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$402 million upgrade of New Haven’s train station will expand platforms, add atrium & canopy
NEW HAVEN — The state revealed plans Tuesday to spend $402 million to rebuild and lengthen all four platforms at New Haven’s Union Station and put a grand, European-inspired atrium and canopy over them. Work would begin in the spring of 2029 — and plans, which are 30% complete, could change before then, Department of Transportation engineers and planners said at a public meeting Tuesday night. Much of the project would be funded by the federal government, officials said. Under the plan, the platforms would be replaced and extended, with work to be phased. The DOT would work on one platform at a time to try to minimize any disruption to service, said Jonathan Kang, a DOT supervising engineer and project manager. Work would progress from the platform farthest from Union Station to the one closest to the station, while keeping the three other platforms in service, officials said. Access to the platforms would remain throughout construction, Kang said. “The idea for this project is to build one canopy to encompass all of the future platforms,” Kang said. The atrium and canopy design, would protect travelers from the elements but allow plenty of light in through extensive side windows, overhead skylights and a glass end enclosure, he said. The design was inspired by the Central Station in Vienna, Austria, said Zuhair Hussaini, an architect who worked on the atrium.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-new-haven-union-station-upgrade-trains-21284284.php
Bridgeport plans new $132M school at abandoned Harding High site
BRIDGEPORT — Officials here are bullish about securing funding in the current General Assembly session in Hartford for a new, $132 million East End elementary school. “We feel confident we’ll get that authorization this year,” said Constance Vickers, a deputy chief administrative officer with Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration who is also liaison with state lawmakers. It cannot come soon enough given the property where the new building would go is occupied by the abandoned Harding High School, which earlier this month caught fire for at least the third time since September. Staff and students left the 1920s-era Harding in 2018 for a state-of-the-art campus a short drive away. The discovery five years later that Harding was never properly emptied out and secured resulted in a dispute between education and municipal officials over who was responsible for what. The city had initially sought to sell the shuttered school, but a possible deal with neighboring Bridgeport Hospital fell through, at which point the decision was made to reuse the real estate for educational purposes. The new East End facility would serve students who currently attend Beardsley, Edison and Hall, three decades-old neighborhood schools that are in disrepair. The aim is to get Connecticut lawmakers to reimburse the estimated $132 million price tag at a higher than usual rate of 95%.
I-95 and I-84 congestion expected to worsen as Connecticut plans for future
What would you like transportation in Connecticut to look like in 2055? It’s not too late for members of the public to tell the state Department of Transportation what they want as the agency finalizes a federally mandated long-range plan for Connecticut’s roads, bridges, rail lines, ports, waterways, airports, transit services, and bike and pedestrian infrastructure. The last time DOT released such a blueprint was in 2018. DOT held an initial comment period for the 2055 plan last year. Now that a draft has been published, residents can submit comments through May 22 and ask questions at virtual meetings on April 22. The long-term plan doesn’t list specific projects like other DOT planning documents; instead, it lays out goals and priorities. One of those goals is to reduce congestion. Traffic jams are expected to get worse by 2055 as the state’s population, the miles driven by motor vehicles on Connecticut roads and economic activity grow, according to the draft plan. Total vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, is expected to surpass pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2028. “Vital corridors such as I-95 and I-84 will be particularly impacted by more frequent bottlenecks and delays,” the plan says.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/95-84-congestion-expected-worsen-100000353.html
Four CT distribution properties trade in $575M multistate sale
A global real estate investment firm has acquired four industrial properties in Connecticut as part of a larger $575 million portfolio deal spanning multiple East Coast markets. EQT Real Estate said it purchased a 25-building logistics portfolio totaling more than 4.3 million square feet from Mapletree Investments, with assets located along major distribution corridors across the United States. The Connecticut portion of the deal includes four distribution buildings on Long Beach Boulevard in Stratford:
500 Long Beach Blvd., a 117,000-square-foot facility
550 Long Beach Blvd., totaling 115,106 square feet
600 Long Beach Blvd., totaling 78,900 square feet
650 Long Beach Blvd., a 117,000-square-foot building
The properties are located in an infill industrial area with access to major highways and population centers, making them well-suited for logistics and distribution uses, according to the buyer. Overall, the portfolio includes 25 warehouse and distribution assets across several states, including Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/four-ct-distribution-properties-trade-in-575m-multistate-sale/
Snowball Developments grows CT industrial footprint with $17.45M in acquisitions
Snowball Developments recently paid $17.45 million for four warehouse properties in Windsor, East Hartford and New Haven, continuing a four-year buying streak of industrial properties ready for reinvestment. The latest purchases bring the Manhattan, New York-based industrial real estate investor’s Connecticut portfolio up to 13 properties, with four more in New Jersey, for a combined total of about 2 million square feet. “We’ve been busy,” said Brian Ker, the company’s president. In deeds recorded in March, Snowball acquired three properties from affiliates of New Canaan-based real estate investor Luzern Associates. These include: A 25,202-square-foot, 2001-vintage industrial building on 2.13 acres at 90 John W. Murphy Drive in New Haven. The metal-sided building has 18-foot wall heights. A 40,328-square-foot, 1989-vintage industrial building on 3.1 acres at 104 John W. Murphy Drive in New Haven. This metal-sided building also has 18-foot wall heights. A roughly 60,000-square-foot, 2002-vintage warehouse on 8.5 acres at 770-790 Marshall Phelps Road in Windsor. Municipal records show Luzern had acquired these properties for $12.8 million in 2020 and 2022. Snowball borrowed $9.55 million from Charlotte, North Carolina-based Starwood Mortgage Capital LLC, secured with a mortgage on the properties it acquired from Luzern. Ker told the Hartford Business Journal his company also, in March, paid $3.25 million for a warehouse at 10 Eastern Park Road in East Hartford. The 40,050-square-foot, concrete-and-cinderblock warehouse was completed in 1967 and sits on 2.18 acres. It is also adjacent to an 87,525-square-foot warehouse Snowball acquired for $5.95 million a little more than a year ago.
Developer wants to demolish Sports Haven horse-racing complex off I-95 in New Haven
A Queens, N.Y. developer has submitted a 90-day demolition application with the city of New Haven to knock down the former Sports Haven betting parlor on Long Wharf Drive, according to the city’s economic development administrator. Mike Piscitelli told Hearst Connecticut Media on Friday that a limited liability company affiliated with Queens, N.Y.-based Criterion Development submitted a the application to city planning officials. The demolition plan must be approved by multiple city agencies and the demolition can not begin for at least 90-days, Piscitelli said. It was submitted on Feb. 4. “The building is nearing the end of its useful life,” Piscitelli said. “The developer has always been transparent about the intention to tear the building down.” What Criterion hasn’t been clear about is what they plan to do with the property. Sports Haven closed for good at the end of November, having been purchased by Criterion in March 2021. Piscitelli said Friday that Criterion officials have not indicated their plans for the property and company officials have not responded to inquiries from Hearst Connecticut Media about the future of the 9.65 acre site. Piscitelli said a responsible growth plan released in 2019 for the city’s Long Wharf section calls for a mixed use of residential and large format commercial uses. An example of large format commercial use, according to Piscitelli, could include a grocery store or other type of large format retail store.
Southbury, Middlebury voters to decide on $224M bond to build two new elementary schools
SOUTHBURY — A plan to build two new elementary school buildings in Region 15 will go to a special referendum next month, where voters in Middlebury and Southbury will decide whether to approve a $224 million bond to pay for the projects. The Board of Education for the Pomperaug Regional School District 15 wants to replace its two oldest buildings, Gainfield and Pomperaug elementary schools, both in Southbury. The two new projects would be completed on the same sites as the existing schools. The board approved the language in the referendum question during a meeting in late March, after holding a public hearing on the projects. “This was an extremely thoughtful, collaborative process with both towns. The committee spent a lot of time and research to get here,” said Joshua Smith, Region 15’s superintendent of schools. “We understand it’s a big project for the community. We believe the state incentives available and the timing make doing the projects now more effective than delaying.” The new buildings would accommodate more students, with a capacity of about 550 students in each, and give the district additional preschool space, Smith said. District officials estimated Region 15 would be reimbursed up to 64% of the projects’ eligible expenses under the Connecticut’s School Construction Grant program. After deducting the reimbursements, the final costs for local taxpayers would be about $86 million, according to district estimates. The reimbursement includes a 15% state incentive for including preschool space in the project, Smith said. Without that incentive, the district’s reimbursement rate would be less than 50%, he said.
Enfield board advances plan that calls for building four new PreK-5 schools
ENFIELD — The Board of Education voted to approve the educational specifications for the PK-5 Master Plan for the Enfield Public Schools, advancing a proposal to consolidate the district into four elementary schools and to renovate Eagle Academy. The plan calls for building four new PreK-5 schools on the sites of Hazardville Memorial, Prudence Crandall, Henry Barnard and Edgar H. Parkman, as well as relocating and renovating Eagle Academy to Enfield Street School, which serves students with specialized academic and therapeutic needs. Pre-K programming would be included at each of the new elementary schools and moved from the Stowe Early Learning Center. The Enfield school board approved the plan Wednesday, and the district is expected to present it to the Town Council on April 20. There is also potential for adaptive reuse of several buildings, including the Stowe Early Learning Center, the Eagle Academy building, Enfield Street School and the Alcorn campus, officials said. Some facilities would no longer fall under the Board of Education, and the town would determine their future use, Superintendent Steven Moccio said. The proposal is driven by aging facilities, evolving educational demands and increasing enrollment, district officials say. School board Chair Amanda Pickett said the district cannot do temporary fixes on the old buildings. “I know this might seem like a high cost to some,” Pickett said. “But the reality is we are in a place with our schools that something needs to be done.”
First site plan for Enfield MassMutual redevelopment could come soon
ENFIELD — The planned revamp of the MassMutual site is picking up steam, as the developer behind it earned another approval and plans to file a site plan application soon. The office campus at 85 and 100 Bright Meadow Blvd., formerly home to insurance company MassMutual, could be redeveloped by Branford-based MB Financial Group into mixed-use, with 464 apartments and condominiums planned for the 65-acre site. MassMutual closed its Enfield offices in 2021, relocating over the border to Springfield, Mass. Prior to the multi-family proposal, a previous developer pursued a sports and entertainment complex in 2023, earning some approvals for “All Sports Village” in 2024 but never breaking ground. MB Financial Group purchased the properties for $4 million last year and kicked off a series of applications for the company’s planned development. The most recent, a subdivision application, was unanimously approved at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Thursday night. Carl Landolina, an attorney representing the applicant, said at the PZC meeting Thursday that the subdivision was part of the project from the beginning, and will help the developer with financing and splitting construction into “phases.”
Tweed New Haven Airport announces new agreement on expansion framework
Connecticut officials have reached a new framework for moving forward on a proposed east side terminal at Tweed New Haven Airport after years of conflict over the project, but the plan still faces major legal, legislative, and local hurdles. New Haven, East Haven, the airport authority, and the airport have agreed to a memorandum of understanding that lays out a path forward for the proposed terminal on the east side of the airport. The agreement includes proposed state funding for both municipalities, stronger East Haven representation on the airport board and a higher approval threshold for major projects such as runway expansion and campus access changes. The proposed terminal has been at the center of a fight for nearly six years. The project would be built on East Haven land, and the town has pushed back on the project for years, including through an active appeal of the FAA’s finding of no significant impact. As part of the agreement, East Haven now says it will abide by what the court decides. In an interview, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker called the agreement a major step: “This is a big moment.”
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