After the budget for the project ballooned by 71 percent in recent months due to booming escalation costs, officials worked to find roughly $55 million in savings to bring the total budget down to $461 million. That’s still a 53 percent increase over the original budget set in 2022 of $301 million. When looking at the two images together, the differences are immediately apparent. The most recent drawing shows how one part of the L-shaped structure has been dramatically reduced. Overall, the structure was trimmed by 35,000 gross square feet. A big driver of the increased cost is escalation, which has “continued to increase in an unprecedented fashion since the pandemic,” read an update posted to a website created by the city and dedicated to Stamford Public Schools construction projects. New construction costs have rapidly increased in recent years. The projection for 2026, when construction of the new school is expected to begin, is between $700 and $950 per square foot. The project is expected to be completed by 2029.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-ct-new-westhill-high-school-rendering-19626115.php