Amazon pays $20M for roughly 200 acres in Enfield
Online retail giant Amazon has paid $20 million for two
undeveloped parcels in Enfield totaling around 200 acres, one of which had
recently been approved for development of an 819,000-square-foot warehouse.
In a deed recorded April 23, Amazon bought a 181.4-acre
undeveloped property at 35 Bacon Road, and a neighboring 22.1-acre property
from Massachusetts-based Winstanley Enterprises.
Winstanley is one of the most active developers in
Connecticut, particularly in the industrial sector. In 2023, the company won a
court battle against a group of Enfield residents who had challenged local
land-use approvals of an 819,000-square-foot warehouse at 35 Bacon Road.
The property once belonged to the campus of greeting card
maker Hallmark.
Winstanley Principal Adam Winstanley initially anticipated
breaking ground on a $135 million speculative development in early 2024, but
later opted to wait until a user was identified. On Tuesday, Winstanley
confirmed the sale of his property.
The 22.1-acre site has a conservation restriction on it and
will remain as open space, he noted. He referred any additional comment to
Amazon.
Amazon confirmed the purchase and said its plans for the
property are in the early stages. The company said it would provide more
information at a later date.
The Enfield sale was recorded just two days after the
announcement of Amazon’s $2.5 million purchase of a 157-acre wooded site
spanning the border of Waterbury and Naugatuck.
There, Amazon plans to build a roughly 3.2
million-square-foot logistics center. The building, which has been approved for
up to 130 feet in height, will use robotics to help sort merchandise.
Construction is expected to begin imminently.
DOT will cut funds to transportation projects with DEI: Duffy
In an April 24 letter, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
warned DOT funding recipients against engaging in diversity, equity
and inclusion practices, which he said violate federal law. Duffy also told
grantees that they must cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
and other federal officials or face “enforcement actions.”
Grantees who violate those policies could lose their
transportation funding, Duffy said. “It is the policy of the Department to
award and to continue to provide Federal financial assistance only to those
recipients who comply with their legal obligations,” per the letter.
The DOT may audit grantees and take back funding used for
unpermitted activities, according to the letter. Duffy urged transportation
agencies to contact a DOT representative proactively to ensure they are in
compliance.
Duffy’s new letter puts DOT funding recipients on notice,
citing instances where grantees did not cooperate with ICE and other
immigration enforcement investigations or issued driver’s licenses to people in
the U.S. illegally, and warns that such actions “may give rise to civil and
criminal liability.” He also told grantees to ensure that they are hiring
subcontractors and other businesses that are permitted to work in the U.S. and
that exclusively employ legally permitted workers.
Since assuming office, Duffy
has authorized a series of actions to advance Trump’s directive to
“rescind woke policies” and slash regulations, while vowing to give grant
preference to regions with higher-than-average
birth rates. Last month, the DOT rolled back a Biden-era policy that
included environmental
and social considerations for projects it funds.
In an April 2 hearing, Duffy
defended the Trump administration’s freeze on already-approved
projects so agencies can review them for mentions of climate change,
environmental justice or equity. He did not say whether grant awards that are
not yet finalized could be rescinded, but promised to enact the will of
Congress when it comes to funding infrastructure: “I’m not going to hold up any
projects.”
Duffy’s letter also said funding recipients must not engage
in “discriminatory actions” while administering contracts, hiring or in other
policies and procedures, and to make personnel decisions based on merit.
Grantees are also prohibited from allocating award money “based on suspect
classifications.”
“Whether or not described in neutral terms, any policy,
program, or activity that is premised on a prohibited classification, including
discriminatory policies or practices designed to achieve so-called ‘diversity,
equity, and inclusion,’ or ‘DEI’ goals, presumptively violates Federal law,”
according to the letter.
In an interview
Thursday on Fox Business, Duffy reiterated that Democrat-led states that
don’t comply with the Trump administration’s interpretation of federal law will
see their transportation funding cut, AOL reported.
“Hopefully, this will incentivize those states to get in
line with commonsense American principles and policies, which the president has
laid out. If they do, they don’t have a problem,” Duffy said in the Fox
interview. “But if they don’t comply, we’re not going to approve their grants
and the flow of billions of dollars into their states.”
Six School Upgrades Planned for New Haven, Conn.; Amazon Facility to Be Built in Waterbury
New Haven Register & CT Insider
As part of ongoing repair and improvement efforts, New Haven
Public School (NHPS) officials in Connecticut are proposing six renovation
projects, including roof and swimming pool replacements across the district.
"We know that there are a lot of renovations and
repairs that are desperately needed across the district as it relates to
facilities," New Haven Superintendent Madeline Negrón said. "Those
are going to be things that eventually we have to get done."
The proposed projects include swimming pool replacements at
Conte-West Hills School and Wilbur Cross High School; roof replacements at
Truman School, Wilbur Cross High and James Hillhouse High School; and the
construction of a new central office at 424 Chapel St. in New Haven.
The plan is to eventually move the central office from 54
Meadow St. to the second floor of the Chapel Street building, the New Haven Register reported April
22, 2025.
"They certainly all needed work, especially the roofs
and the pools," according to Board of Education Vice President Matthew
Wilcox.
The total cost of the six projects is estimated at $25.1
million, the Register noted.
In January 2025, the district conducted a walk-through of
the Wilbur Cross and James Hillhouse high schools in response to a complaint
filed with the Connecticut Department of Labor's Division of Occupational
Safety and Health by the New Haven Federation of Teachers.
In addition, on Feb. 13, 2025, there was a leak reported
inside an English classroom at Wilbur Cross, which is an issue that has been
difficult to address because the building's roof has solar panels.
The complaint cited concerns about mold, leaks, air quality
and HVAC issues at the two schools.
While the report found no "evident deficiencies,"
Justin Harmon, director of marketing and communications at NHPS, said the
district has plans for projects and upgrades across the entire school district.
Negrón said NHPS plans to apply for a Connecticut Department
of Administrative Services Office of School Construction non-priority grant,
which, if approved, would mean the district is only responsible for 34.1
percent of that amount — or approximately $8 million.
Resolutions formally documented by New Haven's Board of
Education and the Board of Alders are needed so NHPS can apply for the grant.
The projects align with the district's long-term facilities
plan and are essential to maintaining safe, functional and equitable learning
environments for students and staff, according to a statement from Christine
Bourne, business director of the NHPS Central Office.
"Timely submittal and approval of these resolutions
allows the district to pursue reimbursement opportunities through the state's
construction grant program," she said.
The projects were presented to New Haven's Board of Alders
at its April 7, 2025, meeting, with a final vote scheduled for May 5, 2025.
Amazon Warehouse to Be Built On Waterbury-Naugatuck Line
A new 3.2 million-sq.-ft. Amazon fulfillment center stradle
the border of Waterbury and Naugatuck is about to begin after Waterbury
officials announced April 21, 2025, that they had completed the sale of 157
acres of land for the project.
Site work for the five-story Amazon warehouse will begin in
the coming days, according to a news release from the office of Waterbury Mayor
Paul Pernerewski Jr., which noted that the final cost of the land was $2.5
million.
The project is expected to generate more than 300
construction jobs and, eventually, as many as 1,000 full-time jobs, according
to the mayor's office.
"Waterbury and Naugatuck are great places to live and
work and we're pleased to be establishing local operations here,"
Glendowlyn Thames, Amazon's senior manager of economic development, said in the
news release.
More details about the fulfillment center's launch schedule
will soon be announced, Thames added.
Naugatuck Mayor N. Warren "Pete" Hess said local
officials have considered other development proposals for the area in the past.
"For decades, many different proposals, ranging from a
mall to a dog track, were considered for this land, but none came to fruition
due to the steep and difficult terrain, particularly in accessing the site from
Waterbury's South Main Street," Hess said in a statement. "That all
changed when I partnered with then-Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary. Together, we
devised a collaborative solution that allowed access to the property through
the Naugatuck Industrial Park, making development finally feasible."
The sale comes after Bluewater Property Group entered into a
purchase and sale agreement with the city of Waterbury and the borough of
Naugatuck in 2022, according to Pernerewski's office.
"The collaboration between Waterbury and Naugatuck, paired with the commitment from Amazon and Bluewater, has turned a long-overlooked property into a site of immense potential." Pernerewski said. "This facility will provide meaningful employment opportunities and generate economic momentum for years to come."
Plan to heat CT state buildings with natural gas system riles advocates
Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration plans to invest in a new gas heating system for state office buildings in downtown Hartford, but the decision has fueled backlash from state and local activists who say it will spew pollution into surrounding neighborhoods and undermine the governor’s own climate goals.
The administration’s plan would upgrade a facility that supplies heating and cooling to an underground network of pipes connected to 15 buildings in downtown Hartford known as the Capitol Area System.
The system — also called the “loop” — includes several government buildings including the Armory, the Supreme Court Building and the Legislative Office Building, as well as private ones like the Bushnell Theater. (The Capitol itself relies on a separate system to heat and cool the 146-year-old building.)
Hot air and water, as well as steam, is produced at the CAS plant several blocks west of the Capitol, which officials say is in desperate need of renovations — particularly after a 2021 explosion damaged the plant’s pump house and necessitated the installation of temporary boilers.
Environmental and climate activists seized upon the project, arguing that it offered the Lamont administration an opportunity to de-carbonize more than a dozen buildings at once through the installation of electric boilers or a geothermal heating and cooling system.
But earlier this year the Department of Administrative Services announced that it was opting to move forward with a “hybrid” approach, utilizing both heat pumps and newer natural gas boilers to power the system. The upgrade is estimated to cost roughly $42 million and take several years to complete.
The video player is currently playing an ad.
The decision infuriated advocates, who accused Lamont of breaking his pledge to reduce the use of fossil fuels to heat and cool state buildings.
“He’s going against his own word,” said Alycia Jenkins, a Sierra Club organizer from Hartford. “It falls in line with what we see happening across this country, people choosing fossil fuels, people choosing natural gas.”
Jenkins and other opponents of the state’s plans say they want a new study to examine the feasibility of turning the CAS into a geothermal system, which would harness ambient temperatures from deep underground that can provide heat in the winter and cooling during the summer.
Similar systems are being piloted nearby in Framingham, Mass., and — dependent on federal funding — at New Haven’s Union Station.
Leigh Appleby, a spokesman for DAS, said the state has not entirely given up on potentially cleaner options for the future of the facility. In an email last week, he said that the next step in the process would be to hire an engineering consultant to study the hybrid approach, along with other “viable alternatives” that could reduce costs or carbon emissions.
“We recognize that the selected option of heat pumps and natural gas condensing boilers is not zero emissions, as many of the comments advocated,” Appleby said. “However, other factors, most notably the uncertainty surrounding the long-term location of the CAS facility due to the anticipated realignment of I-84, prevented the implementation of more costly and extensive zero-emission scenarios. During the design development process, we will seek additional opportunities to reduce emissions.”
When asked about the project during an event commemorating Earth Day last week, Lamont said he was concerned about the cost of updating the facility along with the environmental impacts.
“We’re going to look at everything, and we’re also going to let the taxpayers know what the relative costs of everything are,” Lamont said. “I think affordability has got to be on the table right alongside what we’re celebrating here on Earth Day.”
According to a decarbonization study commissioned by DAS in 2023, the hybrid approach selected by the administration would produce about 197,668 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next three decades — the equivalent of driving nearly 50,000 cars for a year — compared to it’s current operations.
Still, the study found that utilizing a geothermal system or a combination of all-electric boilers and heat pumps could reduce emissions by an additional 80% or more.
The total cost to build the new system — including the $42 million in construction costs — and operate it for for the next three decades using the hybrid approach was roughly $164 million, according to the study. That was nearly half the cost of using all-electric boilers and about one-third less than the cost of geothermal.
Opponents, however, argue that the volatile price of natural gas as well as the future health care costs for people living in the vicinity of the plant could put the plant’s price tag much higher.
“The cost is not just the cost of rebuilding this plant, it’s maintaining this plant for 30 to 35 years, because that’s how long it’s going to be there, [releasing] all kinds of toxic pollutants into the air and creating all kinds of asthma and respiratory conditions,” said Cynthia Jennings, a former Hartford councilwoman who is involved with local efforts to oppose the state’s plans.
Jenkins, the Sierra Club organizer, pointed to data showing that Hartford has among the highest asthma rates of any city in the nation. While attending Trinity College, Jenkins said she lived in the Frog Hollow neighborhood abutting the CAS plant, and later developed bronchitis as an adult.
“We’re concerned about the air pollution, we’re concerned about asthma rates, and we’re also concerned about jobs,” Jenkins said.
The state’s study — conducted by Veolia, a French infrastructure management company — attempted to calculate the so-called “social” costs of carbon pollution, such as human health impacts, property damage from floods and storms, and changes in agricultural productivity. The study concluded that they did not outweigh the additional expenses of carbon-free options.
Asked for comment on the project this week, a spokesman for Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said it was a “state matter” and deferred further requests to the governor’s office.
The CAS plant was originally constructed in 1988 as a cogeneration plant producing both electricity as well as steam that was used to heat and cool buildings connected to the loop. At the time, it was the second-largest source of air pollution in the city of Hartford, according to the Sierra Club.
The previous owners of the plant, Capitol District Energy Center Cogeneration Associates Property Co., shuttered its gas-powered electric turbines in 2021, several months before the pump room explosion, and sold the facility to the state the next year for $7.3 million.
In the public notice of its decision to adopt the hybrid power plan, DAS said the decommissioning of the plant’s power-generation capabilities will reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than two-thirds, and that it is no longer considered a major source of air pollution as defined by the federal Clean Air Act. The agency added that its review of the project determined it will not result in “significant environmental impacts,” and thus does not require a separate environmental impact study.
During a public comment period, officials at Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection submitted several recommendations regarding applicable environmental laws and regulations during construction, but the agency did not signal any overall objections to the project. A DEEP spokesman deferred to DAS for comment on the project.
Appleby, the DAS spokesman, said work is expected to begin this summer to demolish and remove old, unused equipment from the site including wiring, generators, turbines, chilling equipment and a boiler. That work is intended to make space for the installation of new equipment.
Following the completion of the engineering study and design work, Appleby said construction will begin around December 2027 assuming funding for the project is in place. Work is expected to be completed sometime in 2029.
Lamont’s budget proposal for the upcoming year called for an additional $16 million in capital expenses for the CAS project, bringing the total available funding through bonds to $35 million.