EB seeking approval for first conversion projects at former Crystal Mall
Jack Lakowsky
Waterford — Electric Boat, the new owner of the former
Crystal Mall property, is awaiting state traffic approval tied to its
renovation project and is seeking town approval to approve conversions of old
anchor stores into training centers.
EB wants to renovate the former Bed Bath & Beyond and
Sears stores, according to Planning Director Mark Wujtewicz, who said he meets
with EB officials weekly. The submarine maker has also applied for a building
permit from the town.
Wujtewicz said last week the company seeks approval for
"selective demolition" and conversions of the two former retailers.
The Sears space would be made into permanent workforce training facility, while
the shell of the Bed Bath & Beyond will be made into a temporary workforce
training center.
"It would just be limited to this work," Wujtewicz
said.
Wujtewicz said the company's conversion of the former mall,
which officially closed
its doors at the end of March after 40 years in business, is proceeding on
schedule. He added that EB's purchase means the town has to rework its own
long-term development plans and must abandon its vision of a mixed-use,
business and residential operation.
EB purchased
the mall property last year after pressure from the U.S. Navy to deliver
submarines.
Moving some workers to Waterford would free up space in the
Groton shipyard, which can’t expand because it has the Thames River on one side
and neighborhoods on the other.
The Groton shipyard could then focus more on building
submarines.
The company plans to begin renovating the mall as offices
for its engineering, training and software development departments. It invested
a total of $42.4 million to acquire the mall property.
Opened in 1984, the mall was once a busy regional
destination where people could shop, eat and meet friends. Employees had to
park at the Waterford Speedbowl during the Christmas season because every space
had to be reserved for customers. In 2010, 140 stores occupied the
once-bustling mall.
When the full transformation is complete, EB will occupy
542,000 square feet of space along Route 85.
In addition to the professional and business offices
proposed, EB will use the building to house 50 classrooms for training and
workforce development. Beginning in 2027, the company expects to employ up to
5,000 people on the 83-acre property, about 55 acres of which are developed.
The company plans to make changes to the Route 85 on- and
off-ramps from I-95 to handle the increased traffic. EB Director of
Communications and Public Affairs Myra Lee said she was not aware Monday
whether the state had made a decision yet on a traffic permit for the project.
EB, which employs more than 24,000 workers in Groton, New
London and North Kingstown, R.I.
NextEra-Dominion deal would put CT’s Millstone nuclear plant under new ownership
Connecticut’s largest power plant would change hands under a
merger announced Monday, in which Florida-based NextEra Energy would acquire
Dominion Energy, the owner of the Millstone Power Station in Waterford.
Millstone is the only operating nuclear plant in
Connecticut, and its two reactors supply roughly half the state’s electricity
and more than 90% of its carbon-free power, according to Dominion.
The deal, an all-stock transaction valued at about $66.8
billion according to Reuters, would transfer control of Millstone to NextEra.
NextEra, through a subsidiary, is the majority owner and operator of the Seabrook Station nuclear plant in New Hampshire, which sells its power into the regional grid operated by ISO New England, the same market Connecticut draws electricity from.
If the merger closes, the combined company would own both
Millstone and Seabrook — meaning a single company would control all of the
nuclear power generated inside Connecticut, along with a significant share of
the regional nuclear supply that reaches Connecticut homes and businesses.
Seabrook is the second-largest nuclear plant in New England,
behind Millstone.
Neither company’s announcement of the deal — nor its filing
with the Securities and Exchange Commission — mentions Millstone, Seabrook,
Connecticut or New England.
The companies framed the merger almost entirely around
growth in the South and soaring electricity demand from data centers,
particularly in Virginia, where Dominion runs a grid serving the world’s
largest concentration of data centers.
The merged company would serve about 10 million customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Connecticut is absent from that count because the combined
company would not own a regulated utility serving Connecticut customers.
Millstone sells its power into the regional market rather than serving a
captive customer base.
The companies have proposed $2.25 billion in customer bill
credits for ratepayers in Virginia and the Carolinas, where Dominion runs the
local utilities.
The transaction requires approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to transfer federal operating licenses to a new owner, along with clearances from federal antitrust regulators, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and utility commissions in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Since Millstone is not regulated by Connecticut’s Public
Utilities Regulatory Authority, a sale of the plant’s corporate parent doesn’t
require a PURA proceeding.
The companies expect to close in 12 to 18 months, though the
agreement allows the timeline to stretch toward 2028 if regulatory approvals
lag.
Connecticut buys a large share of Millstone’s output under
long-term contracts that expire in 2029, and the state is in the middle of a
procurement to line
up new clean-energy supply for the years that follow.
Dominion submitted proposals to keep selling Millstone’s
power to Connecticut into the next decade, and state energy officials expect to
name winning bids later this year — potentially while the acquisition is
underway.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
said it will assess what, if any, implications the merger could have for
ongoing proceedings.
The state Office of Consumer Counsel, which represents
ratepayers, said the deal so far looks like a change in ownership that may not
significantly alter how Millstone runs or what it costs.
“Based on the limited details currently available to the
public, the proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy by NextEra Energy appears
primarily to be a change in ownership, and as such the core operations and
associated costs of Millstone Power Station may not materially change, but are
subject to the details of the transaction,” the office said.
The office said it would keep watching as more becomes
known.
“OCC will continue monitoring as additional information
about the transaction becomes available, particularly as it relates to future
contracts, financing structures and costs ultimately borne by ratepayers,” it
said.
$150M plan seeks to redevelop aging CT cineplex into 300+ apartments, entertainment venue
Four months ago, the end credits rolled for the
last movie shown at the Apple Xtreme Cinema, the lights were turned off and
the cineplex boarded up.
But now, there are once again scenes of coming attractions.
A massive redevelopment planned for the 13-acre multiplex on
New Park Avenue in Hartford — a project that could reach an estimated price tag
of $150 million — could include more than 300 mixed-income apartments, with
rents ranging from affordable — targeted at low-to-moderate income households —
to market-rate, officials familiar with the plans said.
The apartments would be built on what are now parking lots
to the north and south of the theater, bookending a renovated cineplex that
could retain a couple of movie screens alongside a new restaurant and bar —
perhaps offering wood-fired pizza — and a game arcade. In the rear of the
cineplex structure— opened
in 2000 and also operated under such brands as Crown and Bow Tie
— space would be converted to self-storage.
The project also would put to a new use a cineplex built for
another era when multiple screens responded to the demand by the movie-going
public. The movie industry was battered by the pandemic and increasing
competition from the small screen.
Construction on “Edge 400” — its name drawn from the
cineplex’s location near the town line with West Hartford in the city’s
Parkville neighborhood — could begin by early 2027, bringing new attention to a
less considered gateway to the city.
Construction would be divided into three parts, and it is
likely to start on the southern parking lot where the focus is affordable and
workforce housing — a slice of housing that the state has sought to
encourage as Connecticut grapples with a housing affordability crisis.
“The intent here is to serve the workforce who can’t afford
the high rents that exist in the city and the surrounding area,” said Marc
Daigle, a principal in Massachusetts-based Emerald Development Group, a partner
in the planned residential rentals both to the north and south of the cineplex.
“We envision these for folks who work in the city, folks who work in some of
the small businesses or hospitals where people just can’t find housing.”
Daigle said he has had discussions with local hospitals, and
they have been supportive of efforts to develop housing with rents that are
more within reach of their employees.
Eventually, there would be a mix of about 180 one- and
two-bedroom units in three, four-story, structures on the southern parking lot,
but initially building would focus on two.
If financing were to fall into place, the redevelopment at
the 330 New Park Ave. property would move past previous failed efforts — dating
back to 2020 — that also included housing and, at one point, a further
downsizing of the theater in
favor of a venue with arcade games, ax throwing, entertainment and a
bar.
On the opposite side of the cineplex, two, similarly-styled
buildings would encompass about 120 market-rate apartments on what is now the
northern parking lot. It is possible that development on the three parts could
overlap, each taking 18-24 months to complete.
‘Concrete jungle’
The cineplex redevelopment also could boost efforts to
further encourage transit-oriented development along CTfastrak,
the rapid bus service running between New Britain and downtown Hartford. The
bus line runs behind the cineplex property.
According to Google maps, the distance from the planned
apartments at the cineplex to the nearest busway station at Flatbush Avenue is
an 11-minute walk or four minutes on a bicycle.
Jeffrey P. Cohen, a professor of finance and Kinnard
Real Estate Scholar at the University
of Connecticut in Storrs, said development now planned for the movie
theater property fits squarely with the goals of transit-oriented development.
“Ideally, you want to have residential development so people
can walk to transit services, rather than owning cars and use transit to
commute,” said Cohen, who has led studies at UConn on transit-oriented
development for the state transportation department. “Also having places to
shop, eat and have entertainment within walking distance is another part of
transit-oriented development, creating a walkable community.”
The plans call for the apartment buildings to be constructed
much closer to New Park Avenue, in contrast to the cineplex, which is set back
from the street.
“So, New Park does not appear as a TOD-type corridor, right
now,” Jack Benjamin, Hartford’s director of economic development, said. “This
is a concrete jungle, and it’s a sea of pavement. There’s an interest by the
developers to bring a bit more greenery and make the actual sidewalk walking
experience a little more attractive.”
Westchester County, N.Y.-based Diamond Properties has owned the entire
cineplex property since a couple of years before the pandemic hit in 2020.
““Diamond Properties is excited to be continuing work to
advance plans for a mixed-use redevelopment that prioritizes affordable
workforce housing, alongside market-rate apartments and a community
entertainment destination,” Diamond said, in a statement. “This is one of
Hartford’s most visible gateway sites and it creates a historic opportunity for
an exciting new ‘live, work, play’ community that will provide new housing
opportunities for residents of Hartford and the region into the future.”
New development catalyst?
Emerald Development, a development consultant, is partnering
with Tampa, FL-based Southport Financial
Services, which would develop the affordable housing. Southport, according
to its web site, has developed more than 100 affordable and workforce
properties nationally since its founding in 1995.
Crucial to the financing of the affordable rentals would be
low-income housing tax credits that the developers are seeking through the
state. A decision on their application could come as early as this week.
Emerald also is in the midst of lining up financing for the
market-rate units and another development partner. Daigle said there have been
discussions with another group, but he declined to identify them.
Daigle knows the property well having been a partner in
Waltham, Mass-based Dakota Partners. Dakota tried unsuccessfully to pursue both
market-rate and affordable housing, with a coalition of investors never coming
together. Two years ago, Dakota, which completed two office to apartment
conversions a decade ago, walked away from the cineplex project.
Daigle said he kept in touch with the family-owned Diamond
Properties and, now, under Emerald, a development company he founded, he is
moving forward with the housing portions of the redevelopment.
If successful, the redeveloped movie theater could provide a
further catalyst to more closely integrating Hartford’s Parkville with the
adjoining West Hartford neighborhood. Just behind the cineplex and beyond the
route of the busway, are 34 acres once occupied by a scrap metal yard acquired
by the city in a foreclosure in 2021.
The former junkyard is seen as ripe for future
redevelopment, but an environmental clean-up is clearly a costly hurdle to be
cleared.
Even so, the 34 acres could form a connection back to the
heart of Parkville and Bartholomew Street. Bartholomew Street — in recent years
considered the spine of an arts and innovation district — leads to the
successful Parkville Market and Real Art Ways, the contemporary arts center now
in the midst of a $24
million expansion.
Benjamin, Hartford’s economic development director, said the
busway does present a barrier between the cineplex property and the heart of
Parkville. But the challenge isn’t insurmountable, Benjamin said.
“I don’t think that’s out of the question,” Benjamin said.
“You just have to find a way to get across the fastrak busway. There’s
conversation you’d have to have with the state.”
Greenwich approves $41 million Dorothy Hamill rink despite push to cut funding
GREENWICH — Members of the Greenwich Representative Town
Meeting overwhelmingly voted last week to approve a $542 million budget that
includes $41.2 million for a new Dorothy
Hamill ice skating rink, despite an attempt to eliminate most funding
for the new rink.
The $542 million overall budget is roughly an increase of
$21 million, or 4.1%, from the previous budget and includes a 3.6% increase in
the town’s operating budget. It was approved 170-13, with one abstention.
The 4.1% overall increase aims to address budget
deficiencies in previous years, Board of Estimate and Taxation Chairman David
Weisbrod said.
Members of the RTM also approved a $92 million capital
budget, including $41.2 million for a new Hamill ice skating rink, despite an
attempt by some members to cut nearly all the rink funding.
RTM members from Districts 9 and 10 attempted to cut $38.5
million from the rink project — leaving only $2.7 million for final planning
and architectural designs — but the proposal failed by a margin of roughly 90
votes.
Those in favor of the cut argued the approval of both design
and construction costs at the same time limits the oversight of the RTM as the
project advances and costs potentially increase.
Those against cutting the rink funding, however, said it has
been thoroughly vetted, will provide a safe and modern space for residents and
visitors, and was the result of a transparent process.
Considering construction costs continue to climb, supporters
of the rink also argued waiting would increase costs in the long term.
First Selectman Fred Camillo said the debate regarding the
rink has been ongoing for more than 50 years and the condition of the current
rink is “kind of an embarrassment to the town.”
“It’s about time to get it done,” he said. “It’s been
thoroughly vetted.”
Weisbrod noted the members of his board unanimously
approved the budget, adding he’s “particularly proud” of the multi-year capital
projects plan.
A proposal to cut $2.4 million from the total $4 million for
a new pool at Greenwich High School also failed.
RTM members did, however, vote to cut $100,000 in
design funding for the redevelopment of Roger Sherman Baldwin Park, leaving
$150,000 to allow the Department of Public Works to analyze relocating a Parks
and Recreation Department building on the site.
The $207 million Board of Education budget, an increase of
3.1% from the previous budget, is driven largely by contractual wage increases
that represent 76% of the total education budget.
Pupil transportation is also expected to significantly
increase by 18%, or $2.3 million, from the current fiscal year.
The schools administration was able to find some savings to
offset cost increases, including cutting $1.3 million by eliminating 11.5
full-time equivalent positions as enrollment trends show a decline.
No layoffs are expected, however, as the positions will be
eliminated by natural attrition, such as retirement.
Overall, “it was a very productive year with the
budget,” Camillo said. “I think we came to a good conclusion.”
Members of the RTM also overwhelmingly voted to approve
a $70 million bonding package.