Connecticut offshore wind competition kicks off

So far, Connecticut’s first selected offshore wind suppliers, Orsted and Eversource, will compete with Mayflower Wind, a joint venture between Shell New Energies and EDPR Renewables North America, and Vineyard Wind, a pairing of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables. The auction, following the state’s request for proposals in August, stemmed from lawmakers’ and Gov. […]

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Bristol plans to partner with Plainville on future development projects

The redevelopment authority will assist municipalities in procuring funding for local economic development projects, she said. “However, it set a benchmark for 70,000 population, but they’re allowing communities to work together. Bristol’s population is about 60,000 and Plainville’s is about 18,000, so working together both municipalities can take advantage of the new program, Zoppo-Sassu said. […]

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MTA eyes historic $51B budget

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s 2020-2024 Capital Plan released earlier this month proposes a $51.5 billion budget for the New York City region’s subways, buses and railroads over the next five years, the highest in the authority’s history and 70% higher than current levels. The proposal, which requires board approval, includes funding for the second […]

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UPDATED: Route 8 ramp to I-84 WB repaired after ‘structural concerns’ found

A ramp carrying Route 8 northbound traffic to Interstate 84 westbound reopened Thursday after being closed for about a day because of structural concerns workers discovered on the bridge. The problem was fixed and access to Exit 33 via Route 8 northbound was restored at about 3:30 p.m., the state Department of Transportation said. The […]

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Lamont touts major transportation plans to Stamford Chamber of Commerce

Gov. Ned Lamont said in a speech Thursday he wanted to hammer out a deal with state legislators to support major mass-transit upgrades, but it remains unclear the extent to which his long-favored plan to install tolls on state highways would fit into that project. Improving Connecticut’s aging and congested highways and rail lines represents […]

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Lamont announces $13 M in federal grants to assist affordable housing projects

Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration awarded 13 cities and towns a total of $13 million Thursday to finance housing rehabilitation to support low- and moderate-income households. The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant  Small Cities program. The distribution of those funds in Connecticut is administered by the […]

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DOL finalizes $35K overtime threshold

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced today it will publish a final overtime rule, setting the minimum salary threshold for overtime eligibility at $35,568. The regulations implement the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)’s overtime mandate and, according to a senior DOL official, will make an estimated 1.3 million additional U.S. workers eligible for overtime […]

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Cuomo is coming to talk about regionalism, pot and transportation

Regional approaches to marijuana legalization and transportation will be the focus Wednesday morning when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo visits Gov. Ned Lamont at the Executive Residence in Hartford, the second time in a month the gubernatorial neighbors have met face to face. Connecticut is responsible for the railroad on this side of the border, […]

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CRDA offered Northland $4.5M for XL Center space

The Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) earlier this summer offered $4.5 million to purchase a key portion of XL Center’s atrium and adjoining retail space currently owned by Northland Investment Corp., the Hartford Business Journal has learned. Northland, however, rejected the bid, arguing it was a low-ball offer, officials said. Northland Principal Larry Gottesdiener did not […]

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Feasibility study of Hartford’s XL Center OK’d

The board of directors of the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), which oversees the 16,000-seat arena with Spectra Venue Management, voted unanimously Thursday night to rehire Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL) to perform a new market demand and financial feasibility study of the venue. The study will begin as state lawmakers have been […]

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Key Connecticut officials meeting with feds on transportation funding

The meeting was arranged due to detailed work by Gov. Ned Lamont’s chief of staff, Ryan Drajewicz, who headed to Washington this summer to talk to the Trump administration and seek new funding to fix the state’s aging infrastructure. As a result, federal officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau will speak […]

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Alexion to put $10 million into New Haven facility

Alexion Pharmaceuticals plans to invest $10 million in labs at its facility in the city to increase the company’s capacity to reach clinical studies of its rare disease research. Alexion, in a statement, said its Global Product Development lab expansion at the 100 College St. site will be completed by the end of 2020. Yale […]

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CT’s small solutions to climate change: when flood control spurs economic development

But since 2016, Meriden has had far fewer water worries thanks to an innovative flood control concept called Meriden Green. City planners, landscape architects and others who do climate resilience work in Connecticut think it should be a model for every community. The core of the project has turned the brownfield area and the river […]

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Millstone, utilities finalize 10-year contract

State regulators recently approved a 10-year contract between the owner of Millstone Power Station and utility companies, effectively ending the yearslong political, regulatory and environmental battles to keep the plant operational. The contract calls on the utilities to buy half the plant’s output over the next decade. The price per kilowatt hour in the contract […]

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Middletown’s $87.35M combined middle school an investment ‘for our children’

The occasion was the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new facility for students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, which will incorporate students from Woodrow Wilson Middle School and Keigwin Middle School into an $87.35 million state-of-the-art building expected to be complete within the next two years. This is the first time a new middle school […]

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Feds to brief legislators on transportation funding alternatives

With a briefing by federal transportation finance officials, the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to give lawmakers a glimpse Friday of potential ways the state might fund a 10-year transportation infrastructure plan without significant highway tolls. Officials from the Build America Bureau of the U.S. Department of Transportation are coming to Hartford to […]

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Sewer pump station hearing moved to Oct. 2

Closing and demolition of the District Two sewage treatment plant on Route 7 and the piping of that wastewater for treatment at the soon-to-be renovated District One sewer plant on South Street will be up for comment at a Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing on Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the town hall […]

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New Haven firm pitches idea for 200-unit complex in New London

RJ Development + Advisors LLC, a New Haven-based commercial real estate development company, has put together conceptual plans and an ambitious schedule for construction of a four-story, 200-unit market-rate residential complex at the corner of Hamilton and Howard streets. https://www.theday.com/local-news/20190913/new-haven-firm-pitches-idea-for-200-unit-complex-in-new-london

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Joe Courtney: New submarine facility will define Connecticut’s economy

The $800 million production facility for the Columbia-class submarine program is a generational enterprise that has and will employ thousands of trades workers, engineers, designers and planners to replace a critical fleet of aging Ohio-class submarines that have been on patrol for over 40 years. The new submarines are the U.S. Navy’s top acquisition priority, […]

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Hartford Hospital plans 50,000 sq. ft. addition to Seymour St. campus

Hartford’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday approved the hospital’s plan to build a 49,550-square-foot addition to the north façade of its existing Bliss Building at 80 Seymour St. It’s unknown how much the project will cost, but newly appointed Hartford HealthCare CEO Jeff Flaks told Hartford Business Journal in August that a “multimillion-dollar construction […]

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DOL apprenticeship plan stirs debate among contractors

At issue is a proposal to exempt the construction industry from one element of the plan — the creation of Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) that would take over much of the standard-setting now done by DOL and state agencies. Now that the Aug. 26 deadline for submitting formal comments has passed, DOL officials will decide […]

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Atlantic Street reopens as bridge repair finishes

Pedestrians may now access the Atlantic Street sidewalks under the new bridge. During the 4th of July week, the old bridge, which carries five tracks for Metro-North Railroad and Amtrack trains, was taken down and a new one put in place over the course of roughly 10 days. As portions of the old one were demolished, […]

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Company agrees to waive $100,000 fee for study of Waterbury sewage treatment plant odor

It won’t cost Waterbury $100,000 to track down overpowering odors blamed on its sewage treatment plant after all. Recent news of the additional fee to Jacobs Engineering had sparked criticism. The company was already hired to a 10-year, $62.9 million, contract to run the city’s sewage treatment plant. Mayor Neil M. O’Leary, on Monday, said […]

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More Than 300,000 Comments Pour In on DOL’s Proposed Apprenticeship Rule

The Dept. of Labor’s inbox has been swamped by more than 300,000 comments—the vast majority from construction workers, according to a top union official—weighing in on the department’s proposal to revamp the federal program for apprenticeships. The regulation would apply to a broad range of industries. But for construction, the critical issue is a provision […]

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Stroffolino Bridge in Norwalk to close for construction

The bridge will be shut down from 9 a.m. Tuesday through 9 a.m. Thursday. Some lanes have been closed on the bridge during non-peak hours since April when upgrades to the structure began. Construction is expected to run until at least mid-November, state Department of Transportation officials said in April. The department had said then […]

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Winsted approves Hinsdale school renovations

Residents narrowly approved the $17.43 million project in a 780-669 vote in Saturday’s referendum, the Republican American reported. The town expects to receive about $7 million in state grants to offset costs. The plan includes adding a new play area and 7,700 square feet of new classroom space, removing an original portion of the building […]

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UHart’s biz school debuts $5M expansion

University of Hartford’s new addition includes a state-of-the-art trading floor with Bloomberg ticker and an analytics lab. The University of Hartford this week unveiled a new state-of-the-art learning and collaboration space at the Barney School of Business. The 10,000-square-foot addition, and additional 13,000 square feet of renovated space at the university’s Auerbach Hall, cost $5 […]

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Hartford’s $23M Arch Street apartments leasing quickly after Aug. debut

The fourth and final phase of Hartford’s Front Street District is now complete with the recent opening of a new $23 million apartment complex. Residents of the 53-unit, 81 Arch St. apartments overlooking UConn’s Hartford campus began moving in Aug. 1, said Peter Christian, director of development and acquisitions for Greenwich-based HB Nitkin Group, the […]

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Norwalk Planning Committee advances master plan

The full Common Council will get their chance to review and potentially adopt the 10-year master plan for the city, after the Planning Committee advanced it on Thursday. The goals of the Plan of Conservation and Development aim to fulfill the city’s vision for the future, which includes making it a “national example of a […]

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Kevin Rennie: Gov. Lamont needs a relaunch. Can he do it?

Labor Day provides an opportunity for leaders to relaunch their missions. Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration recognizes this, and the first autumn of a first term provides an opportunity for some renovations. This round could be better for Lamont and Connecticut if the governor has learned the lessons of the bitter past. https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-rennie-lamont-relaunch-0908-20190905-7o2li6m4i5gs5nqon2qdj7uyz4-story.html  

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State takes $25M loss on key downtown Hartford apartment redevelopment

A heavily subsidized downtown Hartford apartment project that was part of the city’s “six pillars” economic-development plan has fallen into foreclosure and forced the state to take a nearly $25 million haircut on its original investment, the Hartford Business Journal has learned. Elizon DB Transfer Agent LLC, of Greenwich, is suing in Hartford Superior Court, […]

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What’s new at CCSU: Construction continues as part of 10-year plan

Projects featured in this plan that have already been completed previously to this year include renovations to the Willard-DiLoreto complex, the Mid-Campus Residence Hall, Hilltop Dining Facility, a new nursing lab, a new food pantry facility and renovations to a social sciences hall that has since been named Ebenezer Bassett Hall after the first African-American […]

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Lamont, legislators: Quasi-publics are here to stay

All of the state’s 15 quasi-publics are subject to state audits, and their operations fall under the state ethics code and freedom of information act. But they have more freedom than state agencies in personnel, purchasing and contracting decisions. Lamont said the state’s Office of Policy and Management, which prepares the state budget, most likely […]

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DOL apprenticeship plan stirs debate among contractors

At issue is a proposal to exempt the construction industry from one element of the plan — the creation of Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) that would take over much of the standard-setting now done by DOL and state agencies. DOL has said it would exempt construction and the military from the program because those sectors […]

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No One Standing Down In Highway Toll Debate As Lamont Takes New Approach

Last week, the Connecticut State Building Trades Council and officers of the Connecticut AFL-CIO sent Democratic lawmakers a letter urging them to pass legislation to implement electronic tolling as quickly as possible. They said electronic tolls will raise $800 million for the Special Transportation Fund and 40% of that will come from out-of-state drivers who […]

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Offshore wind means real jobs, growth for Thames River

Work on turning State Pier into a modern, heavy-lift facility that supports offshore wind development will provide opportunities for welders, electricians, carpenters, and numerous other trades, and this is only the beginning. Once the pier is completed, that same skilled workforce will be needed to carry out the assembly work on the pier for offshore […]

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Can a $100M redevelopment plan turn Pratt Street into Hartford’s crown ‘jewel’?

Earlier this year, Shelbourne bought nearly all of the commercial buildings on Pratt St.’s south side, from 196 Trumbull St. to the building next door up to 57 Pratt St., and is part of a triumvirate of developer-landlords that recently unveiled an ambitious $100 million redevelopment vision they say would not just transform Pratt Street, […]

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Hinsdale School renovation focus of hearing in Winsted

The town already has set aside $315,075 in its capital improvement budget to cover costs related to renovations, improvements and additions to the school. Thus the town would not borrow more than $17,109,925. The town also is anticipating reimbursement from the state at $6,959,925, meaning it would finance over 20 years a total of $9,950,000. […]

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Lamont readies a transportation reboot

The state currently borrows about $800 million per year for infrastructure work, combining that with roughly $750 million in matching federal grants. But the DOT says Connecticut needs to spend at least $2 billion annually to make long-term repairs and strategic improvements. As originally proposed, tolls could raise about $800 million annually, according to administration […]

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