Tearing down massive CT eyesore could begin soon, with AI in city’s sights
Tearing
down a massive eyesore just east of Dunkin’ Park could
start as soon as this summer, clearing a property where the city of Hartford
hopes to build an applied
artificial intelligence center paired with other development, all part
of the larger, North
Crossing development.
The city expects a $6 million state grant to largely cover the estimated $9.4 million cost of demolishing the former bank processing center on Windsor Street. The city already has $1.4 million set aside for the tearing down of the bunker-like structure — now in advanced decay, hastened in recent years by vandalism and looting.
The city, which took control of the 3-acre property in 2015, now hopes to close the financing gap for the demolition by moving $2 million from a now stalled, mixed-use housing development in Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood. Those city development funds are managed by the Capital Region Development Authority, and the city is now seeking the quasi-public agency’s approval to move them to the Windsor Street demolition.
Jeff Auker, the city’s director of development services, said the previous administration of Luke Bronin had placed a high priority on Parkville, with notable successes, particularly Parkville Market. But several projects — including the conversion of a former factory at the corner of Bartholomew Avenue and Hamilton Street into apartments — have been hit by rising construction costs and financing delays.
The city funding, approved in 2023, would be withdrawn from a $29 million plan for 57 apartments and a 400-space parking garage at the high-profile corner of Park Street and Bartholomew Avenue. The parking garage has been seen as essential for easing the parking crunch at the Parkville Market and other area businesses.
“It just appears that the simple volume of work that we are
trying to do up there — we’ve had some of the money that has been sitting, set
aside years ago to increase parking,” Auker said. “We don’t have a viable
proposal for it first and we’re focused with (developer Carlos Mouta) and some
other developers in Parkville on some other properties.”
Auker said given the pressing need to demolish 150 Windsor
St., it made sense for Hartford Mayor Arunan
Arulampalam to ask CRDA to move the funds to another project.
Arulampalam has the authority to make such a request because they are city
funds, Auker said.
“It doesn’t say anything about the projects going on in
Parkville,” Auker said. “It’s just that money was sitting there getting stale.
We had a need here.”
Coming at another neighborhood’s expense?
The city’s request to CRDA would unwind financing approvals
totaling $8.2 million for the housing and parking garage projects at 17 and 35
Bartholomew Ave., a combination of city and CRDA funds. After taking out the $2
million to tear down the Windsor Street structure, the balance would be used
for future projects, according to a proposal that will be considered Friday by
CRDA’s housing and neighborhood development committee.
The full CRDA board also must back the plan.
“Everyone plans to come back to 17/35 later,” Michael W.
Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director, said, in a text.
Mouta, the developer of the Parkville Market, also is the
force behind the development of housing wrapped around a parking garage at the
corner of Park and Bartholomew.
Thursday, Mouta acknowledged the delays in converting
the former Whitney Manufacturing complex at the corner of Bartholomew
and Hamilton into hundreds of apartments and other space. Mouta said he
understood the need to move the funding from 17 and 35 Bartholomew. But Mouta
also stressed that the addition of parking in Parkville has to remain a top
priority if the neighborhood hopes to experience further growth.
“Look, I’m always happy when something good happens in
Hartford,” Mouta said. “I think the thing downtown is important. As long as
that money, at some point, comes back. That project is vital to Parkville. The
former mayor, Mayor Bronin, saw the vision. I need parking.”
The neighborhood already is experiencing a parking crunch,
Mouta said, and it is hamstringing the development of other buildings,
including one he owns at 1429 Park St., adjacent to the Parkville Market.
“I’ve had many people look for event space,” Mouta said.
“And they go inside, and they want to rent, but they say where are they going
to park?”
Decision expected early this summer
The demolition of 150 Windsor would clear the way for the
artificial intelligence center, if the city is chosen for up to $50 million in
funding from the state’s “Innovation Clusters” program. Hartford is one of
three anchor cities that are finalists
for the funding
The program is aimed at strengthening Connecticut’s economy
through innovation, partnering with the private sector to build employment,
boost vibrancy and develop ecosystems that are seen as essential to future
economic development.
William Diaz, a project leader in Hartford's department of
development services, leads a tour six months ago of the former data center on
Windsor Street. The long-vacant structure has been ransacked for copper piping
and other building materials. (Aaron Flaum/ Hartford Courant)
Hartford has focused on how AI would be applied for
real-world use, while Stamford would target fostering start-ups in AI. New
Haven, the third finalist, would delve deeply into bioscience and quantum
research and development.
The Windsor Street processing center has always been
considered as a piece of the larger development around the city’s minor league
ballpark. But the existence of the structure has long been an obstacle. With
its removal — and a plan to diversify the types of development in the area
beyond residential — plus state funding could provide the long-sought boost to
move forward.
Randy Salvatore, North Crossing’s developer, has voiced
strong support for how the Windsor Street parcel could be redeveloped as an
applied AI center. Salvatore, founder and chief executive of
Stamford-based RMS
Cos., has said the center could be paired with a boutique hotel.
A decision from the state on Innovation Cluster funding is
expected early this summer.
Naugatuck developing partnership for new freight rail project to bring industrial revival
Andreas Yilma
NAUGATUCK — The borough is developing a public-private
partnership to bring a freight rail project to the former Uniroyal site.
The partnership would include Darien-based Genesee
& Wyoming Railroad Services Inc., which owns or leases more than 100
railroads across North America, to develop a Naugatuck Industrial Rail Park off
Elm Street.
Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess has for several years
worked to develop this 86-acre site along the Naugatuck River to become a rail
hub, the so-called Port of Naugatuck, which never materialized.
“We were going to be working with containers, so heavier
trains that require more expensive infrastructure,” Hess said.
“So in the deal we’re working on now, it will not be
containers, it will be an all rail cars, freight rail, sort of like the old
days. The freight rail system in the United States, it’s intact, it’s there. It
hasn’t been utilized to its fullest.”
Genesee
& Wyoming Assistant Vice President, Government Affairs, Charles
Hunter said G&W doesn’t own or lease the Metro-North Railroad line but
operates on it under a long-term agreement.
“We’re excited about this project,” Hunter said. “We’ve been
out to the site to see it and we think it has a great future.”
Hunter said some of the advantages of the site for
businesses include direct rail access, being in a strategic location, lower
transportation costs and access to labor and incentives. Some of the potential
uses include warehousing, lumber distribution, bulk propane and recycling
and trans-loading, a shipping term referring to the transfer of goods from one
mode of transportation to another.
Berkshire & Eastern Railroad Sales & Marketing
Director James Speed said the timing and location is perfect for this project.
Berkshire & Eastern is a shortline railroad in New England and New
York, using tracks owned by Pan Am Southern.
“Rail brings so many other benefits over and above truck
depending on the type of product and its density and volume,” Speed
said. “It’s so much easier if I’m trying to put together outbound move of
widgets and I have five different ways of getting you to the destination, I
have five different rates.”
Genesee & Wyoming Railroad employs roughly 90 people in
Connecticut and has operations in 42 states, a company spokesman said in
2023.
In January 2023, the Genesee & Wyoming reached a settlement
with federal agencies for violating Clean Air Act locomotive
regulations.
The complaint, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and the Department of Justice, alleged the company's "locomotives
with rebuilt engines failed to meet applicable EPA emission standards."
The complaint also alleged the company "did not perform required
emissions-related maintenance or keep records of maintenance
performed."
In a statement, the company said "G&W’s affiliated
railroads inadvertently neglected to upgrade 11 of 885 locomotives to the
appropriate emission standard. In addition, various maintenance paperwork
deficiencies were identified."
Naugatuck would control rail park
Hess said the borough would control the rail park and have
the final say on what uses will take place there. Borough officials plan to
build an industrial park with a pad site, continuing with Phase 1 that is
underway, he said.
Hess said Senior Living Development Principal Mark DePecol
will be the developer for the project who will fund the engineering, site work
and rail lines for the spurs. DePecol is the developer for the nearly
finished borough's newest assisted living and memory care, KindCare facility at
491 North Main St.
Hess said they will have to redesign the lower portion
of the site by moving the road that the sludge trucks go over now from right
next to the rail line to back up and move it west against the ridge so the
businesses can have frontage on the rail spurs without having to cross the
road.
Moving the road will improve lot access to rail and add
three more lots for a total of nine in that area.
DePecol said the borough is transforming itself with
all the infrastructure and development work and bringing freight rail to the
borough will make domestic supply stronger, especially with all the
tariffs.
“With G&W with the short line, those are normal rail
cars, we can do it right away. We have the infrastructure. There’s nothing
stopping us,” DePecol said. “There has to be a little love and attention to the
main line and then we have to build the spurs on each line.”
Goodwin launches construction on technical magnet high school with Mars surface simulation
EAST HARTFORD — A
new technical magnet school is preparing for liftoff next year,
offering students a chance to touch down on Mars as part of the curriculum.
Goodwin
University Magnet School System has begun construction on RiverTech, a
new 288-student high school with a new four-story building next to the existing
four-story Pathways Academy on Pent Road in East Hartford.
Though the school has plans to offer opportunities to
students interested in a wide variety of STEM subjects and careers, its
flashiest feature is the "astronaut training center" that aims to
simulate space missions to the surface of Mars.
The district shares some branding and is closely associated
with the
East Hartford-based university, but exists as a distinct entity.
Goodwin Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said Wednesday that
the $85 million school, funded with full reimbursement through the state,
expects to open "mid- to late fall" next year, in time for the
2026-27 school year.
RiverTech's website states grades 9 through 12 will have
roughly 72 students each, and classes will consist of 18 to 20 students.
Goodwin describes the school as organized into four "spokes":
automation, production and fabrication, electronics and system integration, and
data sciences like artificial intelligence. Students will have the opportunity
to take college courses through Goodwin University and the University of
Bridgeport, with the potential to earn an associate degree-worth of credits
before graduation.
The space center, touted by officials as the first of its
kind in the United States, has been developed in a collaboration with
Australia-based Victorian Space Science Education Centre and will take up the
bulk of the building's fourth floor.
Menzo said school officials are currently working
with VSSEC to select an appropriate stone to use for the Mars simulation,
in an effort to make it as authentic to Mars as possible. In a similar vein,
architects have provided designs for the air lock, mission control, and
briefing and changing rooms, he said
"I think the architects are having just as much fun
with this as we are," Menzo said. "We're talking about lighting
effects, the layering of the stone ... it's giving them an opportunity to flex
their muscles while we provide a one-of-a-kind education experience."
In some ways, Menzo said, the simulation will be like
"a backlot tour" at a movie studio, but educators are also at work to
make sure it serves as a meaningful learning environment. He said students from
other districts will have the opportunity to experience the simulation as well,
and the lesson plans will align with state science standards to ensure teachers
can fit it into their curriculums without it being an additional burden.
"This is not just to be kept under a dome, so to
speak," Menzo said.
Menzo said students at RiverTech will all undergo an
expedition in the simulator in their freshman year, where their progress will
be blocked in part by challenging conditions. Sophomores will use their growing
technical knowledge to build something that would help the mission, and
get a chance to test it in action as juniors.
"The science curriculum is first and foremost, but
(they're) secondarily applying the skills they learned in welding, in
automation, to develop a solution," Menzo said.
Beyond the space center, another major feature of RiverTech
will be its "business center," where companies in various STEM fields
can embed themselves in the school community and work with students
on internships and employment opportunities.
Menzo said Electric
Boat has formally signed on as a partner for RiverTech, providing both
a "substantial donation" to the project and a multi-year commitment
to the business center. He said other businesses have expressed interest in
having a presence in the business center, but potential agreements are still
being finalized.
"There's a lot of energy and positivity around this
project," Menzo said.
East Hartford officials and future students joined the
district at a groundbreaking event Tuesday, marking the beginning of the new
building's construction.
"I've gotten a lot of positive compliments about having
the scholars there, because that's what this building is about," Menzo
said. "It's not about Sal Menzo's hopes and dreams and aspirations, it's
not about Goodwin University ... it's about the students that will be engaged
on a daily basis."
CT approves another $100M for crumbling foundations: 'We're going to fulfill our mission'
HARTFORD — The state legislature has approved an additional
$100 million to repair homes with crumbling
foundations, which is expected to end the decade-long crisis in the state,
according to Connecticut
Foundations Solutions Indemnity Co. Superintendent Michael Maglaras.
The state's bond package, voted on during the last day of
the legislative session on Wednesday, includes $25 million for crumbling
foundations in each of the next four fiscal years.
Another $100 million comes after two previous approvals of
$100 million each, as well as surcharge on
certain homeowner insurance policies that raises an additional roughly $11
million per year.
The continued funding is "everything we've asked
for," Maglaras said. "We're going to fulfill our mission."
The captive insurance company fixing foundations, commonly
referred to as CFSIC, will likely cease to exist after this final round of
funding, with the last installment of $25 million coming in fiscal year 2030,
he said.
"I fully expect to shut this company down in 2031 with
the vast majority, the vast majority, of this crumbling foundations crisis
fixed," Maglaras said, adding that with the additional funding, "I
will drive a stake right through the heart of this crisis."
CFSIC is expected to surpass 1,100 homes fixed by Labor Day,
restoring equity for homeowners, and tax assessments for municipalities, which
benefits taxpayers in affected towns.
The work spearheaded by the captive insurance company has
also created more than 225 construction jobs, and contributed to sales tax
revenue due to the purchase and lease of large construction equipment, Maglaras
said.
As of Thursday morning, there are nearly 2,500 claimants on
CFSIC's books, and Maglaras expects the total to be between 3,500 and 3,700
homes — a stark contrast to the early estimates of tens of thousands of homes.
While there may be some homes with crumbling foundations
that pop up after funding has been exhausted, Maglaras believes they will be
minimal and CFSIC won't be asking for more money from the state.
"Taxpayers need a break, just like we all do," he
said.
State law allows CFSIC to use up to 10% of its funding on
administrative costs, but the captive only uses about 3.7% to pay its
employees, with the remainder going to foundation replacements, Maglaras said.
The program has also shown what can be accomplished with
bipartisan support from legislators and multiple governors who provided
"cohesive and unified support" over the years, Maglaras said.
"This is the model, nationally and
internationally," he said.
Crumbling foundations have also plagued Massachusetts, but
progress there has been relatively slow compared to Connecticut.
As an outsourced, contracted superintendent for CFSIC,
Maglaras said that he has to remain neutral on issues outside of Connecticut.
As a private businessman, however, he said that he expects a
groundswell of support in Massachusetts, similar to what motivated lawmakers in
Connecticut.
"I wouldn't count Massachusetts out," Maglaras
said.
St. John’s Towers in Stamford could be torn down to make way for 305 apartments
STAMFORD — The remaining St.
John’s Towers buildings could be torn down to make way for a
residential development that would bring 305 apartments to downtown Stamford.
The owner of the roughly 1.6 acre property at 109 Tresser
Blvd., Saint John Urban Development Corporation, submitted a project
application to the city May 2 and said the plan was to redevelop “the aging,
mostly vacant residential towers to be more in line with the residential
setting of the surrounding neighborhood,” according to the application for the
project.
The 305 apartments that would replace the two towers would
be spread out over 10 floors and include two levels of parking that would
provide 235 spaces. The project would also continue to use the 93 parking spots
in the Atlantic Station garage, which the property has a permanent easement for
the exclusive use of.
Of those apartments, 101 would be one bedrooms, 100 would be
two bedrooms and 104 would be three bedrooms.
Thirty-two units in the project will be deed-restricted for
those earning 30% or less of the area median income; 123 units for those making
50% or less of the AMI, 118 units for those earning 60% or less of
the AMI and 32 units for those making 80% or less of the AMI.
The project will also include amenity spaces on the corner
of Washington Boulevard and Tresser Boulevard.
“The double height lobby and amenity spaces provide rich
visual interest to the building while concealing the two levels of garage from
public view,” the application reads.
The two remaining towers on Tresser Boulevard combined have
240 apartments and were built in 1971. A third
tower with 120 apartments was torn down starting in 2018 to make way
for The Smyth
apartment building, which has 414 apartments.
The three towers were built, according to the application,
as part of a government program that “maintained the units as affordable” for
those making 80% or less of the AMI for 40 years. Those restrictions expired in
2010, though, and no affordability requirement applies to the remaining
buildings.
“The site and buildings are in need of extensive capital
investment and a complete redevelopment,” the application reads.
The property the remaining towers are located on is zoned
C-C, Center City District, and is located in the Downtown Master Plan Category,
a designation “intended to provide for and protect an intensive,
pedestrian-oriented mixed-use district,” according to the city’s master plan.
The project is on the agenda for the the city’s Planning
Board regular meeting on Tuesday. The final architectural design is not
finalized and would need to go through the approval process separate from the
application sent May 2, if it is accepted by the city.