industry news
Stay updated with the latest developments and insights from across the industry
Hotel eyed for former farm site in Simsbury
A long-vacant farm parcel in Simsbury could soon become home to a new hotel, as a developer seeks approval to begin the first phase of a larger mixed-use project along Hopmeadow Street. Project plans were submitted to the town’s Conservation Commission and Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency, which are scheduled to discuss the application during a meeting Tuesday night. W. Development Co. LLC, led by Adam Westhaver, is the developer. According to the application, W. Development is under contract to purchase the property from River Bend Development CT. The hotel would be positioned on 7.5 acres in the northwest corner of property, with access from Dorset Crossing. Engineers say the project would not directly impact wetlands tied to nearby Saxton Brook, though some grading would occur within a 100-foot buffer zone.
https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/hotel-eyed-for-former-farm-site-in-simsbury/
Future of Naugatuck River Greenway Trail uncertain after $5.7M federal grant is canceled
The future of the Naugatuck River Greenway Trail is in jeopardy following the sudden cancellation of a $5.725 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. According to a notice sent by Maria Lefevre, executive director for the Office of the Under Secretary of Transportation, the funding was canceled due to the project no longer aligning with the priorities of the USDOT, making it fall outside the purview of the grant. Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments Executive Director, Rick Dunne, said he disagreed with the DOT’s assessment that vehicular travel would better work to improve the quality of life for the average citizen. According to NVCOG, the purpose of the project was to advance an interconnected network of trails that linked downtown centers of neighboring communities that provided a transportation and recreational asset in the Naugatuck Valley – extending from Torrington to Derby.
Constitution Pipeline: What to know about the controversial gas project
The Constitution Pipeline is being developed by Williams Companies, a large operator of pipelines across the United States. The pipeline would have the ability to carry up to 650 million cubic feet of gas a day, according to the company, enough to serve about 3 million homes. Williams first received federal approvals to build the pipeline more than a decade ago, but the project hit a snag when the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation declined to issue a water quality permit in 2016. The project continued to languish until the developers resubmitted applications to state and federal regulators earlier this year. While the Constitution Pipeline itself will not carry gas into Connecticut, its terminus in New York will link up with two existing pipelines — the Tennessee and Iroquois systems — that serve both the state and the wider region. Those pipelines already operate at or near capacity, officials say, creating a supply bottleneck particularly during winter months when gas is used to both heat homes and fuel the power plants that produce the bulk of the region’s electricity. In order to reduce that bottleneck, pipeline operators in Connecticut are pursuing their own expansion projects.
As mental health crisis grows, encourage workers to ‘be the helper’
Anxiety and depression are rising among construction workers, highlighting the industry’s mental health crisis, according to a Thursday webinar from CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training tied to Construction Suicide Prevention Week. From 2018 to 2024, reported anxiety among construction workers grew from 12.6% to 18.4%, alongside an uptick in depression as well, from 7.7% to 8%, said Derek Dufoe, research assistant at CPWR. At the same time, the share of workers who said they needed mental health care but could not afford it nearly tripled, from 2% to 5.6%. The findings arrive as construction struggles with one of the highest suicide rates of any industry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2023 alone, about 5,000 construction worker deaths by suicide and nearly 16,000 overdoses occured, said Amber Trueblood, data center director at CPWR.
https://www.constructiondive.com/news/mental-health-crisis-helper-suicide-prevention-week/760058/
Unexpected pollution, drainage issues add cost to new Hartford municipal/retail building
An ongoing $19.4 million effort by the City of Hartford to build a 32,000-square-foot mixed-use building — combining a new health department headquarters with ground-floor retail space — is in line to receive an emergency $700,000 boost. Capital Region Development Authority leaders are proposing the capital infusion after unexpectedly finding a patch of subsurface pollution at the vacant 2.3-acre city-owned lot at the corner of Albany Avenue and Woodlawn Street. The city and Grow America — a nonprofit developer partnered in the building effort — have applied for a roughly $1.5 million state brownfield cleanup grant to help defray costs, even as project leaders try to identify the scope of the newly discovered pollution and the real cost to remediate it, CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said Thursday. The project is about 40% complete. Any stoppage due to an out-of-balance budget would end up increasing costs, Freimuth warned.
Construction of new Norton, Barnum schools in Cheshire on track for buildings to open next fall
Construction of the new Norton and Barnum elementary schools is on track, with energy-efficient features and modern designs taking shape as the district prepares to close three older buildings for the next school year. The new Norton Elementary, located at 414 North Brooksvale Road in Cheshire, will cost an estimated $76 million and will house 650 students. Barnum Elementary, a $90 million project, will serve about 750 prekindergarten through sixth-grade students when completed. The decision to build new schools came after the district explored whether to renovate the aging facilities, which are 60 to 70 years old, school officials said. Renovations would have cost two-thirds of the price of new construction but added only about 20 years of usable life to the buildings, according to officials.
450 apartments headed for New Haven parking lots in $1.3 million deal
A major development that could put 450 new mixed-income apartments in two buildings on what are now two parking lots along State Street between Chapel and Fair streets has moved forward, with the Board of Alders’ approval of an agreement to sell the property for $1.29 million. The two-phase project is proposed by GDXP NH JV LLC, a joint venture between Gilbane Development Co. of Providence, R.I. and New York-based Xenolith Partners CT. Both properties, which together comprise 3.25 acres, are between State Street and the Amtrak/Metro North railroad tracks. A rendering provided to the alders shows The Iron to be at least 10 stories. He told Walker-Myers that the city and the developer anticipate a construction start date in June 2026 and the completion of Phase I in the early spring of 2028.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-new-haven-apartments-housing-21043229.php
Shelton riverfront development plan adds pickleball to condos, restaurants, boat storage
An “upscale” marina and housing project off River Road could also become home to a racquet facility if developers have their way. Ricar, LLC and Mianus Holdings, LLC, developers of the project dubbed Great River Water Club, are approved to build 35 condos, 110 apartments, a restaurant, a medical office building and boat storage along the Housatonic River. All of this has been in the works in some form for roughly 17 years. New plans have been filed to modify the restaurant building, eliminating the medical office space and adding 10,000 square feet to accommodate the new “court concept,” according to developer Rick Kral. The new racquet facility would be open to the public for membership, not limited to only the residents on site. The restaurant will be open to the public. The developers are seeking Planning and Zoning Commission approval to modify the Planned Development District, which was granted last year. The commission will hold a public hearing on this proposal at a future meeting.
Work to Start on New $87.8M Pier at Conn. Naval Submarine Base
The U.S. Navy will replace a pier at the submarine base in southeastern Connecticut, the latest of a series of infrastructure upgrades at the hub on the Thames River to accommodate the larger subs that will be berthed there in the future. In early September, the Navy officials announced that it had awarded a contract to replace Pier 31 at Naval Submarine Base New London, with the project expected to be completed by November 2027. Nebraska-based Weeks-Cashman JV won the $87.8 million contract to replace the pier. If all of the deal’s options are exercised, the full value could be as much as $95.6 million, according to the Navy. Navy officials described the upgrade as “essential” to support berthing not only older Los Angeles-class submarines and more advanced Block V Virginia-class nuclear subs — already homeported at the 10-pier base — but future vessels as well. The design process for the Pier 8 replacement is already under way, but its construction has not yet been funded.
Norwich Public Utilities looks to join major gas line expansion project Author photo
The City Council on Monday is scheduled to consider a resolution that would authorize Norwich Public Utilities to pursue increased natural gas capacity from the Algonquin Gas Pipeline, which supplies the Northeast, under an upcoming expansion planned by the pipeline’s owner and operator. In September, Enbridge, which owns and operates the Algonquin line along with several others around the country, announced that it will be moving forward with two gas expansion projects, one of which, called the Algonquin Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement (RARE) project, also known as the AGT Enhancement project. It would increase supply for gas distributors in the Northeast, if they agree to help finance the project. The RARE project is expected to finish in 2029.
The cost of opting into the Algonquin expansion project, purchasing the additional capacity, will eventually be rolled into gas customers’ rates in the future, NPU officials say. Those rates are partly calculated based on what NPU pays for the gas it receives from the Algonquin pipeline, and how much is used. Gas customer rates are currently locked in until November 2026.
Connect with us
Contact us
If you believe you have been the victim of wage theft on a public works construction project, please feel free to contact our office. You can also visit the Connecticut Department of Labor’s Wage & Workplace Division’s website to file a complaint here.