Bond Commission Approves $74 Million For Flood Mitigation, Affordable Housing, Other Projects
HARTFORD, CT – Within a total of about $857 million in new
borrowing approved on Friday, the State Bond Commission voted to approve $74
million for its Community Investment Fund last week, including major
allocations for affordable housing and other issues.
The Community
Investment Fund 2030 – which is part of the larger bond allocations
for the fiscal year that totaled over $3.5 billion – is part of the state’s
effort to invest in towns around Connecticut through state-funded grants to be
spent on issues like fixing brownfields and building more affordable housing.
One of the biggest grants from the fund is $8,689,491 to be
put toward developing new affordable housing units in Hamden.
The money will finance 64 new affordable housing units, at
least 16 of which will need to be designated for homeless or disabled
individuals.
It marks the second time in as many years that Hamden has
received state funding for affordable housing, with the city getting $26
million in 2023.
Both the previous and new investments are for units to be
built in town along State Street.
Senate President Martin Looney, who represents parts of
Hamden and New Haven, said in a news release Friday that he was proud of the
grants being passed out to urban areas.
“Urban centers in Connecticut operate from a point of structural disadvantage, lacking a large taxable property base and without a regional or county system for provision of social services,” Looney said. “State investments from the CIF in our cities and other underserved communities in Connecticut recognize the difficulty they face and support so many worthy organizations and projects.”
Other allocations were approved during the commission’s
meeting Friday, including an allocation of $187,500 to be used to install pumps
at Jobs Pond in Portland to address an ongoing situation in which rising
groundwater has been flooding nearby neighborhoods.
The funding unlocks over $500,000 in federal money to help
combat the issue, with US Sen. Richard Blumenthal saying Thursday that he would
continue to work on the issue.
“I saw firsthand in April how this flooding impacts the
community and spoke with homeowners who have had to leave their homes and do
costly repairs when the water rises,” Blumemthal said in a statement. “This
state and federal funding is imperative to keeping Job’s Pond residents in
their homes safely.”
Gov. Ned Lamont, who chairs the State Bond Commission, said
in a statement Thursday that the pumps will be used to divert groundwater to
the Connecticut River.
The governor explained that the approval of these state
funds is expected to unlock $562,500 in federal matching funds from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to assist in
the effort.
“By releasing these state funds, we can unlock federal
matching dollars that will initiate action to pump waters from Jobs Pond into
the Connecticut River, which we are hopeful will mitigate the impact of this
flooding,” he said in a statement Thursday.
The fund was created in 2022, as a means for the state to
invest in marginalized and low-income communities, and in part due to an effort
from some in the legislature to place control of the Bond Commission within
that body, rather than under the governor’s authority.
This round of the program – its fourth – includes 27 grants
for 18 municipalities.
Shelton receives $1.6M state grant for Constitution Blvd. West extension
SHELTON — The state is again paving the way to further the
Constitution Boulevard West extension.
The State Bond Commission, at its meeting Friday, approved
$1.6 million to support what will be Phase Two of the road's extension.
The
Constitution Boulevard West extension will allow for development of
the nearly 70 acres known as the Mas property, which has long been
landlocked. The city has already agreed to sell portions to various companies,
including Bigelow Tea.
The city received $5
million from the state in 2022 to complete Phase One of the project,
which is already underway. That calls for the connection from Bridgeport Avenue
to the Mas property.
Phase Two is the roadway work through the Mas
property.
“This funding will continue to prepare Constitution
Boulevard to be a driver of economic growth, keeping resident taxes low and
building a strong revenue stream for further local improvements,” said state
Rep. Jason Perillo. “Looking ahead, these improvements will uphold Shelton’s
reputation as an attractive location for business development."
Perillo said the collaborative efforts of himself, along
with Mayor Mark Lauretti, state Sen. Kevin Kelly and fellow state Rep. Ben
McGorty helped lead this latest grant proposal through the Bond
Commission.
“Our Shelton delegation works closely with Mayor Lauretti to
speak with a unified voice on behalf of pressing needs,” said Kelly. “These
upgrades to Constitution Boulevard — a vital artery for Shelton — will improve
safety and help boost the local economy."
Construction of Phase One of the Constitution Boulevard West
extension was expected to begin again in earnest this spring but remains
delayed, according to Lauretti, as the city awaits permitting from the state
Department of Transportation.
Mike Kanios, the city’s public works director, has stated
the goal is to have Phase One done by the fall, but added that some Phase Two
work will likely be done during this time, too. Kanios has stated he expects
the entire project to be completed by spring of 2025.
While stating that costs can fluctuate, Kanios said he
believed the $5 million grant would more than cover phase one of the project.
While the city purchased the Mas property in 1996, it was
not until about three years ago that Lauretti presented a vision to the
Planning and Zoning Commission for developing the site into a manufacturing hub
for the region.
For more than a year, Lauretti said the city was able to
reach deals to sell off sections of the property. The buyer list is headed by
Bigelow Tea, which agreed to purchase 25 acres of the property for an estimated
$2.1 million for its future expansion.
The price for the land ranges from $85,000 to $125,000 per
acre to various groups for use in industrial and retail capacities.
The initial two phases of road development are also a step
toward connecting Shelton Avenue to Route 8, which is expected to relieve
traffic downtown and in Huntington Center.
“I am grateful for the state's recognition of Constitution
Boulevard in Shelton as a Connecticut destination and for their investment in
our region,” McGorty said. “With this funding, downtown Shelton will continue
to grow and support families, residents and guests to our city.”
New Britain’s 12-Year-Long Downtown Revitalization Project Nears Completion
Robert Storace
NEW BRITAIN — Twelve years after New Britain launched an
eight-phase program to beautify downtown, improve pedestrian and bike access
and encourage business growth, the Public Works Department will complete the
final part of the project this week.
The Complete Streets project, the bulk of which covers about
four miles of downtown, has attracted over $250 million in private investment
with tens of millions more expected, according to city officials. They also
noted that the city has invested over $60 million in the project and secured
more than $32 million in grant funding.
Public Works Director Mark Moriarty said a major goal of the
city was to “have a consistent look. The downtown really seemed kind of
mishmash with no cohesion to it. We tried to make it more cohesive and
attractive.”
That cohesiveness, he explained, meant using consistent
treatment when planting trees, and the types of benches, lighting, and brown
brick patterns used. Roads were also narrowed for easier pedestrian crossing
and safer bike traffic, he said.
A primary goal of the Complete Streets program was to
attract more development to the city, specifically downtown. It’s something
Michael Carrier, a lifelong city resident and real estate attorney, said he’s
witnessed firsthand.
Carrier, who has represented at least six developers with
projects in the city in recent years, said the difference is like night and
day.
“The actual [Complete Streets] project has made the entire
downtown area not just connected, but more pedestrian-friendly,” Carrier told
CT Examiner on Monday. “Decades ago, the downtown was stagnate; we weren’t
encouraging development. But since [CT]fastrak and Complete Streets, there have
been a lot of opportunities for development.”
CTfastrak, a regional bus rapid transit system, runs on 9.4
miles of dedicated busway from downtown New Britain to Newington Junction, and
alongside the New Haven-Springfield rail line from Newington Junction to
downtown Hartford.
Carrier said the development spurt started around 2010 and
has been fast-paced ever since.
“I think things started to really take off when [developer]
Avner Krohn came into town and saw the value here in New Britain as compared to
properties in New York City,” Carrier said. “Once he started [investing],
others followed. He has been able to turn around what used to be commercial
buildings into residential buildings. The center of the downtown, with the
city’s willingness to give tax modifications for development, have made them
economically feasible. It works.”
Among Krohn’s most visible developments downtown are the
recently completed The Brit, which offers more than 100 apartments with ground
floor retail and restaurants, and The Highrailer, a mixed-use project of more
than 100 apartments and 5,600 square-feet of retail and restaurant space.
City and regional officials, including Moriarty, Mayor Erin
Stewart and Matt Hart, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of
Governments, say Complete Streets has changed the city’s downtown in a way they
couldn’t have imagined a decade ago.
Stewart said people “absolutely” look at the city in a
different way.
“Our streets look cleaner; they have uniformity,” the mayor
told CT Examiner. “There is so much that goes along with the overall
engineering and design of Complete Streets. It changes your entire outlook on
where you are. It makes drivers slow down, makes it safer for pedestrians and
cyclists, and has really transformed the image of downtown New Britain.”
Hart called New Britain “a leader,” along with West
Hartford, Windsor, Manchester and Glastonbury, in the central Connecticut area
for improving their downtowns.
“What New Britain has done is a tremendous accomplishment,”
Hart told CT Examiner on Monday. “We’ve long supported Complete Streets for the
purposes of improving safety for all users of the road, as well as for
livability. When you look at how New Britain has utilized it as an economic
development tool, I think they have had some very positive results over the
last decade or so. They truly are a model to the larger region.”
Stewart also serves as chairperson of the Capitol Region
COG’s policy board.
TORRINGTON – Demolition has started on the biggest and final
building on the former site of the Torrington Company.
“We’re about 50% through building one,” Glenn Carbone,
operations manager for the property’s owner IRG Realty Advisors, said Monday,
referring to a six-story unit on Prospect Street.
Carbone said the entire building should be down by the
second or third week of July and the project should be completed by the end of
August.
Demo will slow for the next couple weeks, he added, as
Manafort Bros., of Plainville, works to protect the adjoining building at 689
Prospect St. before separating the two. The building houses Silgan Dispensing
and will remain up. Protections include temporary roofing, dust protection, a
temporary wall with industrial grade tarp and putting tarp inside some areas of
the building, Carbone said.
He said Silgan has moved some shelving and product, which it
is storing in boxes and containers, but the business is still operating.
These two buildings on the former site of the Torrington
Company share a wall that workers from Manafort Brothers, Inc. will carefully
remove to raze the larger building while keeping the smaller one intact. Sloan
Brewster Republican-American
“It’s challenging,” he said. “We’re really kind of walking a
razor’s edge now.”
The next challenge will be to separate buildings by taking
the walls apart structurally, then building a new wall for Silgan and
installing new roofing on the building.
The rest of this week contractors will erect roof protection
on the Silgan building.
“Those are the last two (buildings),” Carbone said.
A tiny building that was attached to building one will also
stay intact as it contains a small mitigation unit that pulls air from the soil
and pushes it through pipes in the ground, purifying it with charcoal filters
and a filtration system.
Owned by IRG, a holder of industrial real estate, the
property is being demolished with funds from a $2 million grant from the
Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Office of
Brownfield Remediation and Development, said Torrington’s Community Development
Coordinator Richard Lopez.
The site is considered a brownfield because roofing on the
buildings contains non-friable asbestos, Carbone said. To prevent toxins from
getting into the air, roofs are kept wet with a large sprayer when they are
being taken down. As far as plans to redevelop the site are concerned, Carbone
said IRG does not plan to build any buildings on its own but will instead wait
to match specifications of interested occupants.
“We’re just going to entertain some offers,” he said. “As
the site gets cleaner and cleaner we’re getting a little more interest.”
IRG is one of the biggest holders of industrial real estate
in the country, Carbone said. The company redevelops old mills, transforming
them into useful properties. In Ohio, it has put movie theaters and malls where
dilapidated buildings once stood.
When asked how the project was affecting work at Silgan, a
manager for the company said he was not allowed to talk to media.