November 20, 2024

CT Construction Digest Wednesday November 20, 2024

Housing, restaurants part of future plan for Bridgeport's former PSEG power plant site

Brian Lockhart

BRIDGEPORT — Robert Christoph Jr. has with his father spent years slowly transforming vacant harborfront property at the tip of the East End into the Steelpointe mixed use destination of Bass Pro Shops, a seafood restaurant, a new marina and an under-construction upscale apartment complex.

On Tuesday afternoon Christoph was among those gathered across the water at the decommissioned coal-fired power plant to welcome its new owner, Bridgeport Station Development, and celebrate the start of the estimated three-year demolition of the old industrial landmark visible from land, sea and air. 

"One of the biggest challenges we have in Bridgeport is perception, not reality," Christoph said afterward, a reference to outsiders who still may have a negative idea of Connecticut's largest municipality despite its economic progress. "This is the last bit of perception they hang their hat on."

Daniel O'Keefe, Connecticut's economic development chief, offered a more vivid, and maybe a bit hyperbolic, description of the dormant property with its towering red-and-white striped smoke stack.

"This is like a dystopian hellscape that is finally coming down," he told the group of fellow state and local officials, including Gov. Ned Lamont, one of the biggest cheerleaders of turning the South End-based plant into something more attractive.

"This (coal plant) is not the last, best use for this land here in the 21st century," the governor said during his remarks. His administration a year ago committed to spending $22.5 million to tear the facility down.

Bridgeport Station Development is a limited liability corporation founded, according to state records, in May and based in Baldwinsville, New York. Partners have most recently been involved with transforming another ex-coal-fired plant along Great Egg Harbor Bay, New Jersey.

 One of its key members, Chad Parks, also spoke Tuesday. He said the business entity recently purchased the plant from prior owner PSEG for $1 and the demolition is actually beginning this week, although initially the work would be confined to the interior. 

But Parks promised that in the coming months "you will indeed start to see a skyline changing." 

The goal is for the buildings to be down and the site remediated of environmental contaminants in three years. During that time currently vague plans for housing, restaurants and waterfront access will be fine tuned, with input from area residents and businesses, Parks said.

"We understand what this property means to the community and neighborhood," he said. "We're dedicated to hearing all voices as our plan takes shape."

He also noted the work the local regional planning organization — the Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments — has been doing over the last few months with a consultant to study potential new uses for the property. That final report is expected to be completed by the end of December. 

The land also lies in a flood plain and will, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, need to be raised before anything new is constructed there to avoid future flooding during severe storms. 

Parks said Bridgeport Station Development is responsible for the underground clean up costs, the extent of which are still being determined, thus the $1 purchase price. Meanwhile the state last fall committed $22.5 million toward razing the plant through the new Connecticut Community Investment Fund. That pot of money is administered by a board consisting of state legislators and various department heads.

A few of Bridgeport's other requests for CIF dollars have been rebuffed in recent years, but Lamont noted his administration had no qualms about investing in taking the plant down.

"You had us at 'Hello,'" he joked.

Mayor Joe Ganim praised the collaborative work over the past few months between the city, the state and PSEG to get to this stage.

"This has really been everybody coming together, making this a great day," he said. Ganim boasted that he believes the project is "one of the most transformative waterrfront development projects" on the Atlantic coast. 

But, he said, for a while getting the project moving had felt "like push-starting a car."

The plant was decommissioned in 2021 under an agreement initially forged under Ganim's predecessor, Mayor Bill Finch, who was not in attendance Tuesday, and continued when Ganim took office in late 2015. In exchange PSEG built a new natural gas-fired facility next door that came online in 2019 and was sold in 2023.

Months ago PSEG had suggested it might want to hold onto the former coal plant site and repurpose it for renewable energy projects.

And at one time Christoph had expressed interest in redeveloping the land.

"I have plenty going on," he said Tuesday. "It's good to have multiple developers doing multiple things."

Bridgeport does have a history of large projects that either never move ahead or are built far more slowly than initially intended, Steelpointe among the latter.

Parks in a brief interview after the event said that while there are still some unknowns about the underground contamination, he is optimistic construction can begin three years from now.

"If the stars align, when we're done with demolition we'll come out of the ground," he said.


New life promised for an old coal-fired plant in Bridgeport

Mark Pazniokas

For one dollar, a development group with a brownfields specialty has purchased the ultimate fixer-upper — a 33-acre parcel on the Bridgeport waterfront that comes with responsibility to demolish a power plant and its iconic red-and-white smoke stack, remediate the site and redevelop it.

Bridgeport Station Development LLC was introduced Tuesday by the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont as the new owner of Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3, which was the last of Connecticut’s coal-fired generators of electricity when PSEG closed it in 2021.

“Work will begin this week, and while a lot of the activity will be on the interior to start and so not always visible, you will indeed start to see a skyline changing over the coming months with ongoing demolition,” said Chad Parks, one of the partners in the development group.

The Community Investment Fund, a competitive grant program overseen by lawmakers and the Department of Economic and Community Development, already has committed $22.5 million for the demolition of the plant, essentially making the state a broker in the deal.

“The state grant award brought PSEG to the table and helped to catalyze conversations about what the future of this site could be, and we’re here today to announce the sale of this site by PSEG and the transfer of ownership to Bridgeport Station Development,” said Matt Pugliese, deputy commissioner of DECD.

“I can say definitively that without the Community Investment Funding from the state, this property would have sat, possibly, dormant for many years instead of us all being here today,” Parks said.

While the grant offsets the costs of demolition, the $1 purchase price indicates that PSEG is selling the liability for any required environmental remediation along with the potential for waterfront development.

Parks and his partners are players in the ultimate niche real estate business: Taking a chance on brownfields, most recently another coal-fired power plant in Cape May, N.J. The old power plants, which required water for cooling and the delivery of coal, come with huge potential and significant risk.

“It’s a liability transfer business,” Parks said.

The state’s financial commitment is limited to the demolition grant. Bridgeport Station Development is responsible for any other costs, as well as redeveloping the land under conditions outlined by the state.

Industrial reuse is off limits. The state wants to see mixed use, preferably with a substantial housing component, all of which would be subject to local approvals and the engagement of a South End neighborhood eager to emerge from the long shadow of its industrial past.

“This is not going to be something where folks prescribe what’s going to happen in your neighborhood,” said Rep. Antonio Fellipe, D-Bridgeport. “There’s going to be collaboration. Folks are going to talk to the community, and we’re going to put something here that makes it a better place to live and make sure that you can have something that you want in your south end.”

Other officials and the developer made the same promise.

Asthma rates in the area historically have been among the highest in the U.S., as is the case with neighborhoods in Hartford and New Haven, a combination of industrial pollutants and heavy motor vehicle traffic. Those two cities also have defunct power plants awaiting remediation and redevelopment.

Felipe, who grew up in the South End and now represents it in the legislature, described the neighborhood as literally on the other side of the tracks.

“We can talk a lot about the air quality and the asthma that some of our family members may have had stemming from the coal plant, but also just the amount of TLC that was lacking in the area,” he said. “When you passed Park Avenue in the underpass, when you passed the train tracks, it felt different.”

DECD Commissioner Dan O’Keefe described the vibe of the abandoned coal plant as a “dystopian hellscape.”

The area will retain a newer natural-gas fired power plant also owned and operated by PSEG. It opened in 2018, clearing the way for the closure of the dirtier coal-fired plant that had been used intermittently in its last years, providing 400 megawatts of power at times of peak demand.

It was needed for just two days in 2020 and none in 2019, but the station ran for the first two months of 2021 during a prolonged period of extreme cold.

PSEG was the last of its owners and operators. United Illuminating opened the plant in 1957 to provide power needed by industry in southwestern Connecticut. It was designed to burn oil or coal, but was converted to coal-only in 2002.

Lamont, who has described himself as bullish on the potential of the Bridgeport waterfront, and a one-time political rival, Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, joined in the announcement of a sale that is a first and key step in turning the site into a mixed-use project that will restore public access to the waterfront.

“You don’t allow me to invest anymore,” said Lamont, a businessman married to a venture capitalist. “But if I could, I’d be investing in Bridgeport, because I just see an amazing future here.”

The demolition will take three years and include the implosion of the smoke stack and three boilers. Parks said, “It’ll be a visible celebration of new beginnings.”


Half of IIJA funds unspent with Trump set to take office

Julie Strupp

Three years into the five-year federal law, $568 billion, or 47%, of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds have been announced, per a White House fact sheet released Nov. 15. 

More than 66,000 construction projects are advancing via President Joe Biden’s signature piece of legislation.

Announced funds are up about 25% from $454 billion for 56,000 projects disbursed as of May — the law’s halfway mark — and up 42% from the year-ago period. The law, however, faces an uncertain future as the Trump administration prepares to take office.

Dive Insight:

Biden officials are rushing to get infrastructure funds out the door ahead of the incoming Trump administration, AP News reported. On Nov. 15, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced over $3.4 billion in IIJA grants to expand passenger rail, make roads safer, improve ports and otherwise strengthen supply chains, according to a U.S. DOT news release.

“We’re in the middle of an infrastructure decade unlike anything this country has seen since the time of Eisenhower and the Interstate Highway System,” Buttigieg said in the release.

Although 19 Republicans voted for the IIJA, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to scale back the government and dismantle parts of Biden’s bills. Experts say that federal support for public transportation, Amtrak, high-speed rail and electric vehicles may be at risk.

Nonetheless, cutting IIJA funding may pose a political challenge, since Republican-leaning states and districts have benefited from it, per the Global Infrastructure Investment Association. 

Still, Trump could put his own stamp on it by “reallocating funds within existing frameworks, streamlining regulations to speed up project approvals, emphasizing public-private partnerships (P3s), focusing on energy infrastructure such as pipelines and refineries, and potentially directing funds towards border infrastructure,” per the GIIA.

Many members of the construction industry expect that infrastructure funding is here to stay. New PCL Construction CEO Chris Gower told Construction Dive, “Generally, I don’t think there will be a major pullback in infrastructure spend.”

Where IIJA funds have gone thus far

The $1.2 trillion IIJA’s size and complexity pose challenges to implementation, according to Brookings research.

Announced funding, captured from agency press releases, is preliminary and non-binding, whereas awarded funding represents actual obligations, according to the White House. The funding flows through more than 400 programs and is channeled by a variety of federal, state and local entities. The amount of awarded funding to date, however, is unclear.

The largest portion of IIJA money is designated for road and bridge construction, according to White House data analyzed by CNBC, followed by rail, broadband, power and water projects. Biden has also focused on replacing lead pipes nationwide in the next decade.

Per the White House, the IIJA has created 940,000 construction jobs and funded:

11,400 bridge projects.

Improvements on over 196,000 miles of roads.

6,000 cyber security and climate resilience efforts.

2,400 drinking water and wastewater projects.

580 port and waterway projects.

400 airport projects.

The Biden administration also touted its three-part approach to speed up federal permitting:

Invested $1 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews. 

Passed reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act and finalized the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the environmental review process. 

Used executive authorities to improve permitting and environmental review processes. 

The administration said it has also expanded the use of categorical exclusions, the fastest form of environmental review.


Amtrak Secures $112M in Federal Funds to Upgrade 13 Projects in Northeast Corridor

Amtrak Media

As part of what Amtrak calls its "New Era of Rail," the rail service announced Nov. 18 that it is continuing to fund projects designed to modernize the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and unlock major bottlenecks on the busiest passenger railroad in the United States.

Amtrak's NEC is one of the busiest and economically vital transportation systems in the world, with more than 2,000 daily trains operating over some portions of the Washington-Boston route each day and providing vital connections for 7 million jobs within a 5-mi. radius of an NEC station.

The $112 million in competitive grants will support 13 Amtrak-led projects through the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program (FSP-NEC).

The initiative was created and funded by Congress to address decades of under-investment and help replace aging infrastructure assets, reduce travel times, improve reliability and deliver a modern customer experience for the hundreds of millions of riders who travel along the corridor each year.

"Thanks to this new round of competitive grants, Amtrak will continue to deliver a new era of passenger rail and advance vital infrastructure projects that drive economic growth, create jobs and transform this critical corridor that benefits millions of Americans," said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner.

Funds to Be Spread to Projects Across Several States

Amtrak-led projects may now advance further into planning, development or construction thanks to the new funding. They include expanding and modernizing major stations, replacing aging bridges and renewing rail infrastructure and support systems.

Among the project development activities that Amtrak has planned are:

Expanding the capacity of New York Penn Station to double passenger train service between New York and New Jersey from 24 to 48 trains per hour — or more during peak hours — and transforming the busiest train station in the Western Hemisphere into a modern, world-class facility.

Expanding and modernizing the 115-year-old Washington Union Station, Amtrak's second busiest station, in partnership with project sponsor Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC).

Finalizing the design and beginning construction to address near-term needs at Washington Union Station, including the relocation of an existing power substation, adding new digital technology functions and a replacement of existing Amtrak Police Department and employee facilities.

Final design and construction work for the Baltimore Penn Station Redevelopment Project at Amtrak's sixth busiest station.

Old NEC rail bridges also are due to be replaced, according to Amtrak, including:

The 115-year-old Sawtooth Bridges, a series of four spans in Kearny, N.J., where supplemental final design and pre-construction support services are set to get underway. The four structures currently carry more than 400 Amtrak and NJ Transit trains per day over tracks also used by PATH passenger trains and Conrail's freight service. When complete, the new four-track NEC structure will double track capacity in one of the most congested and complex locations on the corridor where these different services all come together.

The 120-year-old Connecticut River Bridge in Windsor Locks, Conn., on the Amtrak-owned New Haven-Hartford-Springfield corridor. There, a planning-level study for the structure's eventual replacement is scheduled. The effort is a separate project from the new Connecticut River Bridge now under construction in Old Lyme/Old Saybrook, Conn.

Additionally, a number of renewal projects are planned to upgrade NEC rail infrastructure and support systems. Among them are:

The final design and construction of Zoo to Paoli Electric Upgrades along an 18-mi. segment of the Amtrak-owned Keystone Corridor between Paoli and Philadelphia, Pa.

Construction of a new Substation 41 on an elevated platform to improve the reliability of Amtrak and commuter services along a heavily tracked segment in Kearny, N.J.

The project development and final design for signal system upgrades along 26 mi. between New Brunswick and Elizabeth, N.J. that will enable more frequent train service and higher speeds.

Development and final design for signal system upgrades that will benefit Amtrak and MARC trains between South Bowie, Md., and Washington Union Station.

Final design and construction for replacement of approximately 100 mi. of catenary wire that will improve Amtrak and MARC service reliability between Baltimore and New Carrollton, Md.

Project development and final design activities for catenary system upgrades along 23 mi. in Northern New Jersey between County and Newark interlockings. Once completed, this work will replace existing catenary structures that are nearly 90 years old, improving reliability for Amtrak and NJ Transit customers.

Development and final designs for the addition of a new interlocking in Exton, Pa., filling in a gap of universal interlockings along a 15-mi. stretch of the Amtrak-owned Keystone Line. Additionally, the project will introduce modern controls, signaling, and safety systems.

Several of Amtrak's key partners also received funding to advance mutually beneficial projects, including the Connecticut Department of Transportation's (CTDOT) work along the NEC to make track improvements and mobility enhancements, advance its Hartford Line Rail Program Double Track Project and separate Hartford Station relocation effort, and the state's planning study to replace the Cos Cob Bridge in Greenwich.

In addition, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will use the FRA grants to reconstruct New York Penn Station, and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) will work to implement its regional rail master plan throughout the greater Philadelphia region.

Over the past year, Amtrak has advanced several projects funded by the FSP-NEC Program, including breaking ground and beginning construction on a new Connecticut River Bridge, kicking off the Susquehanna River Bridge project in Pennsylvania and beginning demolition and early pre-construction activities for Baltimore's Frederick Douglass Tunnel program.


Torrington to demolish Hotchkiss Brothers Co. building

TORRINGTON – City officials invite residents to a farewell ceremony and demolition of six of the seven buildings that once housed the former Hotchkiss Brothers Co. facility at 199 Water St. and 229 Church St. today at 11 a.m.

Parking will be at 190 Water St., the old Register Citizen building.

Redevelopment plans for this 3.2-acre site envision a vibrant mixed-use residential project with 155 apartments, 14,000 square feet of commercial space and an extension of the Naugatuck River Greenway along the western portion of the property. This transformation is made possible by a $1.5 million Brownfield Remediation Grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

The ceremony will feature remarks from key figures, a symbolic groundbreaking, and moments of reflection and remembrance.