In a 5-3 vote, the Groton Town Council supported a long-term vision for the Noank School property that calls for a community garden, rain garden, walking trails, arboretum, Christmas tree grove, playground and youth soccer and lacrosse playing field. The decision comes after the council voted last year to terminate an agreement with the Noank […]
The city is seeking to partner with New Colony Development Fund to clean up and renovate the Sessions Building brownfield property at 273 Riverside Ave., which is considered a gateway to downtown. The Board of Finance granted a request by Justin Malley, the city’s Economic and Community Development executive director, for a bid waiver and […]
Bristol Hospital’s Emergency Center construction project is still “on time” and “on budget” for a completion date that would coincide with the hospital’s 100 year anniversary in 2021. Construction broke ground in February and has mostly remained on schedule. The renovations to the existing Emergency Center and a 12,500-square-foot addition are part of a four-phase, […]
An administrative appeal has been filed on behalf of the residents of the Misty Meadows neighborhood questioning the legality of the Planning and Zoning Commission’s approval of a 501,500-square-foot distribution center at 113 N. Maple St. During a 5½-hour virtual public hearing held on the matter on July 9, about 35 residents spoke in opposition […]
The two fields together cost about $3.6 million and were installed during the summer of 2016. They were designed by Milone & MacBroom and built by Turco Golf, with material manufactured by Sprinturf. Clift told the finance board the general contractor that did the original drainage work didn’t want to participate in the agreement. The […]
Officials are thrilled the $87.3 million Woodrow Wilson Middle School project at 1 Wilderman’s Way is on schedule and under budget. About 140 workers from a variety of trades are doing work concurrently — in sections labeled A, B and C. That meant work needed to proceed at a rapid pace, Nocera said. “It’s an […]
A proposal to improve the street, to be funded by state dollars, drew a mixed response from residents and town officials this week. The Planning & Zoning Commission this week gave its approval for the 8-24, or municipal improvement, application, with a stipulation: That another meeting be held with all interested residents, including the Whiting […]
State officials say it will save more than $7 million in five years by relocating some 160 state workers mostly in downtown Hartford to newly renovated offices on Capitol and Farmington avenues. A projected $7.1 million will be saved in operating and lease costs over a five-year period, DAS said, as it will also avoid […]
The $17 million renovation of the shuttered Mary P. Hinsdale School is the only school project under way in the town and officials will be seeking state money to help pay the cost. The State Bond Commission approved $200 million for school construction projects when it met July 21 and while the town of Winchester […]
Developer Building and Land Technology announced Tuesday that it would explore new projects for the 14-acre peninsula that it owns in the city’s South End, a site that was controversially proposed several years ago as a headquarters for the world’s largest hedge fund. As the developer of the mixed-use Harbor Point complex that encompasses 100 […]
Determining which is the best method for a project requires contractors, construction managers and owners to understand their differences and to be on the same page on what is required with each type. As part of a CMc contract, Meyer said, the construction manager is brought in at the beginning of the project to provide […]
The changes will fully defer property taxes for new construction and substantial improvements for five years as a way to attract new businesses to town. The tax deferral ordinance previously offered abatements that were based on a sliding scale and could be used for seven years. The benefit only applies to projects that increase the […]
More than a century of manufacturing at 100 Franklin St. littered the ground underneath with a mix of contaminants, some of which will need to be excavated in preparation for a four-story apartment complex to be developed on the site. The city has slightly less than $800,000 in state grants to cleanup Franklin Street as […]
The Trust for Public Land (TPL), which has been an active acquirer and preserver of land in Connecticut since 1986, is in negotiations to purchase 288 acres of rolling fields and tobacco barns in the northern section of town that would be preserved as farmland and open and recreational space. The land is currently owned […]
“The airport is something in the era of COVID with people looking to pull out of New York that we might be able to leverage to bring more business to Danbury,” Boughton said. “I do think there is an opportunity there, and we need to cash in on it.” The campaign to elevate Danbury Airport […]
An application for a 4.9-megawatt solar photovoltaic facility in East Windsor was submitted Monday to the State Siting Council by Greenskies Clean Energy. Green Skies is proposing a solar facility on two parcels within the town’s A-1 agricultural/residential zoning district. The solar array would use approximately 28.7 acres of the 39 total acres, the application […]
Developer Winstanley Enterprises plans to build the new 500,000-square foot building at 101 College St. It will mean more room to accommodate the region’s growing bioscience industry, which needs more lab, research and incubator space. The New Haven Development Commission approved the project at a special meeting on Wednesday. This money will help with the […]
Bloomfield’s town plan and zoning commission (TPZ) in a virtual meeting Thursday unanimously approved both a zone change and a master plan for Corporate Crossing Limited Partnership’s planned $22.6-million expansion at 580 Cottage Grove Road. The TPZ changed about 12.5 acres of the 20-acre Corporate Crossing site from an office zone to a multi-family residential […]
A proposed mixed-use development on the site of the former Smith Funeral Home has been tabled to give the Planning and Zoning Board time to review a plan for shared parking, to request a traffic study for the project area and to determine whether the board has the legal right to require a public hearing. […]
The city is looking for an architect to design the seven-classroom annex to Ellsworth Avenue Elementary School. The roughly $7 million to $8 million project is expected to add much-needed space at the pre-kindergarten and elementary-school levels, which have seen growing enrollment. The district has applied for a state grant to cover 63 percent of […]
The town’s planning and zoning commission recently granted site plan approval for JLN Contracting, led by owner Jack Neubieser and general manager Jay Stuart, to build two, 31,500-square-foot industrial buildings and an adjacent 4,200-square-foot office building at 70 Commerce Dr. Construction of the three-building development will likely begin when JLN secures a tenant for the […]
The state Bond Commission on Tuesday approved $7 million for the final cleanup of the 393-acre former Norwich Hospital property needed before it can be turned over to Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment for a planned major development. The $7 million will be held in escrow by the state Department of Economic and Community Development pending […]
The State Bond Commission approved nearly $550 million in financing for school construction, transportation and other capital projects Tuesday. About 80% of the financing approved Tuesday — about $420 million out of $550 million — is focused on education and transportation projects, two major priorities, the Democratic governor said. And with the pandemic curtailing highway […]
After hours of listening to the public and town officials about which course of action the town should take on its future public safety building during a special meeting Monday night, the Board of Finance denied a request to bond an additional $2.17 million to complete plans to renovate and remodel the building. Finance board […]
The state Bond Commission Tuesday approved $200 million to fund school projects around the state, including the Mary P. Hinsdale School in Winsted. “Of our $325 million for our GO bonds, general obligation bonds, $200 million of that is related to schools, and school construction,” the governor said. “I know we’re working hard to get […]
Gov. Ned Lamont announced the establishment of a new state office dubbed the Connecticut Workforce Unit, which will be led by manufacturing CEO Kelli-Marie Vallieres. Vallieres, who also serves as co-chair of the Governor’s Workforce Council, said on Tuesday that she resigned her position as CEO of Sound Manufacturing and Monster Power Equipment in Old […]
A Boston-based developer has unveiled plans for 82 mixed income apartments on the site of the former Campbell Grain Building site. Winn Companies, which builds and manages similar projects across the country, outlined the $30 million project at the end of Coggswell Street to the Economic Development Commission during a virtual meeting Monday night. A […]
For the second time in four months, members of the Board of Representatives have voted to appeal a developer’s case that so far has gone against them in court. This time it involves Building & Land Technology, which earlier this year won a ruling in state Superior Court. A judge said the board does not […]
Tuesday’s virtual meeting will be the second held in 2020, and the first since a special meeting in April, when the 10-member commission chaired by Gov. Ned Lamont approved more than $700 million in financing for various transportation projects across the state. The commission, considering projects already approved by the Democrat-controlled legislature, on Tuesday will consider more […]
The town’s board of selectmen is expected to vote Thursday evening on the final terms of property tax abatement for The Silverman Group, of Basking Ridge, N.J., as it looks to build two industrial buildings totaling 246,240 square feet at 12 South Main St. The cost of the project was not disclosed. In a statement […]
The Connecticut Siting Council held a virtual public hearing and evidentiary session Tuesday for a petition to build a solar facility in town. Originally proposed by Greenskies Clean Energy in 2018, the company’s application was denied by the Siting Council after Waterford and Save the River-Save the Hills raised concerns ranging from the potential impact […]
As town staff planned to begin their official move into the newly-built Town Hall and Community Center this week, they learned the facility is riddled with problems and has yet to be cleared for occupancy. Elected officials were made aware of significant issues in the new $31 million facility during the Town Council’s meeting Tuesday […]
The state Bond Commission is expected to vote next week on the $7 million needed to finish cleaning up the former Norwich Hospital property, four months after the General Assembly approved the funding on the eve of the state shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the property is cleaned, the town will transfer ownership […]
Unable to garner needed commitments from municipalities that use the Mid-Connecticut plant, the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) voted in late May to end its effort to negotiate a redevelopment agreement with a private operator unless the state made a financial commitment by August, warning that it would have to ship trash to out-of-state […]
Over the course of its 100-year history, Manafort Brothers Inc. has established itself as one of the biggest contractors in New England. The company recently marked its 100 years in business but the history of the company goes back through four generations of the Manafort family. Under the leadership of these three in the 1960s, […]
The Planning & Zoning Commission Monday granted a special permit to the town and school district for renovation and new construction at the now-closed Mary P. Hinsdale Elementary School, including restoration of the natural flow of a brook that flows through a culvert under a portion of the building. Residents approved the $17.43 million school […]
Foley, owner and president of HF3 Group LLC, is now looking to break into Greater Hartford with a $16-million mixed-use townhome development in Wethersfield that would add roughly 50 units and 5,000 square feet of commercial space to a Berlin Turnpike corridor he says is ripe for affordable and market-rate housing. Preliminary blueprints could change […]
While states like Connecticut included the solar sector in their stay-at-home ranks – contributing to what would become a more than 620,500 loss of clean energy jobs nationally by the end of May – Massachusetts kept its solar people working. Now, with northeastern states endeavoring to jumpstart their economies following the flattening of COVID-19’s spread, […]
After three years of work, a $56.7 million project that improved a 5-mile stretch of the Merritt Parkway is coming to an end. The state Department of Transportation has announced that the project “will move to a full final alignment progressing east to west (Fairfield to Westport) as median reconstruction work is completed and temporary […]
Connecticut borrows billions of dollars annually for capital projects by selling bonds on Wall Street. But there is a borrowing limit and it’s tied to the revenues the state expects to receive each year. As expectations for tax receipts and other resources shrink, so does the debt limit. State law caps not only the outstanding […]
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that Connecticut is reinstating the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP), which is a state grant program aimed at funding capital improvement projects in towns ineligible to receive bond issuances. Lamont said the state is restoring the program with a new round of grants worth $15 million to provide towns […]
The Board of Finance has postponed until July 20 its decision on whether to approve a request to bond an additional $2.17 million to complete plans to renovate and remodel the town’s future public safety building. Now that the decision has been postponed, town registrars also have postponed a potential referendum date for voters to […]
The Board of Selectmen acting as the Water Pollution Control Authority unanimously rejected a sewer extension request to increase housing density on Hiawatha Lane. First Selectman Jim Marpe said he supported a denial of the 1,600-foot sewer extension proposed by Summit Saugatuck LLC because it was rejected by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The Water […]
The neighbors, who had to rely on word of mouth, had mere hours to convince the PZC to hold a public hearing on the plan. PZC Chairman Ken Nelson said Tuesday that the application didn’t require a public hearing. But the commission voted unanimously on June 25 to hold one at its next meeting, this […]
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is announcing the scheduled closure and detour of Route 66 (East High Street) for a replacement of the existing box culvert carrying Pocotopaug Creek that crosses Route 66 in front of the American Distillery building. DOT Project No. 0041-0118 was awarded to Mizzy Construction of Plainville, with an estimated cost of $2.4 million, […]
The Connecticut Port Authority has awarded the city a grant to build an eight-slip boat dock with a handicap-accessible kayak boat launch along the Thames River. A Small Harbor Improvement Projects Program grant through the Connecticut Port Authority will cover $649,332 of the cost, while the city will provide a matching grant of $166,083, according […]
Conversion of the iconic Marcel Breuer designed Pirelli Tire Co. structure on Long Wharf to a hotel is on schedule, one of many building projects progressing in New Haven. Bruce Becker, whose last foray into the city was the 36-floor 360 State Street apartment complex, said workers have been abating the asbestos insulation on the […]
Carter Winstanley’s $100 million biotech research building that will feature a public plaza, a biotech training program for students and a workforce pipeline got final approval from the Board of Alders. It will be the second major lab building on reclaimed land that was the Route 34 connector, where the goal is to keep research […]
The city has been working for years to replace Bassick High School, the last of the city’s comprehensive high schools to be rebuilt. The state’s share of the $115 million high school already has legislative approval. Officials say the new location should not add to the overall cost of the project. It could bump out […]
Newington Public Schools and the Town of Newington are planning a fall referendum for the proposed $35.5 million project, to renovate the school as new. Officials have applied for a school building grant from the state of Connecticut, to cover more than half of the estimated cost. Built in 1954 as Northwest Elementary, the Anna […]
With Berkshire Hathaway’s $9.7 billion planned acquisition of Dominion Energy’s natural gas transmission business and accompanying debt, a major pipeline in western Connecticut will be getting a new stakeholder amid continuing investment in the system. If approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the deal would give Berkshire Hathaway some 7,700 miles of transmission lines, […]
Recall that in running for governor in 2018, Democrat Ned Lamont watered down his toll proposal to say he would only assess the fee on large trucks, a more politically palatable position. Once in office, and having calculated how much money the state would need to upgrade its deteriorating and outdated transportation system, Lamont announced […]
With the coronavirus spreading nationally and 19 other states pulling back or pausing on their reopening plans, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday that he is considering a pause in the third phase of Connecticut’s reopening as the state continues battling the virus. Connecticut was planning to open bars, indoor event spaces and allow large outdoor […]
A $14 million mixed-used development of residential and retail received the green light Monday, which officials said will be a huge boost for downtown, breathing new life into several long-vacant buildings that could open as early as fall 2021. Marcinek expects remediation of asbestos inside the buildings to take 60 to 90 days, with construction […]
If all goes as planned, direct access in both directions from Interstate 95 to Route 1 in Stratford, just south of Milford, will be done in time for the Independence Day weekend two years from now. Work to construct a full interchange at Exit 33 off Interstate 95 is scheduled to be completed July 5, […]
The board of the Connecticut Port Authority picked an engineering firm to help oversee the $157 million redevelopment of State Pier into a wind turbine staging area, during a special meeting Tuesday. At the meeting, which was held virtually, the board agreed to enter into a $4,191,572 contract with AECOM to act as its agent […]
