantis was placed
on leave, and Colangelo
retired under pressure.
Hearings and audits
The examples cited in the indictment could lend credence to
the mountain of accusations that were leveled against Diamantis over the past
two years since he was fired from one state job and quit the other.
When the federal investigation of Diamantis burst
into public view in early 2022, municipal officials from across
Connecticut came forward with stories of Diamantis pressuring them to hire
specific contractors.
Republican lawmakers responded, at that time, by calling for
hearings and audits into Diamantis’ alleged pressure tactics.
But Lamont’s administration declined to review Diamantis’
interactions with local elected leaders and the local school building
committees.
Instead, the Department of Administrative Services spent $240,000
for an auditing firm to analyze 111 school construction projects to
make sure the state paperwork for those projects was filled out properly.
The auditors noted that they were instructed not to speak
with local officials who oversaw those school construction projects.
“The scope of work for this engagement did not include
outreach to the school district, nor did we perform any work on site at the
school districts,” the auditors wrote.
Ritter, who has served as House Speaker for three years,
said there was clearly a power imbalance between Diamantis and the local school
building committees who were relying on the state for a significant portion of
their funding.
Ritter said the federal investigation into the school
construction office could result in the legislature enacting more
administrative and cost controls over that program.
Diamantis’ trial is scheduled to commence on July 23 in
Bridgeport.
Dan Haar: Arrest of Kosta Diamantis in CT school construction work raises questions about reforms
On Jan. 26, 2022, exactly a week before a federal
investigation into Connecticut school construction financing under the
ousted Konstantinos "Kosta" Diamantis was made public, the state
official who had taken over that office sent
an email to an employee of the city of Hartford overseeing the $149
million renovation of Bulkeley High School.
The message from Noel Petra, deputy commissioner of the
state Department of Administrative Services: The Office of School Construction
Grants and Review will not reimburse Hartford for more than one project
oversight consultant.
Hartford officials immediately fired Construction Advocacy
Professionals LLC, the project oversight firm that had a nearly $2 million
contract with the city even though another company was also doing the work.
Diamantis had strongly advised cities and towns to use CAP, as the
Plainfield-based firm was known. CAP had hired his daughter.
Now that Diamantis has been arrested on 22 counts in the
inquiry, including extortion related to his urging cities and towns to hire
CAP, those reforms come into focus. Could checks and balances have halted
wrongdoing that federal prosecutors allege Diamantis committed?
Did missteps in the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont
enable Diamantis? Or, if the federal allegations are true, would the former
state legislator from Bristol have done what he did in any system?
Second-guessing state controls
A shackled Diamantis entered pleas of not guilty on all
counts Thursday before he was released on a $500,000 bond by U.S. Magistrate
Judge Thomas O. Farrish. Diamantis had declared in highly unusual
conversations with me and other reporters including my colleague John Moritz in
2022 that all of his actions were done to save the state money and help school
projects move more efficiently.
We do not presume his guilt. Neither do we wait to look back
at the systems that were in place at the time, and the reforms, even if it is
Monday morning quarterbacking. Looking back leads to better government, better
management, better controls over taxpayer money.
I reported that email
from Petra
three weeks after it happened. Separately I reported New
Britain Mayor Erin Stewart saying Diamantis had pressured her city to hire
CAP at $115 an hour to help with state reimbursements — help Stewart
said New Britain didn't need. Moritz as well as journalists at the CT Mirror
and the Courant unfurled similar stories, all pointing to apparent lapses in
the system.
But would any system catch the sort of fraud Diamantis is
accused of committing?
On Thursday, the federal indictment charged Diamantis
with extortion and accepting bribes in his role as head of the school
construction finance office; and lying to federal officials in the
investigation. CAP and its owner, Antonietta Roy, who was indicted separately,
stand accused of conspiring with Diamantis, paying him and his daughter
thousands of dollars in bribes and overpaying his daughter as an employee, in
exchange for Diamantis steering cities and towns to the firm.
It's easy to say after the allegations come out that the
state should have taken this or that measure beforehand. The state auditors,
for example, advised that internal audits in the school construction office be
performed by people independent of the head of that office. And that
construction change orders larger than 5 percent of a project's overall cost
should have sent up red flags, which didn't happen.
The government can erect one check and balance after
another. Maybe some of it will stop fraud. Absolutely it will slow down public
projects and it might make them more expensive.
It's a constant balancing act. Just last week, Andrew Brown
at The CT Mirror reported that a reform enacted after the Diamantis
investigation began, banning project managers from bidding as subcontractors on
jobs they oversee, was undone
by the General Assembly this month in a single sentence within a
254-page bond bill that Gov. Ned Lamont is set to sign. The reform had added
cost.
A close friendship
One issue around Diamantis is where he worked and who
his boss was. He headed the Office of School Construction Grants and Review
within the Department of Administrative Services starting well before
Lamont's 2018 election.
Then in the fall of 2019, according to multiple sources,
Lamont's budget chief, Melissa McCaw, insisted Diamantis come under her
department, the state Office of Policy and Management. She argued it would be
more efficient because OPM manages grants to towns generally.
After an internal debate, Lamont's office agreed to that
move and Diamantis took the school finance office to OPM in November,
2019, where he also became McCaw's deputy.
McCaw has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the school
construction finance investigation or in any other aspect of her tenure at
OPM. She resigned Feb. 25, 2022 and became finance director for the town
of East Hartford.
We have reason to believe that McCaw and Diamantis had a
close personal friendship. A report for Lamont on the hiring of Diamantis's
daughter by the chief state's attorney, prepared by by Stanley
A. Twardy Jr., a Stamford lawyer and former U.S. Attorney for Connecticut,
revealed instances of the two at non-work-related events including a
pumpkin-carving the month before Diamantis became her deputy at OPM.
In an interview with Mark Pazniokas of the CT Mirror on Oct.
28, 2021, the night he was fired, Diamantis
attacked three top aides in Lamont’s office, saying they mistreated
McCaw. In a later grievance obtained by the CT Mirror, Diamantis
said he was punished for defending McCaw.
I spoke with a source in early 2022 who reported seeing
McCaw and Diamantis having dinner together at the Farmington Country Club on
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021 — while McCaw was still the OPM secretary, after
Diamantis had been fired by Lamont as McCaw's deputy, and after the federal
investigation was underway.
The question many people are asking is whether the
friendship between McCaw and Diamantis, or his move to OPM, impeded the
ability of McCaw and others to supervise his work. And more broadly, whether
moving the office to the more political OPM from Administrative Services led to
lapses in oversight.
The state auditors report issued in April, 2022 said,
"This reorganization resulted in a structural threat to audit
independence." But the federal indictment accuses Diamantis of committing
improper acts before he worked under McCaw. And in an interview
with Pazniokas at the CT Mirror a few days before she resigned, McCaw
said no municipal official had ever brought the issue of contract
steering to her attention.
Clearly some of the reforms made good sense including the
return of the school construction office to the Department of Administrative
Services the day after Diamantis exited. Also clearly, the public trust
in government operations requires a balance of authority among elected,
appointed and nonpartisan career officials.
Lamont has said repeatedly he acted swiftly and with zero
tolerance for corruption. If Diamantis did commit criminal acts, the question
becomes, could any reasonable reforms have halted them sooner?
In the end, we all depend on people's integrity. As one
person familiar with the case said to me Thursday night, after the indictment
accused Diamantis of demanding money from a masonry contractor, "What
structure is in place for seeing him sending a text message saying he needs
$40,000?"
A CT city is booming with massive redevelopment, apartments, biotech. See projects in the works.
A forlorn parking lot in downtown New Haven — once described
as the “gap in the smile of State Street” — will soon be transformed into a new
apartment building, rising in the shadow of the high-rise, residential rental
tower at 360 State Street that marked a wave of new apartment construction
nearly two decades ago.
“No parking lot is safe in New Haven,” Michael Piscitelli,
the city’s economic development administrator, declared during a recent tour of
New Haven development projects.
Piscitelli isn’t kidding. He is backed up by a city teeming
with redevelopment — a mix of housing, laboratory and research space and
storefronts — that is erasing asphalt and vacant lots. Perhaps the most
prominent is the site of the former Veterans
Memorial Coliseum in the heart of downtown, demolished in 2007 and
used as a parking lot for more than a decade.
A new apartment building has taken shape on the Coliseum
site and is now starting to lease, one of two dozen projects in and around
downtown that are changing the landscape of the city and its skyline. Those
development projects — with more on the drawing boards — represent more than
$2.5 billion in public and private investment. They also are reconnecting gaps
in a city that aims to be more walkable and less dependent on cars.
Since 2020, the city has added 1,900 residential rentals in
and around downtown, and has another 3,500 units queued up in the pipeline in
the next five years.
The housing is necessary, in large part, to support the
biotech and life sciences industries that are soaring in prominence in the
city, sparked largely by Yale University, Yale
New Haven Hospital and their researchers.
“New Haven is on fire and Connecticut is really doing well,”
Josh Parker, Ancora’s chief executive, said. “Seeing this alignment really
gives me a good feeling, obviously, but confidence in our ability to have a
successful investment and see continued growth in that part of the state.”’
‘Grow fast and well’
In this city of 139,000, there is hope of reaching a
population of more than 150,000 in the next decade, about the same time as New
Haven marks 250 years as an incorporated city. New Haven’s population peaked at
162,000 in the 1940s and fell to a low of 126,000 in 1980.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the city has learned
from cities that have grown too rapidly, pushing out residents whose families
may have lived in those cities for generations. But they can’t now because they
can no longer afford to live in those cities.
“Don’t get me wrong, I want to grow fast,” Elicker said.
“But I want to grow fast and well.”
Elicker said the focus on developing parking lots and vacant
land minimizes residents being forced to move from their homes. The city was
scarred from the forced relocation of nearly 8,000 families, about 23,000
people, during 1960s urban renewal, according to the 2008 book, “Model City
Blues” by Mandi Isaacs Jackson. New Haven had been held up as a model of urban
renewal.
Elicker, now in his third term, said he is keeping a close
watch on affordability, as rents continue to rise with unabated strong demand
for new apartments.
At downtown’s City Crossing, which has, so far, turned four
city-owned parking lots and a former school building into more than 500
residential units, monthly rents for a one-bedroom, one-bath unit at the
Pierpont building range between $2,635 and $2,943, according to the leasing web
site.
Of the 1,900 housing units built since 2020, 360, or 40%
were pegged as affordable, restricted to a range of income guidelines,
according to the city. A similar percentage for the 3,500 that are forecast in
the next five years, 40%, or 1,400, are expected to be affordable, the city
says.
That count, Elicker said, does not include the 1,000 or more
units planned for the former, now-demolished Church Street South, across from
Union Station. The project is being developed by Elm City Communities, the
city’s housing authority, and the Glendower Group.
“We also have to make sure that the price of the market
doesn’t financially displace people,” Elicker said.
Elicker said the loss of parking lots will be balanced in
the future by a city that offers more restaurants, shops, entertainment and
cultural attractions that won’t require a motor vehicle to get around,
supported by robust public transportation.
“It’s rare if I walk across the Green and someone stops me
and they say, ‘We need more parking,’ Elicker said. “Out of every 10 people,
seven people will bring up housing issues.”
‘Scale is reinventing’
New Haven’s redevelopment has turned, in large part, on
reversing 1960s urban renewal that was supposed to usher in the era of the
modern city. A linchpin of the urban renewal was the construction of the Oak
Street Connector, Route 34, that was supposed to take travelers into suburbs
like Derby and Orange but was never completed.
Highway construction served to isolate one portion of New
Haven, just as it did in Hartford, hastening its decline.
“That era of the 1950s and early ’60s, New Haven as a Model
City … the city tried to hit a grand slam, and so there was this really big
move, the development of the Oak Street Connector and massive clearance,
massive redevelopment, whereas what we’re seeing now is persistent, consistent
development that is being done in smaller increments but in an ongoing and
comprehensive way,” New Haven City Historian Michael Morand said.
Urban renewal in the 1960s focused on highways and vehicles,
whereas the approach in the 21st century are cities that cater to designs that
are more walkable, Morand said.
“Now the scale is reinventing, looking at people-level
scale, pedestrian-level scale, making the city more livable downtown, not a
place where people drive in and out for work and shopping but a place that has
24/7 activity because there are residents.”
The centerpiece Downtown Crossing project, with its two new
bioscience research towers on College Street, shows not only a growing biotech
industry but efforts to reconnect the two parts of downtown separated by Route
34.
The two towers — encompassing more a million square feet of
research space — eliminated most remnants of Route 34 and a planned third
building will complete the job.
Atop 101 College, owner and developer Carter Winstanley, of
Boston-based Winstanley Enterprises,
points out a window to the Yale School of Medicine, Yale New Haven Hospital and
the City Crossing apartment development, all clustered together.
“So you have this great collaborative community of medical
hospitals and private-sector research and development all playing a very close
role together and that’s what makes these sites successful,” Winstanley said.
“The residential is just a bonus, having more people coming into the downtown
choosing to work downtown, but also to live.”
Supporting ‘tech transfer’
The unfolding development in New Haven has benefited from a
unified vision spanning three mayoral administrations, beginning in 1994 with
John DeStefano Jr., Morand, the city historian, said.
DeStefano, who served as mayor until 2014, said the roots of
the city’s current revitalization can, in part, be traced back to Yale’s
decision in the 1990s to shift its focus.
“What happened was both the city and the university saw the
importance of workforce and business development, particularly through tech
transfer, particularly in the life and biosciences,” DeStefano said.
“Now that gets expressed today in the buildings that you see
in the Route 34 right-of-way, the buildings that you see in Science Park,” he
said. “So the university changed its focus to supporting tech transfer, its
faculty and staff in that regard. The city began to accommodate the need to
grow the campus in a much less constrained way than in the past.”
Tech transfer is the path by which new inventions and other
innovations created in the labs of research universities and other institutions
are turned into products and sold commercially.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals was
one high-profile spinoff from Yale in the 1990s. New Haven suffered a setback
when it moved its headquarters to Boston. But Winstanley said Alexion, now
owned by industry giant AstraZeneca, still has a significant presence in
the two College Street towers, leasing a combined 330,000 square feet, or a
third of the total research space.
Winstanley said the city scored a coup when 101 College
signed a lease with BioLabs, which
operates serviced and equipped lab space for early stage life science companies
to launch their operations. BioLabs moved into 101 College in February and will
soon have 12 occupants in 41,000 square feet of shared lab space.
“There’s a huge boom in the bioscience industry here, with
companies spinning out of Yale, some success stories like Arvinas,” Mary Ann
Melnick, site head of the BioLabs in New Haven, said. “We thought this was a
great opportunity for BioLabs to come to New Haven and then put one of our
facilities here to really support the ecosystem here. … Seeing the spinoffs
coming out of Yale, there’s a lot of potential.”
Beyond downtown, redevelopment at Science Park, the former
Winchester Repeating Arms Co. factory, also is focused on biotech and quantum
science, which is expected to lead to advanced computing and ultra-precise
measuring equipment. One of the largest apartment construction projects in the
city, at 283 rentals, is now under construction.
Trails by 8 years
To the north, 40 miles away, Hartford is pursuing its own
revitalization, adding more than 3,000 apartments in and around downtown in the
past decade. The city built Dunkin’ Park, a ballpark that is home to the Yard
Goats, the Double A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. A storefront
revitalization program is drawing new tenants to long vacant shops throughout
the city, the epicenter at downtown’s Pratt Street.
Hartford differs from New Haven in significant ways.
Hartford’s mainstay industries — insurance and financial services — are more
mature than biotech, but they are attracting fintech companies, including those
developing new, technology-driven ways to assess risk.
Hartford, as the state capital, also hosts far more
government offices. The predominance of downtown office space also has raised a
new challenge in the aftermath of the pandemic, with high vacancies as more
office employees spend more time working from home.
Hartford also lacks the deep pockets of Yale University.
But Randy Salvatore, founder and chief executive of
Stamford-based RMS Cos., sees
similarities, having built apartments in both cities — City Crossing in New
Haven and North Crossing and others n Hartford.
The rental demand remains extremely strong in both cities,
with occupancy at 95% or better in his projects, Salvatore said.
Salvatore estimates Hartford may be trailing New Haven by
about eight years in redevelopment efforts.
“But New Haven was late to it too,” Salvatore said.
“Stamford started 20 years ago.”
Here are 10 projects changing the landscape and the skyline
in New Haven:
1. 101 College St.
Cost: $151 million
Developer: Winstanley Enterprises, Concord, Mass.
Completion: late 2023
What it is: The recently completed, 10-story building
contains medical/laboratory research space encompassing more than 500,000
square feet. AstraZeneca’s Alexion Pharmaceuticals division, Yale University
and BioLabs, a 50,000-square-foot incubator, are all tenants. Alexion was a
spinoff from Yale.
Why it matters: 101 College is the second of two
structures that anchor Downtown Crossing, a development that removed the
remnants of the never completed Route 34, a failed urban renewal project from
the 1960s that split the downtown in two.
The project provides pedestrian connections with an outdoor
plaza and public walkway joining College and Temple streets. BioLabs is
designed to support biotech startups and maturing companies, plus provides a
laboratory classroom for the New Haven Public Schools.
2. Science at Square 10
Address: 265 South Orange St.
Cost: $127 million
Developer: Ancora L&G, Durham, N.C.
Completion: 2026
What it is: This project, known as “Science at Square
10,” will add another 250,000 square feet of medical/laboratory research space
on a portion of the former Veterans Memorial Coliseum, demolished in 2007. The
development will be within walking distance of both Union Station and the
Medical District. The Medical District is anchored by Yale New Haven Hospital
and the Yale School of Medicine. Construction is expected to begin later this
year.
Why it matters: The development offers prospects for
the downtown to grow and better connect to Union Station and the Medical
District. The structure’s design by New Haven-based Pelli Clarke Pelli is
promoted as “world class” by the city.
Ancora is a developer that nationally focuses on cities with
reputations for innovation supported by institutions of higher learning, health
care and research centers.
3. Anthem at Square 10
Address: 275 South Orange St.
Cost: $39 million
Developer: Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, Norwalk
Completion: 2024
What it is: Anthem at Square 10 is the first of two,\
mixed-use residential buildings planned for the former Coliseum site and will
include 200 apartments over retail space.
Pre-leasing for the apartments is underway and the first
retail tenant — a restaurant — has been signed for the ground level. A second
building with 100 apartments wrapped around a parking garage also is planned.
In addition, there is potential for further future redevelopment.
Why it matters: The development is critical to
reclaiming one of the largest blocks in downtown — used for parking for nearly
two decades — that will be broken down with a street design that will
form a pedestrian-friendly connection between downtown and Union Station.
4. The Mason at City Crossing
Address: 188 Lafayette St.
Cost: $19 million
Developer: RMS Cos., Stamford
Completion: Early Summer
What it is: The building, now nearly complete, will add
112 market-rate apartments with three levels of parking, two of them
underground.
Why it matters: The seven-story apartment building is
the sixth to be built in the City Crossing development and is a block from the
redevelopment on College Street. The apartments replaced parking lots that had
existed for decades. City Crossing included the conversion of one structure — a
historic school — into residential rentals.
For The Mason at City Crossing, developer Randy Salvatore
negotiated a ground lease with the lot’s owner, Yale University, allowing a
development that will put the property back onto the tax rolls.
5. Winchester Green
Cost: $90 million
Developer: Twining Properties and LMXD, both of New
York
Completion: End of 2025.
What it is: Winchester Green is a 283-unit mixed-income
apartment development that broke ground in March on the sprawling former
Winchester Repeating Arms Co. factory complex.
The project, which will also include community-oriented
retail, is part of a larger development by the Science Park Development Corp.
Science Park is a not-for-profit, public-private partnership that includes Yale
University, the city of New Haven, Olin Corp. and the state of Connecticut.
Why it matters: Redevelopment of the manufacturing
complex, closed in 1981, draws on its past as an office park but makes the
transition to 21st-century innovation, focused on biotech. Winchester Green is
one of the largest residential projects under construction in the city.
The apartments will come in addition to 158 apartments,
150,000 square feet of lab space — now fully leased — and office space in two
existing buildings. When complete, the area — known as Winchester Center —
is expected to include 1,000 apartments, shops and restaurants, parks and a
half million square feet of additional lab space.
6. 300 State St.
Cost: $56 million
Developer: Beacon Communities, Boston
Completion: Late 2025
What it is: This development, which broke ground
earlier this month, will create 76 apartments. The majority will be pegged to
tenants with incomes ranging from at or below 30% to 60% of the area’s median
income in the city’s Ninth Square district. The project will create 19,000
square feet of street-level commercial space
Why it matters: The project, at the pivotal corner of
State and Chapel streets, will transform a parking lot, an eyesore. and a
largely vacant neighboring building along Chapel into much-needed affordable
housing. The project is within walking distance of local restaurants, shops,
bus stops and the State Street train station.
The development further strengthens the residential fabric
of Ninth Square and connects to Wooster Square.
7. Union Square
Cost: To be determined
Developer: Elm City Communities/New Haven Housing
Authority; Glendower Group, New Haven
Completion: To be determined
What it is: A redevelopment of 13 acres across from
Union Station — the former, now demolished Church Street South housing complex
— could include more than 1,000 units of mixed-income housing that would be
built in phases.
There would be a focus on providing “deeply affordable”
rents for people who earn below 30% of the area median income. The
redevelopment also includes the aging Wolfe Building on nearby Union Avenue,
which eventually will be torn down. Plans are expected to take shape by
November.
Why it matters: The Church Street South housing complex
was demolished in 2018 after years of neglect. The tract of land is the largest
that is undeveloped near the train station. Union Square would replace crucial
affordable housing lost in the demolition and meet a commitment allowing former
tenants of Church Street South to return.
8. Union Station
Cost: To be determined
Developer: To be determined
Completion: To be determined
What it is: The project has secured more than $30
million in state grants to support and attract private investment.
The project’s scope is broad and is expected to include a
major renovation of the station, including its first sit-down restaurant; a
potential, mixed-use residential tower on the east lot; and a new center for
buses and shuttles on the west lot located in a lower level beneath a parking
garage to replace the east lot. The residential tower would be the first new
non-transportation construction at Union Station.
Why it matters: Union Station is considered among the
top 20 stations nationwide for Amtrak and major stations for both Metro-North
and CT Rail, all of which converge in New Haven. The improvements are planned
to create a more welcoming arrival to New Haven, and a stronger base for
commuters and leisure riders traveling to and from New York City.
9. Science Hill
Cost: $1 billion-plus
Developer: Yale University
Completion: 2034
What it is: The project includes an expansion of the
Wright Lab, which focuses on cutting-edge research in physics; a new Advanced
Instrumentation Development Center; and a new physical science and engineering
building.
Why it matters: The project is one of the largest in
Yale’s 322-year history and is intended to solidify Yale as long-term strategic
leader in quantum science and related fields of research. Quantum science
focuses on the study of the smallest particles in nature and is expected to
broaden understanding of the universe in the future and lead to new technology,
including advanced computers and ultra-precise measuring devices.
10. Residences at Canal Place
Cost: $37 million
Developer: RJ Development + Advisors, New Haven
Completion: Late 2024
What it is: This project will create 176 apartments as
part of a mixed-use, mixed-income development in the Dixwell neighborhood along
the Farmington Canal Line and near Science Park.
Why it matters: The development will add to the city’s
supply of much-needed affordable housing without displacement of current
residents. Affordable units account for 50 of the apartments, or nearly 30%,
higher than the typical privately-financed development.
SOURCES: City of New Haven, Elm City Communities,
developers, Hartford Courant reporting
Construction of new Choate admissions building, underground parking garage begin in Wallingford
Christian Metzger
WALLINGFORD — A year after approval by the Planning and
Zoning Commission, construction has begun on Choate Rosemary Hall’s new
admissions center and cafeteria expansion.
The grounds for a new expanded admissions center at the corner of North Main and Elm streets are being cleared and earth is being moved on the central campus to make room for a 14,000-square foot, two-story building with an underground 70-space parking garage. Completion is expected sometime next year. Top of Form
The project was subject to a months-long approval process
that concluded in May of last year. One of the major sources of contention was
the addition of the underground parking garage, which some members of the
commission believed would bring too much traffic to the residential area
surrounding the school.
The new garage will replace an existing 60-space lot outside
the current admissions building and will be covered with grass and new
landscaping.
“From an environmental standpoint, it decreases the runoff
from oil and other things that surface parking lots are known for. And then the
new lot of course will have a green roof to it. It will be lawn on top, ” said
Choate’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Durbin.
According to Choate officials, the current admissions office
is outdated and unable to fulfill the growing needs of its staff as interest in
the school continues to increase year over year. They said that while Choate
isn't looking to expand enrollment beyond its current 860 students, many more
prospective students have been coming to the campus from across the globe,
and they want a modern facility that accommodates those arrivals and the needs
of its staff.
“We have an enrollment of around 860 students, which has
been steady and we've done some self-studies, we're committed to that size.
What we have seen, however, is that interest in our school has expanded
greatly. And that is wonderful news for us and by design because we are
dependent upon attracting students nationally and internationally,” said Chief
Communications Officer Alison Cady.
“What we have seen is that our application numbers are way
up, interest in the school is way up, and that brings a lot of visitors to
campus and also to Wallingford. So while that has not changed dramatically our
function here on campus, our improvement of our facilities is just to support
the existing program supporting 860 students during the academic year,"
Cady said.
The new admissions center has a focus of environmentalism at
the core of its design, being given the highest rating on the Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design scale, with the goal of decreasing the school’s
overall carbon footprint.
The first floor will be dedicated to a welcoming reception
area and a versatile gathering space that can be configured for meetings,
informational sessions, presentations, and receptions. The second floor will
house more modern office spaces, which staff hope will increase the overall
efficiency of their operations.
The name for the new space will be Carr Hall. It is named
after Michael Carr, who served as chairman of Choate’s Board of Trustees from
2011 to 2019, and helped modernize the school and see significant additions to
the campus during his tenure.
Simultaneously, the central dining facility in the Hill
House building is also being renovated to add a new food service area so staff
can accommodate the growing dietary needs of the students that aren’t being met
with their current space. Hill House was built in 1910, and has created
restrictions for the kitchen staff.
The new construction will add a 3,600-square-foot addition
to the building, and while students are able to currently dine in the hall it
will be closed during the fall and winter term as the area needs to be cleared
for construction. Until it's finished, students will be temporarily relocated
to the vacant student activity center to dine, moving back into Hill House by
the end of next winter when the facility is complete.
Both projects were designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects,
a global firm based in New York, which the school has used for several projects
including the Kohler Environmental Center.
“We have a situation where we have students living away from
home and with different allergy needs and cultural considerations, dining
preferences. Expanding that footprint a little bit allows us to offer all of
those options, but also in a fairly efficient way because we move a lot of
people through the dining hall in a short period of time in the middle of the
class day when they are between classes,” Durbin said.
Cady noted that they were already considering other projects
to continue expanding the school and providing new services for their students,
but she was unable to offer further details. For the time being, she said that
the school was anticipating seeing the new buildings completed next year, and
that the new welcome center will become a focal point for new arrivals to the
school, and Wallingford more broadly.
“Everything's moving along smoothly and we're really excited
about the opportunities that these new spaces will provide,” Cady said. “In
support of all the visitors that come to the town of Wallingford to visit
Choate, we really think that these will be improvements. And as you may know,
we support many community events on campus and a dining hall being used day to
day by our students is really important. But as we can share these facilities
with the community, we look forward to doing that as well.”
Danbury Municipal Airport overhauls taxiway in $2.5 million project: 'Needed to be done'
DANBURY — A $2.5 million project to repave
taxiway Charlie at Danbury Municipal Airport and install new
lighting along that span is ahead of schedule, according to the airport’s
administrator.
Contractors are working to install the taxiway’s new LED
lighting system, while they wait for the Federal Aviation Administration to
approve the blacktop mixture they will use to complete the paving, airport
Administrator Mike Safranek said.
“That’s moving along very very well,” Safranek said
Tuesday.
Until the project began, the taxiway, which spans between
taxiway Delta and the runway 8 approach, had gone 35 years without a complete
overhaul.
“The taxiway that we’re repaving, it was deteriorating
so badly that it was difficult for planes to actually maneuver on it,”
Safranek said. The lateral separation along the taxiway’s pavement “was getting
to be really bad,” he added.
Before the project began, crews temporarily fixed the
deteriorating surface by saw-cutting and filling cracks with asphalt.
“It was not dangerous, but it needed to be done,” Safranek said, adding that
the overhaul should have been completed five to seven years ago. “It was time.
The FAA agreed.”
Taxiway Charlie’s old lights were 40 years old. Crews are
now installing a new LED system using an underground conduit,
which Safranek described as “safer” than the direct burial method of the
former system.
“It’s better for the longevity of the wiring, being
conduit,” Safranek said.
Oxford-based Guerrera Construction Co. is the contractor
completing the work. Hoyle, Tanner & Associates Inc., an engineering firm
from New Hampshire, is the engineer on site overseeing the project.
The project is more than 60 percent completed. Federal funds
will cover 90 percent of its costs; city funds will cover $213,108; and state
funds will cover the remainder. Leaders expect the project will be completed by
early summer.
While the project is underway, taxiway usage is limited at
Danbury Municipal Airport. A section of Delta taxiway and half of Charlie
taxiway are currently closed, Safranek said. The limits on taxiway usage
are out of concern for safety, he said.
“My biggest concern, always, with construction equipment and
airplanes, is it throws a lot more pressure on the aircraft control tower to
move them around the airport,” Safranek said. So limiting the movement of
equipment and aircraft is “a lot safer.”
The FAA signed off on the airport’s safety plan, he
said.
“So it wasn’t just me putting together a safety plan. There
are levels and levels of engineers and safety experts who sign off on it before
it becomes official,” the airport administrator said.
The project, once completed, “won’t increase airport traffic
at all,” Safranek said.
It was part of a larger five-year capital improvement plan
that received approvals from the FAA, the Connecticut Airport Authority and
local officials.
MERIDEN – A proposal that would allow MidState Medical
Center to expand
its operation by breaking a city lease on soccer fields and relocating
them to Columbus Park passed a joint
meeting of the Finance and Public Works and Parks & Recreation
committees at City Hall on Thursday and was referred to the City Council
meeting scheduled for Monday.
Mayor Kevin Scarpati, representatives of the Meriden Soccer
Club and other city councilors supported the decision because it would bring an
investment of $60 million to $100 million to the city’s Grand List and expand
the hospital’s operations. If the resolution is passed as-is, the city would
accept a projected $1.7 million from MidState to relocate two grass fields to
the current site of two softball fields in Columbus Park on Lewis Avenue. The
city would use an additional $2.4 million from its Capital Improvement Plan to
install synthetic turf on the fields to increase play.
City Councilor and Meriden Soccer Club member Joe Scaramuzzo
expressed support for the proposal.
“As much as I think we have a lot of work to do from a communication point of view and the logistics and getting all the stakeholders to understand what their piece of this is and how everyone fits in, I really think we need to get this going to improve the Grand List and get this project moving,” Scaramuzzo said.
However, Democratic Majority Leader Sonya Jelks, former
city councilor Miguel Castro and representatives from the Mexican Soccer League
were among those who expressed concerns about the impact of the decision and
criticized the lack of input from residents and other stakeholders in the
decision-making process.
“You have my phone number. You can call me anytime. I feel
like I'm rejected from these meetings. I don't know what happened,” said
Mexican Soccer League Director Alejandro González during the public comment
session.
González was among the founding members of the league in
2010. The league now has over 250 male players of all ages. They typically
gather to play soccer in Columbus Park every Sunday from April through October,
an event which attracts families and food trucks.
González said he was angry and disappointed at the treatment
of the Mexican Soccer League, citing issues with cutting the grass and having
to rent portable toilets. He added that the league did not receive a permit
from the city to play on the field at Columbus Avenue this year, even though
the league brings health benefits and community engagement to the city.
In response to these concerns, Acting City Manager Emily
Holland said the city did receive the application for this year, but did not
want to commit to having the league on a specific field until they knew for
sure what was going to happen with the MidState agreement.
Parks and Recreation Director Chris Bourden added that based
on the discussion, it was unlikely any users of the field at Columbus Park
would be impacted by construction this year. He added that the city would
have to pay an employee double time to open the bathrooms on Sundays, but said
he was open to working with the league. Despite the concerns, he spoke in
support of the artificial turf fields because it would allow heavy use by the
public and said the city would work with anyone displaced by construction
to reschedule games.
“No matter which place we have, there would be a game of
musical chairs in which an existing user would end up without a place to play,”
he said. “You’re going to need a site like that that is currently not being
used that's not going to displace a current user and right now, there is no
other option that's better than Columbus Park.”
He referenced a 2019 study from Meriden engineering firm BL
Cos. that considered relocating the MidState fields to Washington Park, Ceppa
Field, and a privately owned vacant lot at 525 Kensington Ave. BL's report
found that it would be much cheaper and easier to repurpose existing city parks
locations instead of developing new facilities on unused private lands.
However, Jelks raised a series of ongoing concerns
about the location of the park and said that local residents were not involved
in the decision, as well as the lack of recreation spaces in the downtown area.
She said that there was not a lot of parking, so creative scheduling and a
potential expansion of the parking lot would be necessary to avoid unsafe
traffic.
“I'm concerned that we're making decisions without ensuring
that we're building for people who actually have to live in our community and
who have to live around whatever traffic,” she said.
Meriden Soccer Club volunteer coach Ian Gaither spoke to the
importance of club and asked that the city keep the fields because of the
game’s importance to the kids he coaches. He said that most of the kids are
usually inside and on their phones and that the club was an important part of
creating exercise.
“With all these different language barriers that we have
going on," he said, "the beautiful game of soccer brings everybody
together as one, which is one common goal of just trying to score goals and
keep the ball off your net."
Groton Long Point Bridge over railroad to be replaced
Kimberly Drelich
Groton ― The state plans to replace the aging bridge
carrying Groton Long Point Road over the Amtrak railroad, with a new span that
will provide greater clearance above the railroad tracks.
About 3,400 vehicles travel every day across the bridge,
which is located to the north of Esker Point Beach and to the south of the
road’s intersection with South Elm Street.
State Department of Transportation Communications Director
Josh Morgan said the bridge overall is in fair condition. Its superstructure,
including the steel beams and concrete deck is in fair condition, but the
beams’ paint system is failing.
The DOT decided to replace the bridge, rather than repair
it, to address structural issues while also allowing a higher vertical
clearance for the railroad tracks underneath it, Morgan said. Currently, the
vertical clearance is less than Amtrak’s standard minimum clearance for
electrified railroads.
The new 113-foot span over the Amtrak right-of-way will be
built with materials that will protect the bridge and extend its life, Morgan
said.
Morgan said the new bridge will last at least 75 years and
lower the cost of future maintenance.
“This provides a structure that accommodates safe travel for
all,” including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and trains, he said.
The DOT’s project team outlined details of the project
during a virtual information session held Monday evening.
Jodi Constant, a project manager with engineering consulting
firm WSP, said the project calls for pavement markings for bike lanes along
Groton Long Point Road from Esker Point Beach up to Robert E. Fitch High
School.
A new sidewalk will be installed on the west side of the
road, south of the bridge. Sidewalks also are proposed between Fishers View
Drive and Mohegan Drive, with the intention to connect sidewalks to the Esker
Point Beach parking lot.
Constant said the existing road, at the bridge location,
will have to be raised to meet the standard minimum vertical clearance for the
railroad.
She said the project is estimated to cost $13.6 million.
Federal funds will cover 80% of the project. The remaining 20% will come from
state and municipal funds, with the exact breakdown to be determined as the
project reaches its final design stage, she said.
The bridge replacement project will begin in the fall of
2026 and is slated to wrap up in the fall of 2028, according to the preliminary
schedule.
Constant noted that an adjacent bridge replacement project,
the Groton Long Point Road Bridge over Palmer’s Cove, is in the conceptual
design phase. More information on that project will be shared at a public
information session in November.
“We have already begun coordinating with their project team
to ensure that these projects are going to be completed without any conflicts
of one another,” she said.
Residents and business owners asked questions, including if
there would be a way to limit construction during the busy summer season, what
the impact on local businesses would be and if the work could be done more
quickly.
Constant said the DOT doesn’t have any contract requirements
that would limit construction activities in the summer but it’s something that
can be considered.
She added the schedule can be looked at more closely as part
of the final design process to try to avoid major construction activities in
the summer and alleviate traffic. But she pointed out the DOT has to coordinate
the construction work with Amtrak.
She also said there are ways to accelerate bridge
construction, but it is more costly. She said the planned one-way alternating
traffic during construction is the most balanced way to keep traffic moving
while getting the project done as quickly as possible.
The public comment period is until May 27. More information
about the project is available at: https://portal.ct.gov/dotgroton58-342.
Groton outlines guidelines for Groton Heights School redevelopment
Kimberly Drelich
Groton ― As the town plans to again seek proposals for the redevelopment of the Groton
Heights School property, it wants a future developer to keep the historic
two-story structure, if feasible.
The Town Council plans to include that, among other
development guidelines, in a Request for Proposals document for the
approximately 2-acre property at 244 Monument St. in the city.
The council also wants a future developer to create a
quality development that will complement the neighborhood and manage traffic;
preserve or create public space or recreation on or near the property that will
be open to all Groton residents; and retain trees and landscape the property
where feasible, among other guidelines listed in the draft Request for
Proposals document.
There is no requirement that a potential developer propose
housing for the site, but if a developer submits a proposal for housing, at
least 10% of the units should be affordable.
After proposing changes to the draft document at its
Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, the Town Council recommended the
Request for Proposals be taken up at the June 4 council meeting. It then would
be sent to the Planning & Zoning Commission and Representative Town Meeting
for comment, said Town Manager John Burt.
The town also is including criteria that, while not
required, will help potential developers score higher on the town’s evaluation,
such as including a Project Labor Agreement, incorporating solar lighting and
carbon-neutral development, and having a variety of affordable housing price
points, if housing is proposed, Burt said.
The town will seek proposals after ThayerMahan last year
decided it would not move forward with redeveloping the school property
as its headquarters and research and development center.
At the Tuesday meeting, Economic and Community Development
Manager Paige Bronk said the intent is to keep the shell of the 1912 building,
designed by Dudley St. Clair Donnelly, but the interior will need substantial
modification or to be gutted. He said the town repaired the roof after water
poured into at least the top floor a few years ago, and most of the windows and
doors have been vandalized.
He said the gym was built after the original building, and
the city potentially would entertain the removal of the gym or some
modification of the gym.
Jon Reiner, the town’s director of planning and development
services, said if there are not substantial changes as it goes through the town
commissions, the town could issue the Request for Proposals in August.
The town also is asking to be part of the negotiations in a
potential land swap between a developer and the adjacent Bill Memorial Library.
The town is reviewing the draft document before issuing it
for potential developers to submit proposals. The town would then review the
proposals and follow its recently revised process for vacant, town-owned
properties, to select a developer. The new process is designed to include more community input
and treat all vacant properties equitably, Burt has said.
Burt said he expects the Town Council to discuss a draft
Request for Proposals document for another vacant town-owned property, the
former Pleasant Valley School, at its May 28 Committee of the Whole meeting.
Beacon Falls officials consider relocating train station for regional hub with Seymour
ANDREAS YILMA
BEACON FALLS – Town officials are exploring the option of
relocating the town’s train station to the Beacon Falls-Seymour line for a
regional station serving both towns.
The Board of Selectmen approved a draft and sent a letter to
the state Department of Transportation to show the town is in favor of
exploring the option to combine the two train stations and move them. The town
would need the DOT to approve the project.
Haynes Construction President Tom Haynes requested the
letter from Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerald Smith and Seymour First
Selectman Annmarie Drugonis.
Haynes was successful last year in getting $3 million in
federal funds for construction of a 2-mile connector road to access a large
stretch of privately owned property along Route 8 and the Waterbury rail line,
one of the last pieces of undeveloped land in the Naugatuck River corridor.
Smith said if Haynes Construction gets the next $19 million
to finish the road, Haynes would put up the $100 million for the train station
project but the cost would be closer to $200 million.
“It would build the plans and it would actually move the
project forward on his dime,” Smith said.
Smith said there’s pros and cons to keeping the train
station where it is and moving it for a regional location.
“It’s a matter of do we see the value in keeping the Transit
Oriented District here where we have our downtown,” Smith said. “Town Hall is
in the Transit Oriented District, all of Railroad Avenue is in the Transit
Oriented District, all of Main Street is in the Transit Oriented District. That
all goes away if we do move it.”
However, Smith said there is a big potential for commercial,
industrial and residential development with the proposed Haynes development.
It’s a tough call as there are benefits to both, he added.
The Beacon Falls train station is on Railroad Avenue near
downtown while the Seymour train station is on Main Street.
The proposed roadway would connect Route 67 in Seymour with
Route 42 in Beacon Falls along the Naugatuck River Greenway. The access road
also would lead to the 220-acre parcel of undeveloped land, owned by Haynes
Construction and Real Estate Corp. of Seymour. Their vision is to transform the
area into a housing, commercial, medical and light-industrial hub.
Haynes officials previously said the massive project would
be similar to what the company created at Quarry Walk in Oxford, a 30-acre
former quarry site that has since been developed into a popular living and
shopping destination. It created more than 2,000 jobs and generates as much as
$2 million annually in local tax revenue.
Selectman Michael A. Krenesky said he also had a brief
conversation with Drugonis.
“To me there’s an economic development aspect of this that
the town of Beacon Falls will sorely miss out on should the Haynes project go
get put together and Beacon Falls is not part of it,” Krenesky said.
Out of the people who do use the train station, the only
people that walk to the train station are people that may live in the condos or
possibly some people on the hill. Anyone else who wants to use the train
station has to drive to it. They have to drive to Main Street or if it’s moved,
they would have to drive to Breault Road. The difference would only be about a
mile, Krenesky said.
“I support the idea of putting this letter together because
it brings us to that next step of conversation and if nothing else, we can turn
around and say no down the road,” Krenesky said. “I don’t think this is locking
us in to doing this.”
Selectman Peter Betkoski also agreed to put together the
letter to explore a regional train station as the letter doesn’t commit the
town to the project but it gives Haynes a little traction to get moving
forward.
“If you look at the whole big picture, we’ll still be able
to beautify downtown like I have a vision or like our town does, if we get some
tax base from there,” Betkoski said.
Groundbreaking ceremony to be held for Lymes’ Senior Center renovation
Elizabeth Regan
Old Lyme ―The delayed Lymes’ Senior Center renovation
project will officially break ground Monday.
A ceremony for the $5.5 million renovation will be held at 2
p.m. at the center, which is located at 26 Town Woods Road. The rain date is
Tuesday, May 21 at the same time.
Local and state officials will be in attendance.
The center has been closed since the end of September, with
meal opportunities and activities spread across locations throughout the two
towns for the duration of the renovation.
The project was delayed by factors related to grant funding,
insurance coverage and higher than expected construction costs.