Berlin’s Steele Center taking shape, with two more buildings under construction

Tony Valenti and Mark Lovely of Southington-based Lovely Development and Newport Realty are building The Steele Center, a $17-million, 75,000-square-foot commercial and residential development, that will bring 70 market-rate apartments and several commercial storefronts to the Kensington Village area. Steele Boulevard is a new road that stretches from Farmington Avenue to the new Berlin train […]

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West Hartford’s first transit-oriented housing development is coming. Here’s what that means.

A five-story 150-unit mixed-use housing development could be coming to the former Puritan Furniture site on New Britain Avenue in Elmwood. If approved, the project — which has been called Elmwood Lofts in filing documents — would be the first to make use of the town’s new ordinance establishing a transit-oriented district in that part […]

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17 major development projects set to transform Danbury’s landscape for years to come

The city’s post-pandemic landscape is busy with development activity, from new car dealerships opening and proposals for hundreds of new apartments on the booming west side to commercial and residential projects slated for the downtown’s Main Street. “The diversity of these projects and the variety of uses is an indication of Danbury’s attractiveness as a […]

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CT’s highway system ranks 5th in national study, as per-mile spending rises

Connecticut’s highway system was recently ranked fifth in the United States in terms of its cost-effectiveness and condition, rising 26 spots from last year’s rankings, according to the 27th Annual Highway Report released by the Reason Foundation. While Connecticut’s improvement is due partly to a change in the methodology, it also rose in the rankings […]

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CHFA poised to approve $36.5M in loans for housing developments in Newington, West Hartford and New Haven

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority’s Mortgage Committee unanimously endorsed $36.5 million in loans to affordable housing projects in Newington, West Hartford and New Haven Tuesday. The loan proposals include $3.17 million for the second phase of Massachusetts-based Dakota Partners’ “Cedar Pointe” development of a 7.7-acre former car dealership property at 550 Cedar St. in Newington. […]

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Orange-based Avangrid vows to restart hydro line construction after winning jury decision

Avangrid confirmed Wednesday it plans to restart construction of its planned New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line in Maine to tap hydropower in Canada after a jury verdict that the Orange-based company could proceed despite a 2021 voter referendum to block the project. It is a major win for renewable energy advocates in New […]

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Officials Kick Off 4-Year Construction at I-95 Exit 74, Lamont Talks Faster Rail

Infrastructure was the buzzword on Wednesday as officials pushed ceremonial shovels into the ground to kick off the I-95 Exit 74 reconstruction project that will realign interchanges, widen lanes and replace the bridge at Route 161. The $150 million project is expected to be completed in Spring 2027. Garrett Eucalitto, state commissioner of transportation, said […]

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Officials say exit project will bring ‘transformational’ improvements to East Lyme traffic

A group of local and state officials, from First Selectman Kevin Seery to Gov. Ned Lamont, stood in front of an excavator at the former site of the Starlight Inn Wednesday morning. Construction workers watched in their yellow vests and hard hats from the staging area that will become a northbound on-ramp and commuter parking […]

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Eversource Energy launches $12 million in Waterbury electric grid updates

Eversource Energy has started work on a $12 million upgrade of its distribution network in northern Waterbury, company officials said this week. The project, which will be rolled out in phases through 2025, got underway earlier this year, according to Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman. The first phase of the project will be completed by […]

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Bridgeport remembers 1987 L’Ambiance Plaza collapse

City officials gathered Saturday morning to mark the 36th anniversary of the L’Ambiance Plaza collapse. L’Ambiance, a 16-story apartment building, was being built using lift-slab construction, in which the concrete slabs are poured on the ground, then lifted into place using jacks. On April 23, 1987, a slab slipped and the structure collapsed, killing 27 […]

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Stamford High could get a state-funded synthetic field, but whether it’s safe is becoming a turf war

A plan to add a synthetic field at Stamford High School has received some push back because of environmental and safety concerns. The funding to install the multi-purpose field at the baseball field is not an issue. The State Bond Commission agreed to pay $3 million for the work. A letter from the Children’s Environment […]

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New York-based company relocating headquarters to CT, adding 100 jobs

A company that specializes in the design, manufacturing and construction of mid-sized and high-rise buildings in cities is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Brooklyn, N.Y. to Connecticut, state officials announced Monday. FullStack Modular will relocate its headquarters from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to 30 Edmund St. in Hamden, Gov. Ned Lamont and company officials said […]

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Maryland high-tech building materials manufacturer proposes Windsor factory

Maryland-based Blueprint Robotics wants to put up a high-tech factory in Windsor to produce building materials to serve the New England market. The company is proposing a 462,000-square-foot factory along with a 90,000-square-foot warehouse. If the Planning and Zoning Commission grants its approval, Blueprint would build on about 48 acres of former Culbro shade tobacco […]

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30 years vacant: Stamford developer looks to replace Dress Barn site with 198 apartments, retail

The vacant property fronting the Bedford Street parking garage has become a rare pocket of inactivity in Downtown Stamford as developers fill in the remaining gaps like puzzle pieces. Stamford-based F.D. Rich Company is seeking Zoning Board approval to build a 198-unit luxury apartment complex on the parcel, which includes an adjacent lot across Gay […]

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Canal Construction Finish Pushed To The Fall

Concrete has been poured and hard-hatted construction workers are busy on site, but the final downtown stretch of New Haven’s Farmington Canal Heritage Trail won’t be done until the fall — thanks to a mandatory break to accommodate summer camps in an adjacent park. That’s the latest with the ongoing construction of Phase IV of the canal […]

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$115M upgrades to Danbury drinking water quality are up for a public vote. Here’s why

Danbury needs to borrow $115 million to pay for upgrades to its drinking water treatment plants and its distribution system, and to comply with current clean water standards — including one new rule passed by the government in 2021 because of the health emergency in Flint. “Overall this administration is working with (the) water department […]

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THS project architects lead tour of construction site

A few months ago, the middle-high school project on Besse Drive was filled with piles of steel beams, trucks and ditches. However, the $179 million building project, which will have a new high school, middle school and central offices for the Torrington School District, is now taking shape. A recent tour with members of the […]

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NL harbor shakes the rust off

Kiewit Infrastructure Co., the construction manager for State Pier, is leasing the 15-acre former Thames River Apartments parcel from the city as a storage site for building materials. Deliveries of wind turbine components are due to start this month. Waste management removal improvements, tug repair, refurbishment of the public boat launch under the Gold Star […]

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Audit of CT’s hazmat program shows missing documentation

An audit of Connecticut’s hazardous materials cleanup program disclosed that more than a year’s worth of documentation was unavailable to auditors. The audit was part of Gov. Ned Lamont’s response to news that a federal grand jury was probing the state’s hazmat contracts, Connecticut’s school construction program and several other state projects that were overseen […]

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Building 208 apartments in downtown Danbury would decrease traffic, data says. Leaders don’t buy it

The project, known as The Legacy on Main has already been through the land use wringer once, gaining permission last week from the city’s wetlands commission. Blueprints call for the conversion of the existing five-story office building into studio and one-bedroom units, and the construction of a 70-foot apartment building in the parking lot with […]

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Norwalk charter school closer to opening after 5 year delay with promise of $2.1M from CT

The legislative Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved $2.1 million for the school as part of the state budget proposal that will be reviewed by legislators and the governor. This would be Norwalk’s second charter school. “The city of Norwalk is going to be undergoing a comprehensive school construction process for all of our public schools,” […]

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Branford announces plans for massive biotech park off Interstate 95

A Minnesota-based company is working with a Connecticut developer to create a sprawling biotech and life sciences park in Branford on a 120-acre site off the Exit 56 interchange, town and company officials announced Thursday. Plans for the project were jointly announced by town officials and developers Minnesota-based Ryan Companies and Henrich Partners LLC of […]

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Works begins on new Wallingford Police station

Work started recently to transform the former 3M office building at 100 Barnes Road into the town’s new police station. The town paid $1.8 million for the almost 10-acre property in July 2021. As an office building, it included a gym, a conference facility and a cafeteria. The total bonded for the purchase was $3.3 […]

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Yonkers Contracting Leads $77M Project to Replace Stamford Parking Garage

Yonkers Contracting Company Inc. started work on the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s (CTDOT) $77.2 million, design-build Stamford Station Parking Garage project in September 2021 to provide additional parking via a new facility and to improve services at the train station. The project is expected to be delivered this August. Development of the design-build project, via […]

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Hartford developer takes on transformation of antique Litchfield courthouse into boutique hotel

A planned $14-million redevelopment spearheaded by Hartford-based Lexington Partners will transform the building into a 20-room boutique hotel. Under the plan, the main second-floor courtroom will be converted into an upscale restaurant, accentuated by a rooftop lounge overlooking a portion of the town center and wooded hills beyond. With all needed approvals in hand, Lexington […]

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For sale in CT: Huge company headquarter that could be a senior living campus

The property has been owned since 2018 under a limited liability company controlled by Senior Living Development, whose principal Mark De Pecol is CEO of KindCare Assisted Living based in Fairfield. Senior Living Development acquired the property for just under $3.3 million, with the city’s most recent appraisal calculating a value of $3.9 million. Trumbull’s […]

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Danbury brothers approved to build $2.3M multifamily apartment building in New Milford

Danbury brothers Scott and David Benincasa’s site plan application to construct a four-story, $2.3 million apartment building on the property at 25 Church St. was approved at the Zoning Commission’s April 11 meeting. The proposed apartment building will have 18 units — six of which will be designated as affordable housing units, according to the […]

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Final State Pier cost remains unknown

Connecticut Port Authority Executive Director Ulysses Hammond, at a board meeting on Tuesday, signaled that the answers should come within “the next few weeks,” as negotiations with the key involved players near an end. He said he expects to call a special meeting of the port authority’s board later this month regarding the price tag […]

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Gales Ferry Neighbors Push for Buffers as Dredging Company Plans Expansion

Neighbors of a 165-acre industrial site on the Thames River being developed by a Massachusetts dredging and marine services company say they don’t want to stop the project, but want the company to compromise by leaving more of a buffer for their neighborhood. Quincy-based Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting applied to the Ledyard Planning and […]

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200-apartment project planned for downtown Danbury gets environmental green light

The approval by the city’s wetlands commission last week of the 208-apartment project for south Main Street sets up a public hearing on Wednesday before the city’s Planning Commission. Known as The Legacy on Main, the developer plans to retrofit the five-story office building at 30 Main St. into 48 apartments and to build a […]

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Heavy equipment training facility gets approval for former Meriden power plant site

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478 asked the city for permission to use the 36-acre former power plant site for training programs in the operations and repair of heavy construction equipment and driver training. It currently operates a 13,000-square-foot facility on Cheshire Road in Meriden that will remain open. The Apprenticeship Training and […]

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Lamont tours housing boom in New London

Lamont toured the multiple housing development sites, totaling about 416 units, across the city to see for himself the housing boom taking place here. “More housing is being developed than ever before,” Lamont said. “People want to move to New London.” The tour started at the Garfield Mill Complex at 90 Garfield Ave. which will […]

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Norwalk’s old IMAX theater is dismantled brick by brick as massive CT train bridge project ramps up

For perhaps the most eye-grabbing demolition project underway in Connecticut, no one has a better seat to the show than Linda Vinci, whose Braach’s Flowers is across the street from the old IMAX Theater at the Maritime Aquarium. Work crews are dismantling the structure to make way for construction of a new train bridge spanning […]

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Torrington school ‘going up so fast’

Hetzler and Building Committee Co-Chairman Edward Arum said the project is running on schedule and within budget, and construction crews from O&G Industries and architects from Slam Collaborative are working well together. “The building project is on schedule,” she said. “The building is going up so fast. The weather has been perfect for the project.” […]

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Total crane count rises but commercial work dips

The overall number of construction cranes at work in major North American cities grew 7% in the first three months of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2022, although cranes on commercial projects were down 20% for that same period, according to the most recent crane index from Rider Levett Bucknall. Despite labor concerns […]

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New Track, ‘Dislocation’ Necessary for High Speed Rail, Murphy Tells Chamber Luncheon

Boosting the speed of train travel along the Northeast corridor is a top priority, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, that will require new track and “dislocation” for communities along the rail corridor. Murphy made the comments at a luncheon sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut on Wednesday. Murphy said that of the […]

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Upcoming water main repairs on Greenwich Avenue will mean closed roads, less parking for a year

Aquarion Water Company expects to start repair work on the water line under Greenwich Avenue soon with the work likely causing intermittent road closures in coming months. Aquarion, through its partner Snyder Civil Engineering, expects to start work this spring and take a full year to complete. The companies have not specified when work will […]

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Senior housing project pitched for Windsor Locks

Owner and applicant Gary Merrigan of Windsor Locks-based M&L Development Corp. has gained approval to build 24 residential units at 64 South Elm St., for seniors age 55 and older called The Settlement at 64. The 3.1-acre development site is primarily vacant land except for one single-family residence. “It’s a great location,” Merrigan said, “you […]

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CT DOT begins work to remove stop sign on Route 9 in Middletown; site of 100s of accidents a year

Construction has begun on a $50 million state project to reconfigure a stop sign on the Route 17 on-ramp that leads to Route 9 northbound in Middletown to remedy a section of highway deemed one of the most dangerous in Connecticut. Aimed at reducing crashes and improving traffic movement, the Department of Transportation plan includes […]

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Challenges and high ambitions on display during tour of East Hartford development sites

Challenges facing the economically diverse, historically blue-collar town of East Hartford were not far from view Tuesday morning as Walsh toured two state representatives and a small clutch of journalists through several sites targeted for ambitious redevelopment projects. The tour began at the Silver Lane Plaza, a 22-acre site where two of three deteriorating retail […]

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See how New Haven’s cityscape has changed many times over as modern development begins to take hold

As one of the nation’s oldest cities — founded in 1638 — New Haven has changed many times and in many ways over the years. Among the areas of the city that have changed significantly over the past few decades are Downtown New Haven, the area around Wooster Square, the Dixwell Avenue commercial district and […]

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Strong School Sale, Tax Break Proposed

The Elicker administration has submitted a plan to sell Fair Haven’s long-vacant former Strong School property to a developer for $500,000 — with a 20-year tax break — to create 50 affordable apartments. Roughly five months after Pennrose, a national affordable housing developer, competed for and won the opportunity to redevelop the historic Fair Haven ex-school building, the city […]

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Here’s why Stamford’s Board of Reps denied BLT — the city’s largest developer — a $1M state grant

The Stamford Board of Representatives took an unusual action Monday, voting to reject a nearly $1 million state grant for environmental remediation on the South End’s old contaminated Blickensderfer typewriter site. The coalition cited a mix of concerns, including spending, corporate subsidies and animosity toward the city’s largest developer, Building and Land Technology. Though the […]

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New London celebrates future community center and $2 million in federal funding

New London has secured $2 million in federal funding for its future community center, officials announced on a sunny day at the Fort Trumbull site Tuesday. Mayor Michael Passero said the $2 million addresses a funding gap for the project. While the City Council approved $30 million in bonding for the project, which Passero initially […]

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Mental health in the construction industry

In industries like construction, where safety risks are present daily, taking steps to provide resources and support for individuals to take their mental health seriously is critical. According to a 2021 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 94% of workers in the construction and extraction professions have outdoor exposure, and 62.2% of workers in […]

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Amid funding uncertainty, CSCU eyes new $350M Hartford campus for Capital Community College

Capital Community College (CCC) is considering a new downtown Hartford campus, school officials confirmed to the Hartford Business Journal, as its existing space in the former G. Fox department store building at 960 Main St. becomes increasingly outdated and in need of significant repairs. Terrence Cheng, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) […]

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Norwalk P&Z Commission approves sale of land to DOT for Walk Bridge project; ‘makes the site safer’

As part of the Walk Bridge replacement, the Planning & Zoning Commission voted to move forward with the sale of a piece of city-owned land to the Connecticut Department of Transportation that will be used for the $772 million project. The project — which has been in the planning stages since 2017 — is scheduled […]

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Developer eyes Bloomfield for a 522,000-square-foot warehouse

NorthPoint hasn’t publicly identified any prospective tenant or tenants for the facility, which would be built along West Dudley Town Road. But the Kansas City-based development company has a history of successfully leasing large distribution centers around the country, and currently controls nearly 150 million square feet of warehouse space in 15 states. NorthPoint is […]

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Groton preparing for growth at Electric Boat

As Electric Boat ramps up hiring, Groton is looking at its plans to handle traffic and parking and is making sure its schools are ready. The town known as the Submarine Capital of the World is also attracting interest from developers. Currently, about 8,900 people work at the Groton plant and Electric Boat is looking […]

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Region 4 School District OKs $10M for New Athletic fields, But Concerns Linger

After three hours of debate Wednesday night, the Region 4 Board of Education voted 7-1 to approve borrowing nearly $10 million to revamp athletic fields at the middle school and high school. The $9.6 million bond would cover a complete renovation of Valley Regional High School’s practice field and upper field, the partial renovation of […]

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East Haven Residents, Officials Oppose Tweed Expansion at Saturday Hearing — a Sharp Split from New Haven

Numerous East Haven officials, first responders and residents denounced a recent FAA study at a hearing on Saturday that projected minimal harm from the proposed Tweed New Haven Airport expansion. The environmental assessment was co-signed by New Haven city staff who embraced the economic benefits of the plan. Residents cheered as Carfora called for an […]

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