How Amazon's new warehouse in Occum would alter the area's wetlands
Matt Grahn
About three acres of wetlands would be permanently affected
by Amazon’s proposed 1 million-square-foot shipping facility in Norwich, with
plans calling for roughly 9 acres of new wetlands to be created nearby to
offset the impact.
Those plans are at the center of three applications now
before Norwich’s Inland Wetlands, Watercourses & Conservation Commission.
One application covers the Amazon facility at properties formerly known as 432
Canterbury Turnpike and 189 Lawler Lane, while the other two involve properties
at 370 and 374 Canterbury Turnpike where the replacement wetlands would be
created.
The commission held a public hearing on the applications as
Amazon works through the approvals needed to build its proposed first-mile
shipping facility at Occum Industrial Park. The facility would encompass about
1 million square feet and become the industrial park’s largest occupant.
The public hearing was continued to Nov. 5.
What is the developer’s plan?
The building, which will be 1.066 million square feet, will
include 58 docks, 405 trailer parking spaces, and 729 employee parking spaces,
which includes 8 motorcycle spaces. The facility will have 500 employees, and
the facility will work 24/7 over two or three shifts, Landtech Wetland
Scientist Brian Carey said.
There will be a cantilever bridge over the wetlands, and
culverts that maintain channel continuity, aquatic passage and hydraulic
passage, Carey said.
Runoff will be captured and treated, and there will be
sediment separators. Storm water can be stored in basins and gradually
released. There will be routine inspections of the water quality protecting
measures, Timothy Onderko of Langan CT said.
The Amazon property has been assessed for endangered
species, and none were found. Alternative plans were considered, but they all
had a greater impact on wetlands. Other wetlands related reviews will be
needed, including from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Carey said.
On 370 and 374 Canterbury Turnpike, land will be dug out
gradually to create slope to create the new wetland. It will be planted with
native trees, shrubs and other vegetation.
Even though Norwich recently gave land to Avalonia from the
industrial park, it's possible more land will be given to the land trust
organization, NCDC President Kevin Brown said.
Public comments
Before the meeting, brothers Frederick Browning and Sam
Browning IV commissioned a report, written by engineer Steven Trinkaus,
pointing out issues with the project. Some of Trinkaus’ issues include how
effective the pollutant control measures would be, the increase of runoff
during storms, no plans for snow, and the fact the new wetlands would be on the
opposite side of the Amazon site.
Nathan Weiss, one of the owners of the Sunny Waters Mobile
Home Park, was concerned about the high water table, as the residents of the
park have a total of 121 septic tanks, and also about how visible the Amazon
facility will be, and if there would be vibrations from truck traffic.
The public input will be considered, and questions will be
answered as a part of the Nov. 5 continued hearing, Carey said.
Fairfield starts $8.2 million flood projects after years of Rooster River flooding
FAIRFIELD — After years of flooding
in the area of the Rooster River, Fairfield
has started construction on the first of two detention basins and is beginning
plans for the second, officials announced.
Stamford-based Grasso Construction began work on the
detention basin site at Fairchild Wheeler Golf Course on Sept. 28 as the first
of two phases of $8.2 million in flood
mitigation projects in the Rooster River corridor, according to First
Selectperson Christine Vitale’s office.
The first basin is being built in coordination with and
financial support from the city of Bridgeport, which owns the golf course.
Additional funding comes from Fairfield bonding and
state grants.
Surveyors are also beginning construction staking at the
second basin location at Tunxis Hill Park.
Officials expect both basins to be substantially complete
with some functioning flood mitigation by the end of the year, with final
completion expected by the spring.
However, the projects are highly dependent on the weather,
which could affect construction, officials said.
Vitale is touting the two basins as a major step towards a
comprehensive flood mitigation strategy throughout the Rooster River watershed.
“Mitigating flooding along the Rooster River has been a
priority for Fairfield,” she said. “After years of planning and permitting, it
is exciting to see that construction crews are in place and the work is
beginning.”
As the southern part of the state continues to see more
unpredictable weather and intense rain, officials must be proactive in
addressing flooding, Vitale said.
“I spent a lot of time in those neighborhoods that were most
severely impacted by the Sept. 13 storm,” she said. “I understand the
frustration and anxiety of our residents and hope that seeing that work is
beginning will provide some comfort that plans are now being put into action.”
A third phase in flood mitigation is to remove sediment from
the river, and preliminary testing and survey work for dredging has been
completed, according to Vitale’s office.
However, work will require the town to coordinate with the
state and private property owners along the river as easements are required.
Work on the third phase is expected to take place over the
next two years, local officials said.
MAJOR EXPANSION: City, school officials break ground on Smith Elementary reno
Claudia S Hilario
NEW BRITAIN — City and school officials broke ground on a
major renovation and expansion of Smith Elementary School. The project will
renovate the existing school and add a new 22-classroom center for pre-K
students.
Officials from the city, school district, state and federal
government gathered at the Rutherford Street campus to mark the start of
construction. The project is part of New Britain’s long-term effort to update
its public schools.
“This is an exciting day for Smith Elementary School and for
the future of early childhood education in New Britain,” Superintendent Dr.
Tony Gasper said. “We are honoring the history of a school that has served
generations of New Britain families while creating modern, welcoming and
inspiring learning spaces for the generations still to come.”
Plans call for modern classrooms and new technology inside
the school. The project will also include energy-efficient building systems,
better security and access controls, five new playground and recreation areas
and changes to traffic patterns for buses, families and students.
The new Pre-K Early Learning Center will have 22 classrooms
and its own main entrance. It will also include offices and a multipurpose
room, allowing the district to provide more early childhood education
opportunities.
“Investing responsibly in our schools is an investment in
the future of New Britain,” Mayor Bobby Sanchez said. “It’s exciting to see
years of work and planning now taking shape in modern, safe classrooms for our
students and educators and expanded access to early childhood education.”
New Britain currently qualifies for a 79.64% state
reimbursement rate for eligible school construction costs through Connecticut’s
School Construction Grant Program. The state funding will reduce the amount of
eligible construction costs that must be covered locally.
Newfield Construction is handling construction on the
project, while Kaestle Boos Associates designed it. This is the fifth New
Britain school project being completed by Newfield Construction.
During construction, Smith Elementary students and staff are
temporarily attending classes at the former Pope John Paul II School building.
The temporary move allows construction to take place at the Smith campus.
The Smith Elementary project comes after the recently
completed renovation of Holmes Elementary School. It is the latest project in
the city and school district’s ongoing effort to renovate and modernize New
Britain’s public school buildings.
Electric Boat’s expansion fuels housing push in southeastern CT
Housing shortages are commonplace across Connecticut, but
Electric Boat’s expansion is putting particular pressure on the state’s
southeastern corner.
The submarine maker is on pace to meet its goal of hiring
8,000 new workers this year, while also expanding beyond its Groton waterfront
shipyard and New London engineering building into a new training and support
center at the former Crystal Mall in Waterford.
That influx of new workers is placing demands on the housing
stock in all three locations, and the pace of development has stepped up. But
efforts to accommodate that growth are raising questions about land use,
zoning, traffic and infrastructure.
Groton, which hosts Electric Boat’s historic waterfront
shipyard, has taken a data-driven approach to both spurring development and
addressing residents’ skepticism about the need for new housing.
The town carried out housing market analyses in 2021 and
2023, prompted by Electric Boat’s expansion and the influx of residents to
Connecticut’s waterfront communities during and just after the pandemic.
The first study found that within 10 years, the town needed
more than 4,500 new housing units just to meet basic demand. The second study
put the need at 6,500 units.
The town is now partnering with the Department of Defense on
a more comprehensive regional study focused on “missing middle” housing — such
as duplexes, townhouses and small apartment buildings.
The ongoing study indicates that southeastern Connecticut
may need as many as 18,000 new housing units by 2035.
Jonathan Reiner, Groton’s director of planning and
development services, said changing household sizes are adding to demand.
“If you just look at housing patterns, in 1950, there were
four people per household,” he said. “Now we’re much closer to two people per
household. We need 100% more housing units just to house the same number of
people.”
In 2019, Groton rewrote its zoning regulations to allow
multifamily housing in more areas, recognizing that larger developments were
needed to meet demand.
“That really does seem to be what developers are interested
in building right now as opposed to subdividing and then building single-family
or duplex houses,” said Deborah Jones, the town’s assistant director of
economic development.
The missing middle study is expected to recommend further
zoning changes to encourage smaller multifamily developments, including
buildings with three or four attached homes.
Most development applications involve undeveloped land,
although officials want to encourage the reuse of old school buildings and
former strip malls along Route 1.
“It’s an enterprise zone,” Reiner said. “We’ve adopted a
mixed-use center type of zoning. It’s a tax increment financing district. But
we haven’t seen that redevelopment on a large scale to what we’re looking for,
for kind of that walkable mixed-use center.”
Groton currently has around 1,400 to 1,500 housing units
either under construction or expected to break ground this fall.
About 23% of the town’s current housing stock is affordable,
but Reiner said many longtime residents are being displaced as a more affluent
workforce moves in. He sees additional missing middle housing as one way to
help address that problem.
Meanwhile, he said municipalities need to take an active
role in deciding how to accommodate growth.
“With communities,
there’s this kind of
push-pull against developers,” he said. “We can’t just wish the growth pressures away.
Developers are the people that
are building our community
for us.”
Investor confidence
In New London, commercial real estate firm RJ Development
& Advisors (RJDA) just started work on a second major waterfront apartment
complex.
The $95 million project, called The Mizzen, will bring 251
studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments to the Fort Trumbull neighborhood,
close to Electric Boat’s New London engineering building.
Plans call for a 250,000-square-foot building and 232
parking spaces. RJDA said the first apartments are expected to be available in
mid-2028.
The project is adjacent to The Beam, a 203-unit apartment
complex completed in late 2022 that marked RJDA’s first entry into the New
London market.
“When we came into the market in 2021, there really was no proof of concept that new Class A construction was viable at scale,” said Yves Joseph, RJDA’s CEO. “The Beam leased up to 90% in 90 days. We’ve been building all over the state and have never experienced an absorption that effective and that rapid.”
RJDA acquired the 6.28-acre site for The Mizzen — the last
remaining parcel on the once-disputed Fort Trumbull peninsula — in early 2023.
Joseph said the firm adjusted the mix of apartments in the
new building to include more two-bedroom units, addressing what it sees as a
gap in the market.
The firm said it plans two additional phases after The
Mizzen, including more apartments and retail space, and is working with the
city on rebranding the neighborhood as New London Landing.
Felix Reyes, New London’s director of economic development
and planning, said developer interest in the city has grown since about 2016.
“The biggest issue with southeastern Connecticut in regards to housing growth at that time was can you get the rents? Is the development able to pencil out?” he said.
The success of early projects, coupled with Electric Boat’s
growing backlog of contracts, gave investors confidence that the region could
support larger developments, Reyes said.
But meeting housing demand will require a regional effort,
particularly because New London has little available land.
Alongside new construction, the city is encouraging
developers to restore older, vacant buildings. Reyes said officials want to
avoid repeating past mistakes, including the clearing of the Fort Trumbull
neighborhood, which prompted a nationally prominent eminent domain case that
left land vacant for years.
“Let’s stop with these big-idea visions of urban planning
and focus on the infrastructure that we currently have,” Reyes said. “How do we
best utilize what we have? How do we do historic preservation the right way,
how do we do adaptive use?”
By working with developers on smaller projects tailored to
individual properties, he said, the city has helped reduce the number of vacant
downtown buildings from more than 30 to fewer than 10 in the last eight years.
Those projects often rely on a combination of city and state
assistance to make them financially viable, including tax breaks, enterprise
zone incentives, funding to clean up contaminated properties, and grants and
loans.
Reyes said the city has also tried to make zoning
requirements, including parking rules, more flexible to facilitate development.
Reyes, who is a New London native, worries about
gentrification driving out longtime residents. Around a quarter of the city’s
housing stock is currently affordable.
“The reality is that if we don’t build — the people are
coming,” he said. “So if you don’t build for them, they’re going to go into
your neighborhoods and then they’re going to outprice the people that currently
live there.”
Reyes said about 800 new housing units have been completed
in the city since 2018, with another 500 under construction. About 2,300 are
proposed or going through the planning process.
‘Getting inquiries’
Waterford, the suburban community that neighbors New London,
has experienced less pressure in recent years, but officials are preparing for
additional housing demand as the former Crystal Mall is converted into a
workplace for up to 5,000 Electric Boat employees.
Mark Wujtewicz, Waterford’s planning director, said he is
working with the regional council of governments to forecast housing demand and
develop a housing growth plan that meets new state requirements.
“We’re definitely looking at an increase. What those numbers
are, how they’re going to work out, right now I don’t know,” Wujtewicz said.
Interstate 95 and Route 1 run through the town, and
Wujtewicz said he hopes to steer development toward those corridors to limit
traffic impacts elsewhere. The Crystal Mall site is next to the interstate, and
the town is also considering additional access roads for the property.
One potential site for a major housing development is the
former Waterford Airport, a roughly 190-acre property that has remained largely
undeveloped for nearly four decades.
Following a former owner’s bankruptcy, a court-appointed
receiver in Arizona took possession of the property. Mathon Fund I Liquidating
Trust has pursued zoning changes to allow housing on the site. An early
development concept envisioned as many as 750 units, but the eventual size and
scope of a project remain unsettled.
As for other large-scale developments in Waterford,
Wujtewicz said nothing is firm yet.
“We’re getting inquiries,” he said. “But nothing formally
submitted yet — it’s more talk than anything else.”
Don Stacom
Nearly three decades after the U.S.
Army walked away from a massive riverfront property in Stratford,
planners this fall are working out the potential mix of apartments, condos,
retail space, public parks and trails for a proposed $1 billion redevelopment.
Propelled by an eager town government and the Lamont
administration’s hunger for new housing, the Point Stratford initiative has
advanced further this year than ever since the former Army Engine Plant shut
down in 1998.
A years-long, $74 million environmental cleanup of the
property’s 20-acre tidal flats was completed this summer, and heavy equipment
is now more than halfway through demolishing about 1.2 million square feet of
factory buildings that once churned out tank engines, military seaplanes and
helicopters.
But by far the biggest advance is in the design for the
future.
Ex-Deloitte CEO on Connecting College to the Corporate World
The development partnership that owns the 77-acre site was
making plans to put up a 1.1 million square-foot distribution center, similar
to the behemoths that surround Bradley International Airport.
But last winter, newly elected Mayor David Chess pitched a vastly more ambitious
idea: a mixed-use project emphasizing a mile and a half of new public
walkways along the Housatonic River, waterview residential buildings,
restaurants and possibly a hotel.
“This is what I campaigned on. Building a warehouse on
waterfront property would be a sin. What we can build is a beautiful seaside
town with a lot of retail,” Chess told The Courant. “We can have biking and
walking and all kinds of activities along the water, a park, a day dock, a
hotel, a sports complex. We have the same landscape architects working on this
who did the High Line in New York.”
In a recent
Facebook message to residents, Chess proclaimed that the long-awaited
redevelopment will be a major factor in shaping the town’s future.
“This project is truly a turning point for our community,
and together we are going to revitalize Stratford for generations to come and
enhance quality of life for everyone,” Chess wrote. “This is not just another
project. This is a transformational project: a development that will put
Stratford back on the map and make it a premier location.”
To advance the idea, Chess has to convince Point
Stratford Renewal, the investment partnership that bought the land for $1
from the federal government in 2024. The Army had chosen Point Stratford
Renewal as its preferred redeveloper 11 years earlier.
During last fall’s mayoral campaign, Chess took his case to
PSR’s partners: Ted Lane, a former senior executive at the Trammel Crow
international real estate development firm, and Jim Cabrera and his son, Peter
Cabrera, both principals at Greenwich-based Eagle Ventures.
“We told him ‘We’re politically agnostic, but if you get
elected give us a call and we’ll have lunch.’ And that’s what happened,” Jim
Cabrera said.
“We told him this would be a heavy lift: We already had all
our approvals for the warehouse, and the underlying zone for the property was
industrial. We were heading down that path. In 2024, there were 14 tenants
looking for more than 1 million square feet,” Cabrera said.
“But he was excited about housing on the waterfront. He said
he’d get us the planning dollars if we did residential. And with residential,
we’ve had a brownfields grant, DECD (Department of Economic and Community
Development) money. The governor came to hear for presentation for 15 minutes
and stayed for two and a half hours,” Cabrera said.
Chess, a physician and businessman before running for
office, told PSR that a waterfront center of parkland, recreation spaces,
housing, stores and restaurants would benefit Stratford as well as the state,
and stood to be more lucrative than a simple warehouse.
“We knew the planning costs would be significant, and I said
I’d help find a way to pay for that and get further dollars for remediation,”
Chess said. “A few weeks ago, we secured $2 million (from the state) to help
with planning. We have a tentative $5 million for brownfields.”
He credits his town council and Stratford’s state
legislative delegation for providing aid and is currently pursuing further
state remediation grants. He is adamant that the investment will pay off.
PSR projects that over a 20-year-long buildout, Point
Stratford will create more than 500 construction and related jobs, then
ultimately generate 750 full-time, part-time and seasonal jobs in the stores,
hotel, restaurants and residential buildings. It’s projecting $15 million in
annual tax revenue to Stratford once everything is built.
“The last administration was going to put a warehouse there.
Warehouses are empty calories, they don’t help us. That was a low-yielding
opportunity. And the taxes we would get from a warehouse would be microscopic
to what we’ll get from a development,” Chess said.
Consultants are preparing a master development plan to show
just what would be built. Currently the expectation is that about 20% of the
housing will be priced as “affordable,” but the size, architectural features
and heights of the potential residential buildings are still being determined.
“We’re calling this a coastal community and we don’t want it
to be a generic development that could be anywhere,” Jim Cabrera said. “There
are unbelievable views to the south and the east after the third story.”
He’s emphasizing flexibility after a lesson in fast-changing
market conditions during the Harbor Point project that he pioneered in Stamford
20 years ago.
Jim Cabrera, who grew up in Old Greenwich, led Stamford’s
redevelopment of its then-shabby South End, an multibillion-dollar initiative
that replaced abandoned and decaying industrial buildings with some of the most
modern and expensive high-rise apartment towers in Connecticut. But the 2008
financial collapse tanked his company, Antares Investment Partners, which had
to relinquish the project to Building and Land Technology before it was
completed.
So Point Stratford Renewal is staying flexible about the
exact mix of condos, rental townhouses and traditional apartments, as well as
the amount and style of retail space and commercial space.
“The master plan we deliver by December will have the
ability to do a lot of things,” he said.
A key to Harbor Point was adding walkways and paths to
expand public access to the waterfront, and both Jim Cabrera and Cross see that
concept as crucial to Point Stratford.
PSR’s consultants have held a series of community engagement
meetings this summer, talking with about 1,000 residents. A survey also drew
responses from about 1,000. The message that came through most clearly is that
Stratford people wanted to get access to their waterfront; they’d been fenced
out for decades, and the Stratford Greenway abruptly ends in the woods just
yards north of the Army Engine Plant property.
Chess envisions extending the bikeway and building a
boardwalk along the property’s entire waterfront. When the master development
plan is put forward in December, it may also include a small museum to mark the
property’s spot in aviation and military history.
The factory complex started in 1929 as the headquarters of
Sikorsky Aviation Corp., and 10 years later Igor Sikorsky took the first flight
of the VS-300 — the prototype of modern helicopters — from the property.
Vought-Sikorsky Corp. produced the first
Clippers that Pan Am used for its overseas routes, and built thousands of
Corsair fighter plans during World War II.
“We want to honor that history. Doing what the town wants is pretty important,” Jim Cabrera said. “We also want to put in something that’s financially sustainable. There’s going to be flexibility to do whatever the market wants: Townhouses, flats for sale or for rent, some age-restricted housing.”