Groton Town Council endorses plan for Groton/Noank Community Park and Garden

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bristol seeks new partner to clean up, renovate Sessions Building brownfield property

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bristol Hospital’s Emergency Center construction project on time, on budget

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, […]

Share This Article:

read more

Neighbors challenge in court Enfield PZC’s approval of massive distribution center

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Winsted road project draws mixed reviews, with calls for making traffic one-way

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Confusion over Winchester school project funding

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

BLT seeks plans for Stamford peninsula once proposed for Bridgewater Associates HQ

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

The benefit only applies to projects that increase the value of the property by at least $50,000 or new building projects.

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Town official: ‘Powerful incentive for new construction’ launches in New Milford

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Plan submitted for another solar facility in East Windsor

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

New Haven bioscience development wins final approvals

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bloomfield corporate campus eyeing $23M office, multifamily housing expansion

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Danbury seeks bids for design of Ellsworth school expansion

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Berlin developer to build Cromwell industrial complex, new HQ

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bond commission approves $550M in financing for capital projects — but partisan debate over borrowing continues

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

East Lyme Board of Finance turns down $2.17 million needed to complete police building

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Winsted’s Hinsdale School renovation gets $7M from CT Bond Commission

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Vallieres to lead new Connecticut workforce unit

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Apartments proposed for Campbell Grain site in downtown Pawcatuck

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bond Commission to consider $650M for transportation, state office, minority biz relief projects

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Siting Council hears revised plan, environmental concerns on proposed Waterford solar facility

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Newly-built Newington Town Hall and Community Center riddled with problems, yet to be cleared

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Lamont won’t back $330M trash plant subsidy

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Manafort Brothers Inc. established as one of biggest contractors in New England over course of 100-year history

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, […]

Share This Article:

read more

Winsted P&Z sets hearing date for Hinsdale School renovation, site plan

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bullish on CT, Georgia developer eyes vacant Berlin Turnpike site for $16M townhome complex

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Can clean energy power CT’s economic recovery?

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, […]

Share This Article:

read more

Final work on Merritt Parkway project to close Exit 42

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Pandemic restricts Connecticut’s credit card; planned projects would shatter it by $2B

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Lamont restores capital improvement grant program for small towns

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Westport Board of Selectmen reject Hiawatha Lane sewer extension

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Connecticut DOT to conduct road work in East Hampton

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, […]

Share This Article:

read more

Groton City awarded grant for eight-slip dock along Thames River

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Berkshire Hathaway takes stake in big CT natural gas pipeline

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, […]

Share This Article:

read more

Tolls turned out to be a blip on the political radar

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

As coronavirus spikes across nation, Gov. Lamont says Connecticut may pause reopening of state

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more

Bella Vista development in Ansonia gains P&Z approval

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 […]

Share This Article:

read more