The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority plans to issue a final decision on the proposed sale of Aquarion Water Co. to a newly created nonprofit entity in November. A proposed final decision in the $2.4 billion sale from Eversource Energy to the Aquarion Water Authority was originally expected Oct. 22. However, on that same day, PURA quietly amended its docket schedule, removing the proposed final decision from the schedule, leaving Nov. 19 as the date that the final decision will be released. The Aquarion case has become a flashpoint for state and local officials, utilities and consumer advocates. Eversource, which acquired Aquarion in 2017, announced in January that it would sell the Bridgeport-based water utility to the nonprofit, quasi-public Aquarion Water Authority. An evidentiary hearing concluded this summer, and a decision by PURA will determine whether the deal proceeds. Eversource has said it hopes to complete the deal by late 2025.

https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/pura-sets-november-date-for-final-decision-on-aquarion-sale-amid-leadership-shakeup/

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scrapped plans to build a salt marsh in West Haven that would have used enough material dredged from New Haven Harbor to fill 200 Olympic-size pools. nstead, the more than 650,000 cubic yards of silt and clay originally slated for the salt marsh at West Haven’s Sandy Point will be spread among three other sites — including two underwater “borrow pits” — as part of the Corps’ $84 million effort to deepen and widen the harbor’s shipping channel for larger vessels, according to a project official. That stronger containment, he said, would have made the salt marsh more engineered and less natural, required more long-term maintenance and nearly tripled the construction cost, from $7.4 million to $20.6 million. New Haven Harbor is the largest port in Connecticut and the second largest in New England, behind Boston Harbor. But it’s not deep enough to accommodate larger cargo ships, forcing them to off-load outside the channel. The dredging project aims to deepen the main shipping channel by 5 feet and widen the waterway basin so ships can more easily maneuver in and out. More than 4.6 million cubic yards of material is slated to be dredged from the harbor.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/article/new-haven-harbor-dredging-salt-marsh-west-haven-ct-21109553.php

The court-approved foreclosure of a majority of Hartford’s Constitution Plaza is expected to open up options for the future, but just how redevelopment unfolds — or over what period of time — is the next chapter in the plaza’s long struggle to find a niche in the half century since it was built. Building a cohesive, redevelopment plan for the 7-acre property is seen as essential, but won’t be easy given the multiple owners with interests in the plaza. The foreclosure, approved Monday by Hartford Superior Court Judge Claudia A. Baio, involves six buildings of about 671,000 square feet — including the two office towers at One and 100 Constitution Plaza — parking garages with 1,743 spaces and the pedestrian surface of the plaza. The foreclosure also included part ownership of the pedestrian bridge the connects the plaza to Nassau Financial Group’s iconic “Boat Building.” Constitution Plaza also has been mentioned as a location for a $100 million practice facility for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, should the franchise move to Hartford from Mohegan Sun. In addition, there is the potential for a temporary location for the applied artificial intelligence center that the Arulampalam administration hopes to establish in the city. A permanent location has been identified just east of Dunkin’ Park, the city’s minor league ballpark, where a vacant, decaying data center would be demolished.

https://www.courant.com/2025/10/23/massive-ct-office-complex-foreclosure-lends-no-easy-answers-for-future-redevelopment/

Konstantinos Diamantis, Connecticut’s former deputy budget director, was found guilty on Wednesday of using his position overseeing the state’s school construction office to enrich himself and his family. After deliberating for about a day and a half, 12 federal jurors found Diamantis, 69, guilty of 21 counts of bribery, extortion, conspiracy and lying to federal investigators. “He is facing a catastrophic sentence of 10 to 12 years,” Pattis said, adding that he could appeal the verdict. Diamantis will remain free on bond until his sentencing hearing, which is set for Jan. 14. Federal prosecutors told the judge that remaining out of prison would allow Diamantis to meet with his defense attorney in preparation for a second federal bribery trial, which is currently expected to start in February. They also told U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill that they recently learned, by monitoring unspecified communications, that Diamantis was attempting to obtain a Greek passport. The jury delivered its verdict after a nine-day trial, during which federal prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence that showed Diamantis negotiated payments from Acranom Masonry and a $45-per-hour job for his daughter with Construction Advocacy Professionals.

https://ctmirror.org/2025/10/22/kosta-diamantis-trial-verdict/

Nearly four years after the only hotel in Connecticut’s biggest city shut down, developers broke ground on a 142-room Marriott Residence Inn as the latest phase of the ambitious Steelpointe Harbor project on Bridgeport’s waterfront. As steelworkers and carpenters worked on part of the 420-unit apartment complex under construction nearby, business leaders gathered on a vacant lot where True North Hotel Group and RCI Group plan to build the six-story hotel over the 15 months. Downtown Bridgeport was home to several once-proud hotels from its industrial heyday, but they’d mostly been abandoned, razed or turned into low-income apartments between the 1950s and 1980s. The only new initiative was a nine-story Holiday Inn that was erected in the 1980s; officials at the time portrayed it as the key to an economic turnarouned for the city. The Residence Inn groundbreaking comes 10 years after the sprawling Steelpointe project kicked off with the opening of a 150,000-square-foot Bass Pro Shops outlet. It has added a Chipotle, Starbucks and T Mobile, and Mobil plans a large gas station with car wash.

https://www.courant.com/2025/10/23/for-ct-city-a-fresh-hope-new-142-room-hotel-as-part-of-harborfront-mega-development/

The Connecticut Port Authority has settled a dispute over costs with the construction manager overseeing the reconstruction of State Pier and signed an agreement that finalizes an $11.3 million settlement, Port Authority Executive Director Michael O’Connor announced Tuesday. The negotiated final cost is more than the $7.3 million expected payment to Kiewit Corp. to complete the project but will not come at any additional cost to the state. The port authority will cover the additional costs with its own funds, O’Connor said. Kiewit Infrastructure Co. Area Manager Pete Maglicic said in a statement that Kiewit was “proud to have partnered with the Connecticut Port Authority, local labor unions, subcontractors and suppliers on this transformative project.” State Pier is being leased and used as a launching spot for wind turbine parts in the construction of offshore wind farms. The State Pier reconstruction project, managed by the port authority, has been under scrutiny for years because of costs that have spiked since the early estimates of $93 million. The state has contributed $211 million to the cost of renovations while Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted, which is leasing State Pier, picked up the remainder of the cost of the renovations, the port authority said.

https://theday.com/news/803050/port-authority-finalizes-agreement-with-contractor-for-state-pier-project/

With a crew of more than 200 construction workers, Amazon is turning most of a 157-acre property on the Naugatuck-Waterbury line into what will be one of its biggest distribution centers in the state. City and state leaders gathered at the sprawling, muddy construction site Tuesday to celebrate what they expect will be one of the region’s biggest employers when it opens sometime in 2027 or 2028. “I’ve worked on construction projects my whole life, I’ve never seen anything like this − it’s unbelievable,” Naugatuck Mayor Pete Hess said over the engine noise of a small fleet of cranes and earth movers. “The steel we’re erecting today is going to hold up much more than a building. It’s going to hold up jobs, dreams and a shared prosperity that will bind Naugatuck and Waterbury forever.” “Amazon I believe is the second-biggest employer in the state of Connecticut. This (project) is 3.2 million square feet, 60 football fields, 300 construction jobs,” Gov. Ned Lamont said, noting the company has other mega-centers in Wallingford and North Haven along with large operations in more than a dozen other towns.

https://www.courant.com/2025/10/22/new-ct-amazon-building-1000-workers-5-story-building-the-size-of-two-malls/

A Pittsburgh-area developer has paid $3 million for 22.1 acres in a Rocky Hill business park, months after town officials approved plans for a 153-unit apartment complex on the site. In April, the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously signed off on A.R. Building Co.’s plan to build three, four-story apartment buildings at 200 Capital Blvd., in the Corporate Ridge business park. The plan also calls for a pool and clubhouse. In a deed recorded Sept. 26, Corpridge Land Co. sold 200 Capital Blvd., to a limited liability company whose principals — Keith Lenhart and Daniel J. Mancosh — are officers of A.R. Building Co. The undeveloped property is located right off Interstate 91. In a deed recorded on Sept. 24, A.R. Building Co. paid $3.35 million for 11.9 acres in Windsor. And like the Rocky Hill property, this one is also right of I-91. Windsor officials had previously approved A.R. Building Co.’s plan for a four-building, 201-unit apartment complex.

https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/penn-developer-with-growing-ct-presence-pays-3m-for-rocky-hill-site/

A plan for a Route 25 soccer complex that has gained the support of at least 100 Newtowners may require the developer to hire an independent engineer to review environmental impacts of the fields’ synthetic turf. A conservation activist and two members of the town’s wetlands commission are asking for the developer of the 33-acre property to pay for third-party review that will study the development’s impact on the environmentally sensitive wetlands surrounding the nearby Pond Brook. The developer gave the wetlands commission a letter of support signed by what appeared to be more than 130 Newtown residents in favor of “a state-of-the-art outdoor soccer facility designed to provide a top-tiered experience” with “high quality synthetic turf and shock absorption for safety and optimal ball control.” Guidera said she felt “strongly” that “toxins and PFAS will not be good for the environment” and that she was “not in favor of the turf,” according to meeting minutes. A handful of residents spoke against the soccer field proposal during the Oct. 8 hearing, citing concerns about water quality. Two others spoke in favor of the development, saying it was preferable to the controversial apartment complex alternative from 2023.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/newtown-soccer-fields-artificial-turf-route-25-21109834.php

The long-vacant Alfredo’s Riverside Restaurant, hard by Route 9 South and in the shadow of the Arrigoni Bridge, is being reborn as apartments — part of a developer’s broader effort to breathe new life into neglected city properties. The brick building at 141 Bridge St., the last one on the dead-end street, is expected to be ready for leasing applications by Nov. 1, according to developer Dominick DeMartino. The Bridge Street project is one of a half dozen neglected buildings in the city that DeMartino, who has been in the development business for more than three decades, bought during and after the pandemic. The city helped secure $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding and state Department of Economic and Community Development grants to assist with the rehabilitation projects, DeMartino said. Middletown Mayor Gene Nocera said Thursday that DeMartino goes the extra mile on restoration projects and has an eye for quality that will last decades.

https://www.middletownpress.com/business/article/middletown-alfredos-route-9-apartments-mural-21094767.php