Revolution Wind project hits milestone
The first offshore wind turbine has been installed at Revolution Wind, which is proposed to be the first commercial scale wind farm to supply power to Connecticut and Rhode Island, Ørsted and Eversource announced this week.
The project, whose turbine components are being assembled
and shipped from State Pier in New London, consists of 65 Siemens Gamesa
turbines and is expected to generate 704 megawatts of power ― 400 MW to Rhode
Island and 304 MW to Connecticut, or enough electricity to power 350,000 homes.
The installation of the Revolution Wind turbines follows
completion of South Fork Wind, a 12-turbine wind farm powering homes on Long
Island.
Gov. Ned Lamont, in a statement, said the completion of this
first turbine “represents a milestone as we work towards decarbonizing our
electric grid while also creating new, good-paying jobs in this growing sector
for Connecticut residents.”
Ørsted and Eversource continue installation of the
foundations for the Revolution Wind turbines and also are performing onshore
construction work for the transmission system in North Kingstown, R.I.
Earlier this month, Orsted and Eversource announced a
one-year delay for completion of Revolution Wind related to the onshore
construction obstacles.
$16M invested so far toward massive, mixed-use redevelopment of East Hartford office park
The team behind a proposed massive, mixed-use redevelopment
of portions of East Hartford’s Founders Plaza has spent about $16 million so
far as it closes in on final property acquisitions needed for the project.
Christopher Reilly — president of Hartford-based real estate
developer Lexington Partners – told members of East Hartford’s Town Council
Tuesday that his team has a “total investment of about $16 million” in the
project so far.
The council, on Tuesday, unanimously signed off on
agreements that will allow the town to spend up to $6.5 million in state
funding to demolish a 189,890-square-foot office building at 99 Founders Plaza
and a 180,000-square-foot parking garage at 111 Founders Plaza.
Port Eastside representatives have declined recent interview
requests from The Hartford Business Journal, but did release a statement on
Tuesday’s vote.
“We are very pleased that the Town of East Hartford will
move forward with its agreement with the Capital Region Development Authority
to clear the way for what we hope will be the first physical site work for the
Port Eastside riverfront revitalization project—the demolition of the vacant
building at 99 Founders Plaza and cleanup of the site,” reads a portion of the
statement. “The apartment homes we hope to see permitted here will be a
major step in our multi-year process to energize the east side of the river and
complement the Greater Hartford region with supporting growth and
connectivity.”
East Hartford Director of Development Eileen Buckheit said
she anticipates demolition will go ahead in the first quarter of 2025. This
will provide a portion of the roughly 30-acre development site envisioned in
the Port Eastside plan.
The project, when complete, will blend hundreds of
apartments with retail, office and recreation space along the Connecticut
River. The plan calls for the town to surrender a portion of East River Drive
to ensure river access.
The development partnership includes Hartford-based
Lexington Partners and its frequent collaborator Hartford-based investor and
businessman Alan Lazowski with Hoffman Auto Group Co-Chairman Jeffrey S.
Hoffman; Manafort Brothers Inc. President Jim Manafort; Nicholas Michnevitz,
president of West Hartford-based MBH Architecture; Peter S. Roisman, head of
Houston-based multifamily investor REV; as well as Harris and Bruce Simons,
brothers who are principals of West Hartford-based development and real estate
services firm Figure 8 Properties.
Port Eastside has purchased two properties so far. Last
summer it paid $4 million for the office building on 7.34 acres at 99 Founders
Plaza. This summer, a limited liability company tied to Port Eastside paid $7
million more for a vacant 70,350-square-foot “flex” office building on 6.5
acres at 300 East River Drive.
Reilly said Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has signed
onto a “long-term” lease of the building at 300 East River Drive for use as a
distribution hub. The excess land on that property will be used as a part
of the larger development site, he said.
M&T Bank sold Port Eastside a $17.49 million mortgage
owed on the 19-story office tower and parking garage at 111 Founders Plaza.
Port Eastside is expected to foreclose on the property in a hearing before a
Hartford Superior Court judge on Monday. Attorneys for Port Eastside and the
current owner, Merchant 99-111 Founders LLC, have submitted a stipulated
agreement requesting the court sign off on the foreclosure.
Port Eastside is looking to convert the office tower at 111
Founders Plaza into housing. The parking garage is lined up for demolition.
Reilly, on Tuesday, said Port Eastside expects to also
purchase a 5.7-acre landscaped parking lot at 321 Pitkin St. in October. The
site is adjacent to the office tower and parking garage at 111 Founders Plaza.
The cost of that deal is not part of the $16 million tally Reilly shared with
the council on Tuesday.
The Capital Region Development Authority will manage the
demolition project facilitated by Tuesday’s vote of the council.
In return for access to the state’s $6.5 million, Port
Eastside is promising to secure permits for construction of at least 150
apartments within four years of the first disbursement of grant money.
Earlier this year, Reilly told the council that, while his
team could only commit to 150 units in the first phase of development due to an
uncertain financing climate, it is aiming for closer to 300 units in that first
building.
Reilly told council members Tuesday that he will incorporate
some homeownership opportunities in the plan following a request by a council
member. He also reassured council members that preserving and enhancing public
access to the riverfront is an important component of the plan.
“We have the same goals in mind, and we really appreciate
your investments in all the properties and your continued willingness to
cooperate with us to continue down the road with the shared vision we have,”
Town Council Chair Richard Kehoe told Reilly.
Fort Trumbull apartment developer seeks millions in city tax breaks
John Penney
New London ― A development firm is seeking assurances it
will receive nearly $6.5 million in tax breaks over 20 years before it will
commit to constructing 500 new apartment units on sections of the Fort Trumbull
peninsula that have been off the city tax rolls for more than two decades.
Representatives of RJ Development + Advisors, LLC, on Monday
presented members of the City Council’s Economic Development Committee with a
proposed fixed tax agreement they said is needed to help defray unexpected site
preparation costs on the two parcels slated for the the apartments.
Attorney William Sweeney, representing RJ Development, said
without the agreement, which is set to be discussed by the full council on
Sept. 16, the proposed construction projects “will halt, will not move
forward.”
The Renaissance City Development Association, the city’s
development arm, brokered an agreement in 2023 that includes selling the two
city-owned parcels, totaling 6.28 acres, to RJ Development for $500,000.
The agreement contained terms that required the development
company, which built The Beam, a 203-unit apartment complex on Howard Street,
to obtain state and local permits for the construction of a pair of apartment buildings, each containing approximately
250 units, on land located on Nameaug and Walbach streets.
But since that development agreement was signed, new costs
have cropped up, including those related to meeting state flood plain
requirements, site clean-up and sub-surface issues, Sweeney said.
Sweeney said a previous agreement with the state Department
of Energy and Environmental Protection requires the site to meet 500-year flood
plain thresholds, which will mean building the complexes on raised steel and
concrete podiums.
He said more environmental testing is also needed on the
land, which is suspected to contain the remnants of filled-in basements, rocky
ledge and other construction obstacles.
Sweeney estimated it will cost roughly $13 million to
address those issues – money the developer can’t put up without it being
partially offset by the proposed fixed tax schedule.
Under the proposed agreement, the city would forgive 80% of
the complex’s assessed real estate taxes in the first year after a certificate
of occupancy is granted. Sixty percent of year two taxes would be forgiven, as
would 40 percent of taxes for years three through 20, for a total of $6.4
million in tax forgiveness. It is the same agreement the city made with RJ
Development for the Beam project.
The schedule estimates the city would by the end of the 20
years still have received $18 million in tax revenue from the two properties at
Fort Trumbull, while helping offset about half of the developer’s
pre-construction costs.
Sweeney noted the two properties, located within walking distance of Electric
Boat, have been vacant and not generating property taxes for “literally a
generation.”
Sweeney said his clients also hope to avail themselves of
federal opportunity zone financing.
Councilor Akil Peck questioned if a different firm might be
interested in developing the parcels without any such tax agreement. Felix
Reyes, the city’s director of planning and economic development, said any
developer would face the same cost obstacles RJ Development is facing.
Sweeney said the planned apartments, as per a previously
signed development agreement with the city, will be rented at market rate and
not deemed “affordable.”
If the council approves the tax agreement, which has already
been vetted by the city’s law firm, construction of the Nameaug Street complex
on the northern tip of the peninsula would begin early next year, Reyes said on
Tuesday.