With more than $524 million in town projects on the horizon, officials are grappling with how to manage rising costs and potential tax increases. At a series of finance board meetings this week, officials from the town, school board and Water Pollution Control Authority said that rising inflation, a reliance on federal pandemic funds and […]
After a years-long process, a new multi-use trail connecting the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail to a local park is finally set to be completed by 2026. The town is currently planning for the nearly $2 million construction of an approximately half-mile trail to connect the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail to Curtiss Park along Tariffville Road […]
Connecticut Sports Group’s pending application for key local land-use approvals reveals some additional details about its proposed minor league soccer stadium, including how the building, if necessary, can be de-constructed and moved to make way for a major league facility. The organization, which had initially wanted to erect the venue by spring 2025 but is […]
It would be the first of its kind not only in Connecticut, but in the entire Northeast. UConn is working with a company to build a multi-million dollar “smart city” and research lab, which would allow companies and researchers to collaborate on emerging vehicle technologies and concepts. The Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI), which is part […]
West Hartford-based solar energy developer Verogy is installing arrays on 7 acres of remediated land at the capped 80-foot-high midden. The Midden Panorama Trail, which can be accessed by a short nature trail with a steep climb, affords a nearly 360-degree view of the surroundings, including Cromwell, Meriden, Portland and other towns, as well as […]
After years of discussion and revisions, West Hartford has finalized plans for updating LaSalle Road and Farmington Avenue, two key streets in its town center. The final plan was presented this week to the town council’s Community Planning and Economic Development Committee by Town Manager Rick Ledwith and Travis Ewen, a senior associate and landscape […]
A group working to solve what it calls a shortage of athletic fields here is scheduled to present conceptual plans Thursday that call for new fields at Robert E. Fitch High School, Sutton Park and the former Claude Chester School. The recommendations would upgrade an outdated football field at the high school and add more […]
Demolition is just about complete, and the site on Station Place should be clear by Thanksgiving, a state Department of Transportation spokesman said Tuesday. The department replaced the long-crumbling garage in February with a new one that opened a block away on Washington Boulevard. DOT at the time partnered with a private developer to build […]
The West Haven Planning and Zoning Commission recently approved a Yale University application to develop the former Giordano Bros. Monuments location on 275 Derby Avenue into a 72-space parking lot for the surrounding university athletic facilities. Giordano Bros. Monuments has since relocated to Forbes Avenue in New Haven and renamed itself Spartan Stone and Monuments. […]
The Metropolitan District Commission has laid out its plans to invest $32 million toward rehabilitating and improving aging and failing sewer lines throughout town. The project, which aims to reduce and eliminate sanitary sewer overflow as well as reduce sewage and nitrogen released into the Connecticut River, will get started later this month and will […]
The Community Investment Fund Board on Tuesday recommended $7.5 million in state funding for economic and community development projects in Waterbury, Winchester, Torrington, Thomaston and Plymouth. The 21-member board recommended nearly $75 million for projects in 23 towns and cities at its fall meeting. Gov. Ned Lamont will now review the recommendations and determine which […]
When Gov. Ned Lamont visited the Norwich marina on Aug. 1, he turned around in the parking lot and looked at the blighted former Marina Towers building. City leaders had a ready answer for the governor, saying they had submitted a grant application to assess, remediate and begin demolition of the long-vacant Marina Towers. The […]
Unanticipated costs have the Board of Selectmen and the Park and Recreation Commission rethinking a plan to remove the cracked asphalt surface of the two tennis courts at Community Field and put down a new asphalt surface. As part of a long-range $2.6 million capital improvements plan for the field, $168,000 has been budgeted for […]
While the stadium has succeeded in bringing crowds of more than 6,000 fans to downtown Hartford, a dispute over cost overruns and delays with its construction – and the city’s decision to fire the original developer, Middletown-based Centerplan Cos. – remains mired in controversy. A major piece of the lawsuit was resolved in October, when […]
Town officials this week revealed their plans to reconstruct part of New Park Avenue, with designs calling for what would be the town’s first-ever separated bike lanes. Up until now, bike lanes in West Hartford have only ever been painted lines on the roadway. But the town’s new $6 million plans to overhaul a stretch […]
With a goal of repairing some 10 miles of local street surfaces by the end of the year, crews will be paving, milling, patching and conducting other preservation efforts through the fall. Next up will be curbing and more preservation work on the south side of town, in the Chauncy and Chamberlain roads neighborhood, by […]
An ambitious $16.5 million flood mitigation proposal for South Water Street calls for a combination of new flood walls and road-raising, along with design elements to make the downtown waterfront area more attractive and functional. The plan, which requires several steps before it can be approved or funded, focuses on a 1,300-foot stretch of South […]
In a Tuesday newsletter, First Selectmen Bill Gerber urged residents to share their concerns about project impacts like clear cutting, habitat removal, disturbances to private property and “unsightly” transmission poles with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection as the agency prepares a study of the Connecticut Siting Council. The call to action comes […]
The commission, at its meeting Wednesday, approved Highview Commercial’s request to remove the already approved office building and hotel, replacing it with a 13,500 square foot building to house an as yet unnamed grocery store. But the decision denied the developer’s third request for apartments — this one calling for 100 units — on the […]
Michael Freimuth, a champion of redevelopment efforts in Hartford and East Hartford, announced Thursday his will step down as executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority next June. The agency’s role has expanded to include work on housing developments across Hartford — not just in its center — as well as in East Hartford […]
Lewis Brown and Gregory Vaca of HGRE Ventures, a partnership between Avon-based Honeycomb Real Estate Partners and GRAVA Properties of West Hartford, presented preliminary plans to the Enfield Town Council this week for the Enfield Station development – a $100 million, two-phase project that would bring more than 300 residential units to the riverfront section […]
It will take until the end of October – and about $1.2 million dollars – for the state Department of Transportation and its emergency contractors to build a temporary bridge to replace the 100-year-old span that was destroyed in the fatal Aug. 18 storms and flooding, and finally get traffic moving again along one of […]
Bridgeport’s Congress Street power substation can now remain operational during heavy storms thanks to a new flood protection system completed this week. United Illuminating, which operates the facility, invested $55 million to build a wall to protect the substation from flooding from the nearby Pequonnock River, a gate system to seal the perimeter and two […]
New Haven developer Choni “Johnny” Grunblatt wants to build 69 apartment units as part of a $10 million remake of Colony Street. Grunblatt is seeking to build studio apartments in five buildings alongside Railroad Avenue in what officials hope will spark more investment for the city’s transit-oriented district. The construction value of the project is […]
Starved for space as annual visitors increase, the New England Air Museum plans a $25 million expansion meant to widen exhibits, boost educational offerings and add immersive experience in a digital dome, museum officials said Wednesday. The expansion depends on approval of $15 million from the state Bond Commission, which is pending. Plans call for […]
Construction is underway at Calf Pasture Beach Road to provide easements to a family-owned property on the northern and western portions of the peninsula. When complete, the road will be realigned with new entrances to Cove Marina and the businesses along a property owned by the Gardella family. A sidewalk will also be installed around […]
Residents of the Coachlight Circle neighborhood will be getting relief for long-standing water supply issues with nearly $1 million in federal funds. U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3rd District, visited Prospect Town Hall on Friday where she presented Mayor Robert J. Chatfield with $959,757 in Community Project Funding for a water main installation. The newly […]
The City Council late Monday approved nearly $6.5 million in tax breaks over 20 years to a developer planning to construct 500 new apartments on two sections of the Fort Trumbull peninsula that have sat vacant for more than two decades. The fixed tax agreement with RJ Development + Advisors, LLC, approved by a 5-2 […]
The City Council on Monday agreed to start the process to permanently close and discontinue use of a 1,500-foot section of Lawler Lane to foster future development in the new Occum Industrial Center. The portion of the road extends from 185 Lawler Lane to 256 Lawler Lane. It has no development on either side, and […]
Several residents spoke out at an informational meeting Bluewater Group, the developer of the facility, held on Sept. 10, expressing frustration with the project, saying it would encroach on their neighborhood. Many more attendees expressed frustration with the planned project. Christina Bernardin, vice president of Bluewater, said she did not have an update to share […]
Bluewater Property Group arranged for Tuesday’s public information session at Gilmartin Elementary School in Waterbury, shortly after it submitted applications for wetlands permits for its 183-acre development site straddling both communities. Bluewater representatives assured attendees they would follow local noise and light regulations and take an array of measures to mitigate impacts. The development site […]
Bolstered by new research outlining the potential dangers of the project, town and state officials are engaged in an all out effort to pull the plug on plans to expand a natural gas compressor station located near many homes and just 1,900 feet from Whisconier Middle School. The expansion would result in increased emissions of […]
The demolition of the former Michael J. Whalen Junior High School building in southern Hamden remains without a definitive timeline, officials said. But the town is moving ahead with plans to renovate the school’s freestanding gymnasium into a youth, arts and recreation center – the first step in Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett’s vision to transform […]
Already fighting a health agency’s order to stop noise pollution from its Bristol trash-to-energy plant, Reworld last week was hit with a lawsuit claiming it intimidated a competitor and wrongfully tore down that company’s smaller trash incinerator in Wallingford. The suit by Richard Antonucci Jr.’s Country Holding LLC accuses Reworld affiliate companies of using environmental […]
A $12 million, four-year project to replace Sackett Point Road Bridge, which connects North Haven to Hamden over the Quinnipiac River, is essentially complete, North Haven town officials said. However, inflationary costs have brought the project over its budget, requiring town officials to allocate an additional $3 million in bonding toward paying it off. Despite […]
After operating for decades, the Millstone nuclear power plant is seeking “final closure” of three hazardous waste storage and management units in Waterford. Dominion Energy, which owns Millstone, needs approval from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for the plan that covers three separate buildings at the complex on Long Island Sound. The […]
A developer working for e-commerce giant Amazon has submitted plans to build a sprawling multistory warehouse straddling the Waterbury-Naugatuck line that proponents say could create as many as 1,000 jobs in the lower Naugatuck Valley. A project almost three years in the making, the six-story, approximately 650,000-square-foot robotic-assisted facility would feature 59 loading docks and […]
After a three-week closure to complete work related to the Walk Bridge Replacement Project, the East Norwalk Train Station is reopening Saturday. Future closures will be planned for crews to replace the East Norwalk Train Station. When complete, the station will have new six-car platforms on both sides along with improved parking and drop-off loops. […]
Federal, state and local officials gathered at Ferry Landing State Park to celebrate the start of a $1.3 billion project to build a replacement bridge, which they said was years in the making. The railroad bridge is the oldest movable bridge between Boston and New Haven, and it sometimes does not open and close as […]
The Federal Highway Administration will award Connecticut $3 million in emergency funding to help repair state roads and bridges damaged in the Aug. 18 flash floods. The governor’s office on Thursday announced the FHWA notified state officials that the “quick release” funding from its Emergency Relief program is being directed to the state Department of […]
A development firm is seeking assurances it will receive nearly $6.5 million in tax breaks over 20 years before it will commit to constructing 500 new apartment units on sections of the Fort Trumbull peninsula that have been off the city tax rolls for more than two decades. Representatives of RJ Development + Advisors, LLC, […]
The team behind a proposed massive, mixed-use redevelopment of portions of East Hartford’s Founders Plaza has spent about $16 million so far as it closes in on final property acquisitions needed for the project. Christopher Reilly — president of Hartford-based real estate developer Lexington Partners – told members of East Hartford’s Town Council Tuesday that […]
The three PURA commissioners released a 2-1 decision at the close of business Friday before the three-day Labor Day weekend that rejected a petition from the state Office of Consumer Counsel to reconsider its earlier rate increases for Eversource and Avangrid, the corporate parent of United Illuminating. PURA Chairwoman Marissa Gillett dissented as she did […]
The first offshore wind turbine has been installed at Revolution Wind, which is to be the first commercial scale wind farm to supply power to Connecticut and Rhode Island, Ørsted and Eversource announced this week. The project, whose turbine components are being assembled and shipped from State Pier in New London, consists of 65 Siemens […]
In early 2023, NE Edge, led by President Thomas Quinn, began talking with Waterford about constructing two data center buildings and a switchyard at the Millstone site. The buildings would house thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs) that would be used to train and operate artificial intelligence. The discussions led to a unanimous decision by […]
The Connecticut Siting Council, which regulates utility projects, asked Eversource last month to address reports of trees and vegetation it cleared in Greenfield Hill for a project to build taller poles along more than nine miles of transmission lines from Weston to Bridgeport. Utility companies’ legal power has been a matter of public debate since […]
While not a huge project, the nearly $5 million North Main Street redevelopment is significant because it’s an example of the broader steps the state has taken in recent years to encourage and invest in brownfield redevelopment. That includes state lawmakers’ 2017 passage of legislation that allows for the creation of brownfield land banks, which […]
Following a lengthy due diligence review, Pennsylvania-based industrial real estate developer Bluewater Property Group is pushing ahead with plans for a massive robotic-assisted Amazon warehouse on a 183-acre site straddling Waterbury and Naugatuck. The wetlands applications are scheduled to be formally accepted for review by wetlands boards in Waterbury and Naugatuck this week, but these […]
“After consulting with the league and local officials, we have decided to debut the … team in 2026,” the organization, run by entrepreneur Andre Swanston, said in a press release. “This additional time will enable us to complete much-needed infrastructure work around the stadium site and continue to build out our talented staff.” Swanston had […]
Dan Sammataro, with his hard hat and reflective vest, was briefing DOT Inspection Team 1 one recent morning. It had been 10 days since the historic thunderstorms pounded parts of Southwestern Connecticut, flooding the nearby Stiles Brook that rose over a section of Route 6 and cascaded down the driveway of the adjacent 19th century […]
