Oxford and Southbury officials :Damage to exceed $100 million
STEVE BIGHAM
Town officials in both Oxford and Southbury say the damage
in their towns from Sunday’s massive flooding likely will exceed a combined
$100 million.
The sheer magnitude of destroyed roads and bridges still was
being assessed Tuesday as the floodwaters continued to recede.
Those estimated repair bills do not include damage sustained
by private homeowners and businesses, whose structures in some cases were
literally torn from their foundations or incurred internal flooding damage that
may be beyond repair.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s official declaration of a state of
emergency is expected to pave the way for federal assistance in what is
expected to be a lengthy recovery.
Lamont took the first step, seeking help for towns, on
Tuesday. The governor’s office said Lamont would be seeking further disaster
declarations that would open the door for individual assistance as well.
Middlebury First Selectman Edmond St John said if President
Joe Biden declares the areas a national disaster area, the door opens for towns
like Oxford and Southbury to seek federal monies through the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).
St. John said FEMA is designed to help both towns and
individual homeowners, but noted that all parties are responsible for
documenting their individual situations. St. John said homeowners and
municipalities are required to first contact their individual insurance
companies.
According to FEMA’s guidelines, an individual homeowner may
only seek reimbursement for the uninsured damage to their home.
FEMA will cover structure damage, but not damage to a yard,
and cleanup of fallen trees is not covered.
St. John said the federal government has created a set of
criteria that need to be met in terms of “certain levels of destruction.” St.
John said the process can be lengthy and he urged towns and individual
homeowners to document everything, including photos and GPS coordinates, to
ensure their claims are considered.
“People have been calling like crazy asking what we can do
to help. All we can tell them is to document whatever damage they have and then
we will see what happens,” said Betsy Rosa of the Southbury first selectman’s
office.
Damage covered by a homeowner’s insurance is not eligible to
be covered. Businesses can include economic injury not included in their
insurance coverage.
St. John said the FEMA approval process is lengthy and said
it could be several months before the agency even decides whether or not it is
willing to help.
In 2018, Southbury received about $3 million in FEMA
reimbursements after a tornado twisted its way through town.
The estimated cost this time around, town officials say,
speaks to the amount of widespread damage caused by Sunday’s historic event.
Route 6 will be closed for a month, Woodbury say
STEVE BIGHAM
WOODBURY – The town’s flood-damaged section of Route 6 could
be closed for a month, First Selectman Barbara K. Perkinson said Tuesday.
The damaged area is near Constantine’s Restaurant, 1143 Main
St. South, and the closure impacts the main route between Woodbury and
Southbury.
With no direct routes nearby, a longer and more complicated
detour will be required. The closure has been made more difficult because
Transylvania Road, a secondary accessway between Southbury and Woodbury, also
is closed near the Woodlake community.
Deb Carlton, who works in the first selectman’s office, said
she’s received numerous calls from people asking for alternative routes.
“You either have to go up and over Grassy Hill Road and then
to Southbury and I-84 that way, or head up (Old) Ben Sherman (Hill Road) to
Pomperaug High School and pick up the highway there,” Carlton said.
Sunday’s flooding also will impact Route 67 near Community
House Park in Southbury, a main road toward Oxford. That will be closed for the
near future, as will additional sections of Route 67 at multiple points in
Oxford. The Route 67 closures have been mitigated by being able to use
Community House Road in Southbury and Route 142 in Oxford as detours.
How can Connecticut prepare for a 1,000-year flood? It can't, but strategy is changing
Jordan Nathaniel Fenster
Sunday's
storms have been described in many ways: a rain
bomb, training storms, flash floods.
And then there is 1,000-year flood.
The devastating storm that flooded
parts of Connecticut and swept away roads was far more than
infrastructure could handle. Twelve-plus
inches of rain fell in a short period, or three months worth of rain for
the state.
But what exactly is a 1,000-year flood? No, it's not a flood
that happens once only every 1,000 years, but instead a flood that has a one in
1,000 chance of happening in any given year, as the U.S. Geological Survey
explained. That calculation — how often flooding events are likely to happen,
is part of how flood risk maps are derived.
New infrastructure, like bridges and culverts, are
constructed with 100-year storms in mind and flood maps, which can also
determine whether someone is required to have flood insurance or whether
construction is even allowed.
But there is an inherent problem in the 100-year flood
calculation, let alone the 1,000-year flood, according to David Kooris.
Those calculations are “based on the last several decades or several years of
data, and it's exclusively rear-mirror-looking.”
Kooris is now head of the state’s Municipal Redevelopment
Authority but he’s previously held posts that specifically dealt with issues of
climate resilience. He was, for example, director of resilience for the
Department of Housing and director of the Office of Planning and Economic
Development for the city of Bridgeport.
He said people “very often misunderstand” the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood
maps, assuming it is “prospective forecasting of what people should be prepared
for in the future, when that is not it at all.”
“If they were updated in 2013 that means it's based on data
from like 2011 which means it's based on the information of the storms that
happened in the early 2000s,” he said. “It really doesn't say anything about
what the likely 1 percent storm risk is in 2020, let alone 2030.”
Response vs. forecast
Looking at the storms of the past is not the only way to
calculate flood risk. “The other is using climate models to try and project
what's going to happen in the future,” according to James O'Donnell, executive
director of the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation
(known as CIRCA) at UConn.
FEMA’s mandate has always been a disaster response, and
“FEMA is pretty good at that,” he said. “The investment they've made in risk
reduction is limited, and it's only really begun in the last five to 10 years.”
As a result, “it's been found in the last couple of decades
that the places that are getting flooded are not always in areas which FEMA has
identified as flood zones,” O'Donnell said.
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to plan. It just requires
investment, and no small amount. “Mapping the whole country takes a long time
and a lot of money and precipitation statistics seem to have changed in the
last couple of decades, even if all the flood zones had been accurately mapped
a decade ago.”
In Connecticut, O’Donnell and his colleagues have been using
technology known as lidar, light detection and ranging, to create accurate
flood forecasts in some Connecticut cities.
“For a town like Danbury or Mystic, we can extract that data
and make a very, very careful assessment of what the altitudes are of buildings
and roads, and then compare that to what we expect flood water levels to be,”
he said. “Then we can map very precisely, within a few meters horizontally,
like, which parking lots will be flooded, and which buildings will be flooded.
But that takes quite a lot of manpower and the investment of very detailed
models and data analysis to do that.”
Once that analysis is complete, it then takes resources to
upgrade those at-risk areas. Even the properties that were submerged on Sunday
may not be upgraded. FEMA pays only to repair damaged infrastructure to its
pre-storm conditions.
“They regard any changes to the elevation as an upgrade,”
O’Donnell said. “Then that makes a project ineligible. The same is true with
some road levels, road repairs.”
Intensity vs. frequency
Part of the problem is that it’s not just a matter of more
rainfall, the basic number of inches, but a question of how many inches of rain
fell over how short a period of time. “Rain bombs,” as Gov. Ned Lamont termed
extreme rain events, are phenomenons O'Donnell said are getting more likely.
While weather prediction is difficult, “It's pretty clear
that over the last decade or so that there are more higher rainfall-rate storms
than in the previous several decades,” he said.
Climate models, O’Donnell explained, are global in scope,
and “the spatial resolution of these climate models is not adequate to predict
that rainfall like occurred last weekend.”
Some of those models show more rain in Connecticut. Others
show less rain in Connecticut’s future. For policy change to occur, O’Donnell
said it helps for all models to show similar outcomes.
“Sea level rise, for example, all models show water levels
going up. That's actionable, and the state has mandated changes to regulations
in light of that,” he said “We're trying to assess whether or not models now
are providing actionable information for precipitation changes.”
Even if the hurdles of prediction and funding for upgrades
are overcome, Kooris said it may not be feasible to plan for such high
intensity rain events that occur in such a short time period.
When Kooris was working in Bridgeport, he said much of the
conversation was “around the climate modeling and the indication that we were
going to be looking at increasing storm intensity rather than frequency.”
“It might not rain as much, but when it did, it would burst
of extreme rainfall,” he said. “So much of our infrastructure is just not
designed, and I'm going to maybe even venture to say maybe it can't be
designed, for these extremes, dry 99 percent of the time, but then sizing it
for the sporadic but extreme and more common rain events,means that you're
building it to a degree that may not even be feasible in a lot of places.”
Norwich commission supports closing part of Lawler Lane to accommodate development
Claire Bessette
Norwich ― A plan to close a portion of Lawler Lane to allow
for future development in the new Occum Industrial Center cleared its first
hurdle Tuesday with support by the city planning commission.
The land on both sides of the road is owned by the Norwich
Community Development Corp. and is part of the Occum Industrial Center.
The planning commission in January approved a 12-lot commercial subdivision for the industrial park.
The City Council has scheduled a public hearing on Sept. 16
at 7:30 p.m. on a resolution to close that portion of the road and create two
cul-de-sacs on the remaining open portions of the road.
City and NCDC officials have said there is a developer
interested in the Lawler Lane land but have not identified the party or the
type of proposed development.
Neighbors in the vicinity of the new 384-acre Occum
Industrial Center off Interstate 395, Exit 18 have opposed the proposed
development, calling it out of character with the rural residential area in
Occum.
NCDC purchased the land for $3.55 million from the previous
owners, whose plan for a golf resort and condominium development fell through
in the mid-2000s.
NCDC has received an $11.3 million state grant to build an
industrial park access road from Route 97 adjacent to the Exit 18 ramp to the
lots located at the proposed discontinued Lawler Lane area. Industrial
development would have no access to the residential portions of Lawler Lane on
either side of the land.
NCDC President Kevin Brown said construction on the
industrial access road is slated to begin next spring.
Several residents spoke during general public comment at
Monday’s council meeting, expressing concerns about public safety and longer
travel times to schools and local businesses with the road closure.
Susan Jacobson of 256 Lawler Lane, the closest resident,
said her biggest concern was about how long it would take for emergency
services to reach the homes at the disconnected far end of Lawler Lane and
Scotland Road. She also said she uses Lawler Lane to go to Occum businesses and
the Occum park almost every day.
Without information about the planned development, she said
she does not know how it might impact her property. She said she is concerned
about water runoff and the type of proposed development.
Frederick Browning of 671 Scotland Road, who represents a group of residents opposed to the
Occum Industrial Center, said residents are concerned about emergency services
access to Scotland Road, school bus routes and access to Taftville if Lawler
Lane is closed.
Browning said closing Lawler Lane at the industrial park
property would address residents’ desire to keep industrial traffic off Lawler
Lane. But he repeated requests residents have made in the past to enact buffer
zones of at least 150 feet between any development and residences and to
restrict building height.
Jeffrey Blayman of 216 Hamilton Ave. said he understands why
Lawler Lane residents are concerned about the potential development. But he
said the city needs to increase the tax base, and it is understandable how
major proposed development might require movement of a road.
“I would say, the Lawler Lane thing, put it to bed. Build
something new,” Blayman said. “Create industry and let’s have something else to
benefit all of us and our taxes here in Norwich.”
During Tuesday’s brief discussion by the Commission on the
City Plan, Deanna Rhodes, director of planning and neighborhood services, said
the proposed road closure has been reviewed by the police and fire departments.
The planning office did not have reports from emergency services, but emergency
services access would be addressed as part of any future review of a proposed
development for the site.
The site development plan would need to address how
emergency vehicles would access the property and potentially how they could
exit the industrial park directly to the residential areas via restricted
gates.
The planning commission cited the Plan of Conservation and
Development’s goal of encouraging economic development and its support of the
Occum Industrial Center as reasons for supporting the Lawler Lane road closure.
Kooris resigns as Port Authority board chairman, will remain member
John Penney
Old Saybrook ― David Kooris, chairman of the Connecticut
Port Authority’s Board of Directors and the public face of the
often-controversial State Pier reconstruction project, resigned his leadership
post on Tuesday but will remain a board member.
Kooris’ announcement came at the conclusion of the board’s
regularly scheduled meeting in Old Saybrook that also marked the last meeting
for interim Executive Director Ulysses B. Hammond before his retirement on Friday.
Paul Whitescarver, a retired U.S. Navy submarine captain and
executive director of the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region, was
selected by the port authority board to succeed Kooris as chairman.
“I’m excited to take the helm of the Authority’s Board to
invest in the infrastructure so crucial to the State’s blue economy,”
Whitescarver said, in a news release. “I commend David Kooris for his hard work
these last five years and thank him for continuing to work with us as a
continuing member of our Board.”
Kooris, who in July was named executive director of the
newly established Connecticut Municipal Redevelopment Authority, was
alternately praised and pilloried during a five-year tenure that included an
acting chairman appointment in 2019 that led to his re-appointment in 2020 by
Gov. Ned Lamont.
“I put my confidence in David Kooris when I took office and
the Port Authority needed a new direction,” Lamont said in a prepared
statement. “He delivered what I and the public asked of him, and we owe him a
debt of gratitude for his volunteer service.”
Kooris said the combination of a new job and his tenure as
board leader led to his decision.
“It’s been five years and that’s enough,” he said. “The
major goals I set out to accomplish have been completed, whether repositioning
the authority’s policies and procedures or the work at (State Pier.) I’m not
leaving the board ― at least until the end of the year, though I might stay on
further.”
Kooris was lauded for his role in transforming New London’s
State Pier into an offshore wind assembly terminal but was also a frequent
target of project opponents and lawmakers angered over cost overruns, ethics fines and
a criminal investigation.
The Danish alternative energy company Ørsted, in
collaboration with Eversource Energy, already has completed its first State
Pier wind turbine project, South Fork Wind, and has begun its second, the
65-turbine Revolution Wind project.
Huge overruns sent project costs spiraling from an initial
estimate of $93 million to more than $300 million, and the port authority
itself was under investigation for a series of questionable inside deals that
Attorney General William Tong determined earlier this year were not part of a
broader criminal conspiracy.
The port authority issued a news release that said Kooris
“inherited an agency that had been wracked by criticism for the handling of its
operations and several instances of questionable spending and ethical lapses,”
but worked with the state Office of Policy and Management to overhaul internal
rules.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Kooris noted the authority
finished last year with a $2.1 million operating surplus while Hammond
announced the last few items on the State Pier reconstruction punch list are
slated to be complete next month.
The port authority has had three consecutive audits by state
and independent auditors that found no problems.
Praising “bone-deep” commitment
Tuesday’s meeting turned into an extended farewell for
Hammond, who was appointed interim executive director by the board in 2022.
State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, presented an emotional Hammond with a
General Assembly citation praising the former Connecticut College administrator
for his years of public service.
A similar proclamation was presented by Norwich City Council
President Pro Tempore Joseph DeLucia, who said the city was deeply appreciative
of Hammond’s “bone-deep” commitment to his job and his efforts in helping
secure a $1.5 million Small Harbor Improvements Projects grant for new handicap
accessible fishing docks at Howard T. Brown Memorial Park.
Hammond, who at times wiped away tears while praising his
staffers, said it was his “pleasure and honor” to have played a role in the
State Pier transformation.
Hammond and Kooris spoke of a partnership they said was
based on mutual respect and complementary personalities. Kooris conceded
Hammond came on during an unsettled period for the authority.
“And I’m sure it looked a little unnerving from the
outside,” Kooris said.
$4M rail project proposed on Danbury branch in Bethel, Wilton: 'Stabilize embankments'
Community members will get an opportunity later this month
to learn about and provide feedback on a roughly $4 million track and slope
stabilization project proposed for Bethel and Wilton sections on
the Danbury
branch of the Metro-North
Railroad.
The state
Department of Transportation will hold a virtual public information
meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 29, when residents can provide comments and ask
questions about the proposed improvement project.
“The purpose of the project is to stabilize the embankment
slopes along the Metro-North Railroad Danbury Branch by performing track
profile modifications and track drainage improvements, including proposed
cross-culverts,” DOT Project Manager Gregory Funk said in a statement.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend the virtual
meeting, noting that feedback provided during it will be considered for design
of the project, Funk said. Construction is expected to begin in 2026, with no
right-of-way impacts anticipated during the process.
With a $4 million estimated construction cost, the project is expected to be undertaken with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state funds, according to the DOT. Plans for the project can be viewed at https://bit.ly/DOTProject0302-0023.
Draft renderings show the project would include work on a
section of track along the Sympaug Pond in Bethel, as well as a stretch of
track in Wilton that runs from the area of the town’s substation to about
one-tenth of a mile north of the Route 7 and Pimpewaug Road intersection.
The Aug. 29 public information meeting on the project will
start with a presentation by DOT and be immediately followed by a
question-and-answer session.
The meeting will take place via Zoom and will also be
live-streamed on the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s YouTube channel.
Registration is required for Zoom access, but no registration is required to
watch the meeting through YouTube.
A recording of the meeting will also be posted immediately
afterward at http://portal.ct.gov/ctdotVPIMarchive.
There will be a two-week public comment period after the
Aug. 29 meeting, during which members of the public can submit comments and
questions about the project to DOTProject0302-0023@ct.gov or 860-594-2020. Those who
do are asked to reference “State Project No. 0302-0023” in their email or
voicemails.
Further information on accessing the virtual meeting,
as well as ways to provide comments and ask questions, can be found at http://portal.ct.gov/DOTDanburyTrack0302-0023.
Construction begins on new townhouse community in Bloomfield
Construction on a new 29-residence townhouse community in
Bloomfield began last week.
The community, called Abby Court, will contain seven triplex
and four duplex buildings. The homes are on a 9.5-acre property at 1120 Blue
Hills Ave.
The developer is Rehoboth Court LLC, an affiliate of T &
M Building Co. Inc. of Torrington. The road construction contractor is Compass
Enterprises of Simsbury.
The development will contain three styles of homes: a
1,971-square-foot design called the Amber; a 2,192 square-foot design called
the Beryl; and a 1,985-square-foot design called the Coral.
Each residence will have three bedrooms and two and one-half
baths. The Amber and Beryl each have a one-car attached garage. The Coral has a
two-car attached garage.
The kitchen and living areas will be located on the main
level of each residence. The kitchens will feature stainless steel appliances,
stone countertops, extra-tall wood cabinets, an island area with seating, along
with a walk-in pantry.
Also, there will be an upper-level loft in each residence,
which can be furnished as a home office, children’s playroom or other use.
The master suite will be located on the second floor of each
home. It will feature a walk-in closet and double-sink vanity.
Each home will have two guest rooms with a shared full
bathroom. The second level also has a laundry closet with a side-by-side washer
and dryer, and a linen closet.
Abby Court is near Interstate 91 and is less than a
15-minute drive from Bradley International Airport.
The town celebrated a groundbreaking for the project on Aug.
7 with members of the Town Council, construction contractors and the
developers. Bonnie Weiner, the widow of Abby Weiner, after whom the community
is named, was also there.
Abby Weiner, who was born in Romania, survived the
Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps during the Holocaust and immigrated to the
United States.
He was a sought-after speaker and was active in the Jewish
community in West Hartford. Weiner died in 2019 at the age of 89.
Residences are expected to be available for rent next year.
For more information about Abby Court, call 860-489-9229 or email
townhomeleasing@mirabelct.com.
Middletown voters to decide $59 million bond referendum for new school, emergency dispatch center
MIDDLETOWN — City leaders voted earlier this week to send a $59
million, two-question bond referendum to voters in November to pay for
the construction of a new 911 dispatch center and reconstruction of a
100-year-old North End neighborhood school.
Common
Council members met Aug. 19 to hear presentations on both proposals: a
$48.9 million renovation and expansion of Macdonough Elementary School on the
existing property at 66 Spring St. and $10 million rebuild of the tiny,
one-room public safety office at the Cross Street firehouse.
The latter would move to the emergency operations facility
at 499 Mile Lane and co-located with the old U.S. Army Reserve Center.
Some 66 percent of the cost of building a new Macdonough
would be reimbursable by the state, Middletown Public Schools Superintendent
Alberto Vázquez Matos said at the outset of the meeting.
Macdonough, whose majority of students walk to school, is
also an intradistrict STEM school with
a waiting list.
The circa 1928 building is on its last legs, Vázquez Matos
told council members. "For a century, Macdonough has stood as a beacon of
learning in our community and nurtured generations of children.
"Time, as it does with all things, has taken its toll:
the crumbling bricks, the deteriorating windows, and the antiquated systems
tell a story of a building that has served us well, but is now crying out for
our help," Vázquez Matos said.
He went on to describe what many saw during a recent tour of
the building: “outdated plumbing and electrical systems that struggle to meet
modern educational needs … a heating system that barely copes with Connecticut
winters,” no air conditioning, which makes learning “nearly impossible” on hot
days, and an office “deep within the building” rather than at the entrance,
where it could “better protect and serve our children."
The issue, the superintendent added, “isn't just what
Macdonough lacks, but what it could be.”
He called Macdonough the “cornerstone of our community’s
future,” and urged the council to “act now” to take advantage of the favorable
state reimbursement to construct a new facility “for a fraction of the full
cost.”
Michael Scott, from TSKP Studio architects of
Hartford, presented the results of a feasibility study. The proposed
new school could serve almost 350 students instead of the current 230, he said.
TSKP
also designed Beman Middle School, which opened in 2021.
The grade school, which is “structurally sound,” even after a century, would
retain its current footprint and facade and include many modern features,
including a makerspace, Scott explained.
Two additions, the cafeteria and gym, built in the 1970s and
1980s, he said, haven’t fared so well, and have had “persisting and pressing
problems with the roof,” which leaks.
The boiler, mechanical and electrical systems, temperature
controls and other elements need to be entirely replaced, Scott said.
The structure is oriented north/south, he added, but would
work best in terms of maximizing the times it is hit by the sun and cooled by
the shade by orienting it east/west.
Councilman Grady Faulkner weighed in on Macdonough.
"I like what I heard tonight on this one,” he said.
Every time he has visited the primary school, Faulkner said,
“it just felt like family. If we can multiply that on a couple other schools,
this city is going to rock it.”
Considering the “phenomenal” state reimbursement rate,
Council President Gene Nocera said, “the time is now. … The needs are clear. To
move into the future, we have to make bold decisions,” he explained.
The motion passed 11-1 with Councilman Anthony Mangiafico
the only dissenter.
The feasibility study for Central Communications, which also
handles calls for Portland, was paid for with ARPA funds, according to Director
Wayne Bartolotta.
With continual advancements in technology, which requires a
great deal of space, and the volume of emergency calls on the rise, Bartolotta
said, the city requires a larger, dedicated space to operate effectively.
It is also essential that it be a secure facility, he added.
When the 911 center was first located in the Cross Street
firehouse, the director said, "everybody knew the operation of that center
wasn't going to last forever.”
Its life was estimated at 20 years, he said. "We're
going 25 years now. More than the cracks are starting to show.”
The new facility is projected to last as long as 50 years.
Since 2017, for police, fire and ambulance services, there
has been a 32 percent increase in 911 calls and 34 percent rise in incidents,
explained Bartolotta, who anticipates these figures will continue to increase.
Bartolotta said space for Central Communications is
"pathetic” and the lack of room for radio, IT, telephone and other
equipment is "horrendous."
He showed photographs of rooms jam-packed with mechanicals,
wires and other equipment.
Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell spoke ahead of the 911
center vote.
“The space is not conducive for the important work that
needs to be done,” she said. "When you think about the trauma associated
with taking those lifesaving calls 24/7, the space is in no way adequate.”
The measure was approved unanimously.
To watch the meeting video, go to facebook.com.
Work to begin again on Norwalk's 'Tyvek temple;' apartments are part of Wall Street revitalization
NORWALK — It’s finally happening: The so-called "Tyvek
temple" on Wall Street has secured financing
and construction will begin again after more than a decade on hold to
complete a six-story mixed-income
apartment building.
“Getting the green light to begin construction after so many
years of preparation is always the best time for everyone who works on a
project like Wall Street Place,” said Todd D. McClutchy, president of JHM
Financial Group, which is managing this redevelopment project. “We know this
development will play a large part in the ongoing renaissance of Norwalk’s Wall
Street district. And we truly appreciate the community’s support, the city’s
guidance and the professionalism of everyone involved.”
The project was halted during the Great Recession under the
former developer, POKO-IWSR
Managers When POKO
CEO Kenneth Olson died in 2017, further delays ensued.
The original project’s property was split between two
owners, Jason
Milligan and Wall
Street Recap Associates. The city
challenged the property’s sale to Milligan, claiming it violated a
Land Disposition Agreement. That legal entanglement was settled
in April 2023, leaving the path clear for both Milligan and Wall Street
Recap Associates to begin development.
“After many delays outside of our control that postponed the
construction of this project, I want to thank my team for their continued
persistence over many years to make sure the Wall Street Place project finally
got over the finish line,” Mayor Harry Rilling said. “The completion of
this project will be a significant piece of the puzzle in revitalizing this
historic downtown area after decades of inaction and stalling on what was once
a vibrant downtown before the 1955 flood.”
Throughout the years, the large half-constructed building at
61 Wall St. wrapped with the Tyvek covering has been an eyesore in the
Wall Street neighborhood.
“Today is a long time coming, but ‘The Year of Wall Street’
has finally arrived,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “I have
been working on getting the Wall Street project moving, with the help of
countless individuals, for almost my entire legislative career. The fits and
starts have been frustrating for so many, but today we are finally seeing
progress that will ultimately be transformative for the area.”
With the recent modifications to the Land Disposition
Agreement between Wall Street Recap Associates and the city, financing for
the 155-unit mixed-income apartment building was secured through Citi Bank and
Bank of America, according to the amended LDA
documents.
When the entire project is complete, there will be two
apartment buildings: one at 61 Wall St. with 105 units, and one at 17 Isaacs
withe 50 units. All of the apartments will be for residents making between 30
percent and 80 percent of the area median income. In all, there will be
155 apartment units, nearly 200 parking spaces and 10,000 square feet of
commercial space.
“Wall Street Place will be a beautiful addition to a unique
part of the city and will help define and improve the local economic
landscape,” McClutchy said.
The timing of this project moving forward coincides with
a $27
million investment by the city of Norwalk to improve the streetscapes
in the Wall Street neighborhood.
“Through several smart infrastructure projects in the works
thanks to state and federal funding, we are determined to increase crosswalks,
sidewalks, lighting, and more to help grow our local economy, sustain our small
business community, and make a lasting impact on the future of Wall Street,”
Rilling said. “In the coming weeks, we will begin the first of these projects,
which will transform Wall Street and East Wall Street, between Main Street and
Brook Street, to make it safer for pedestrians.”