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Stamford, state to split cost of $7.46 million West Broad Street Bridge’s yearlong rehab
STAMFORD — A Stamford official said it will take at least a year to rehabilitate the deteriorated West Broad Street Bridge. City Engineer Lou Casolo said the $7.46 million project will address deteriorating portions of the bridge while allowing traffic and pedestrians to continue using the busy downtown crossing. “The bearing pads of the steel beams are at the end of their life and require replacement,” Casolo told the city’s Board of Finance at a Wednesday night meeting. “There’s a lot of sidewalk deficiencies, and this is more deterioration along the supports for the railing.” The project will be funded evenly by the city and a grant through the state Department of Transportation’s State Local Bridge Program. On Wednesday night, the Board of Finance signed off on the project, including the allocation of roughly $3.7 million for the city’s share. Casolo said the board needed to authorize the project before Mayor Caroline Simmons could sign a commitment letter for Stamford’s portion of the cost. Once the funding is in place, design work will begin, Casolo said. “It’s not a full bridge replacement; it’s a rehab project,” he said.
Amazon looks to build second mega-center in eastern CT, promising 500 jobs
Already proposing a 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner, Amazon is now looking to build a 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center less than a half hour to the south. The world’s largest online retailer wants to use part of a 170-acre tract in the Occum section of Norwich for an operation that would have 58 loading docks and 422 trailer-parking slots along with 729 employee parking spaces. In its pitch to the city, Amazon held out the lure of new jobs and tax revenue. The company estimated its Norwich fulfillment center would create the equivalent of 500 full-time jobs, and said its average hourly wage around the country is $23. Amazon also emphasized that its similar facilities nationally are assessed at more than $150 million, which could generate several million dollars a year in new tax revenue for the city. The company said construction would generate another 200 temporary jobs. The location is in the 185-acre Occum Industrial Park, a property Norwich has designated as a center for jobs growth. That could reduce community opposition, which often is triggered by proximity to homes. Amazon is planning a much smaller facility in Goreham, Maine, for instance, but this summer hit local resistance because the site is alongside a neighborhood.
Revolution Wind project on track for completion this year, developer says
The offshore Revolution Wind project is nearing completion after nearly three years of work based out of the State Pier in New London, officials with Danish wind energy developer Ørsted said Thursday. In a presentation on the company’s quarterly financial results, Ørsted Chief Executive Rasmus Errboe said the project is more than 95% complete, with 61 out of 65 turbines fully installed. The four remaining turbines are on track to be installed over the coming months, Errboe added, allowing the project to reach full commercial operation by the end of 2026. Revolution Wind is the first offshore wind project contracted to supply electricity to customers in Connecticut. The installation, which is located off the coast of Rhode Island, began sending some power to the electric grid in March, when it was about 90% complete. Once finished, the project will have a peak capacity of 704 megawatts, enough electricity to power roughly 350,000 homes. (While the project is supported financially through power-purchase agreements with utilities in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the electricity it generates is distributed throughout the New England electrical grid.)
Proposed $55M police station plan takes step forward in Norwich
Norwich — The Commission on the City Plan voted unanimously Thursday to ask the City Council to approve an ordinance that would appropriate $55 million to renovate the former Chelsea Groton Bank building on Main Street into a new police station. The $55 million would be bonded by the city. The City Council is slated to hold a public hearing Monday on the ordinance, after which councilors are expected to vote on it. If the ordinance is approved, the project would need to be approved by voters at a referendum. That date could also be set Monday night. Before the 7 p.m. meeting in Council Chambers, there will be a 6:30 p.m. informational session on the project. City Manager John Salomone on Thursday said city officials will discuss the project’s appearance and cost and present renderings of the building. Last year, the police department offered public tours of the current, 47-year-old police station at 70 Thames St. The tours showcased the building’s insufficient storage and interview space, lack of changing rooms for female officers and numerous other problems, including mold and water from a leaky roof that threatens computer equipment.
https://theday.com/news/915492/proposed-55m-police-station-plan-takes-step-forward-in-norwich/
Amazon eyes second eastern Connecticut warehouse in Norwich as fight over Killingly denial continues
Even as a developer appeals Killingly’s initial rejection of a huge new Amazon warehouse, Amazon is considering a second location in eastern Connecticut — this project led by another development firm that successfully won approval for a similar facility on the Waterbury-Naugatuck line now under construction. Bluewater Property Group has filed plans with the Norwich Inland Wetlands, Water Courses & Conservation Commission for a warehouse in the Occum Industrial Center on Canterbury Turnpike alongside Interstate 395. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the Norwich plans Thursday in response to a CT Insider query. “Warehouses like the one proposed for Norwich are typically assessed at more than $150 million,” wrote Norwich Mayor Swarnjit Singh in a Facebook post. “Bluewater estimates that the project would bring about 500 permanent jobs, 200 construction jobs and additional indirect economic benefits to Norwich.” The “Project Wildcat” proposal anticipates building on more than 170 acres, with the preferred size at nearly 1.1 million square feet but a slightly larger center contemplated as well as a possible alternative. In addition to Bluewater, the project team includes All-Points Technology, Bohler Engineering, CDM Smith, LandTech Consultants, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, and Ostergaard Acoustical Associates.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/amazon-norwich-warehouse-killingly-ct-22386667.php
Bridgeport’s Steelpointe Harbor project wraps up first residential phase
After decades in the making, Bridgeport has completed the first residential phase of the city’s Steelpointe Harbor project. The August, situated on the city’s waterfront, features 420 apartments. Developer Ryan Cronk said eventually the complex will contain around 1,500 units. Cronk says he’s happy about the occupancy rate. “We just started moving residents in and I think we’re getting close to right around 10% occupied and maybe over 20% leased,” he said. “It’s going really well.” Construction began on The August in 2024. The project overcame funding challenges from banks and gradually morphed from a complete luxury development to allotting certain amounts of apartments for middle-income residents. Gov. Ned Lamont said the redevelopment project could be transformational for the city. “If I hear anything from people is if I want to expand my business here, if I want to grow here, if I want to move a company here, whether it will be a place for our workforce to live, it will be right here at Steelpointe in Bridgeport, I can tell you that,” Lamont said. The new apartments replace a former industrial site which was home to a power plant.
https://ctmirror.org/2026/08/07/bridgeport-steelepointe-harbor-residential/
CT retirement communities expand as demand outpaces new development
Several of Connecticut’s 20 life plan senior living communities are in various stages of expansion as aging baby boomers drive demand for new retirement options. One of the state’s largest projects is taking shape in Groton, where Fairview recently secured $304.2 million in financing to build 193 independent living residences and 72 assisted living units, including 28 memory care units. The project, called Vista Point, also will include a 43,000-square-foot amenity center with multiple dining venues, an indoor saltwater pool, a performing arts center and additional recreational offerings. Altogether, the expansion will occupy about 20 acres. Nearby, Stoneridge in Mystic, currently home to 364 residents, recently broke ground on a $72 million expansion that will add 54 independent living apartments and 14 assisted living units to its 34-acre campus. A new development in Stamford, Mozaic Concierge Living, is nearing completion and will include 164 independent living apartments and 42 units for assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing. Projects in Simsbury and Bloomfield are also being pursued. They are all life plan communities, an increasingly popular senior living model that offers a continuum of care — from independent living to skilled nursing — on a single campus, allowing residents to remain in the same community as their care needs change. While contracts vary, residents generally pay a substantial entrance fee based on the size of their unit, along with a monthly fee that covers housing and future healthcare services.
Killingly wetlands commission to hold public hearing on Amazon distribution center Sept. 14
Killingly — The Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission will hold a public hearing on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. on a revised application for a nearly 1.3 million-square-foot Amazon distribution center on Westcott Road. Evan Seeman, a lawyer representing the developer, Ryan Companies, told the commission Monday that Ryan is requesting a public hearing for the distribution center, also known as “Project Husky.” Seeman said the developer is also “considering some design modifications” and plans to present the commission with a full presentation of the new application at the September meeting. The wetlands commission voted Monday to accept Ryan’s resubmitted application with no site walk and a public hearing. This action comes after commission members voted 3-2 to deny the initial permit without prejudice on July 6, meaning the developer could change and resubmit the plan, which it did on July 15 before the town approved a moratorium on new warehouse applications beginning July 20. The commission denied the initial application because the developer failed to “exhaust feasible and prudent alternatives.” These alternatives included reducing the building footprint and creating a tiered parking structure instead of some surface parking to reduce impact to wetlands. Seaman said that the developer’s new application includes responses to the commission’s reason for the initial denial.
Amazon partner sues CT town as residents organize against plan for mega-warehouse
In another case of eastern Connecticut residents pushing back against mega-developments, dozens of taxpayers in Killingly are organizing to fight Amazon’s proposal for a 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse. Warning that it would bring unwanted traffic, destroy scores of acres of woodlands and further commercialize the community, homeowners have filed letters of protest with the town and are promoting several online petition drives. “The representatives who ought to protect our interests are deliberately ignoring our pleas, blinded by promises of economic gain,” Vanessa Lamothe wrote in a change.org petition. “The community of Killingly must stand united against this development. This is our home — a place of natural beauty, tranquility, and history. Are we to stand by as it’s appropriated for corporate gain?”
Plan for new CT water line would run pipe through four towns and under two rivers. Why it’s needed.
A proposed water pipe would run through four towns and under two rivers and would provide a critically needed new conduit for a water transmission main. It would cross under the Connecticut River to supply drinking water to South Windsor, East Hartford, Glastonbury and Portland and would be used in the case of a main failure. The Metropolitan District Commission is seeking to install a new 30-inch diameter water transmission main through Windsor, Hartford, South Windsor and East Hartford and beneath both the Connecticut River and Podunk River. The Transmission Main Project is not yet in the design stage. The MDC is in the preliminary stages and is doing initial investigatory work on the project that would provide the redundant water service for customers and infrastructure on the east side of the Connecticut River. Metropolitan District Commission spokesperson Nick Salemi said the “completion of this project would provide enhanced safety and emergency preparedness and vital infrastructure resiliency for service provision to customers and expanded capacity for emergency water service.”
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