This month, Maynard Road Corp. proposed the $225,000 agreement to the MHA for assistance financing the cost of developing 100 units of rental housing in two buildings and commercial retail space at 143 W. Main Street. The commercial space includes a black box music theater. Maynard Road is the development arm of the Meriden Housing Authority and shares identical board members including two employees of the agencies. Earlier this week, the Meriden Housing Authority Board of Commissions also approved a loan authorization for an undetermined amount to allow Maynard Road to begin constructing the projects.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-housing-authority-225m-bond-titan-19598891.php

The state Department of Labor failed to promptly investigate hundreds of complaints from workers over unpaid wages and other workplace issues, a recent state audit found. In a response included with the audit, the labor department cited a lack of staffing as the main reason for the delays in beginning investigations. Auditors said 41 percent of the 2,000 complaints received by the labor department’s Wage and Workplace Standards Division during the period, as of May 2023, were unassigned for investigation. The department said legislation proposed but not passed in 2023 would have required no fewer than 45 wage and hour inspectors and another bill required hiring 45 additional wage enforcement officers in the Wage and Workplace Standards Division. An amendment called for not fewer than five wage and hour inspectors in the division. Auditors pointed out the labor department employed 20 wage enforcement agents and investigators and four field supervisors as of April 2023.

https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/connecticut-labor-department-complaints-19594035.php

The redesign, presented during a July 10 public meeting, came after plans shown in 2022 stirred anxieties about the use of eminent domain to complete the project. Similar worries prompted outcry from city representatives in response to eminent domain potentially being used on a street-widening project on Washington Boulevard and Pulaski Street. The new plan uses less pavement, has safer bike infrastructure and shorter crosswalks that creates a safer roadway, Buttenwieser said. The bike lanes in the latest plans would be separated from the street and opposite the parked vehicles, according to the plans shown during the July 10 meeting. The project, which also includes rebuilt sidewalks, better lighting and shortened and new crosswalks, is estimated to begin construction in 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/atlantic-street-redesign-stamford-congestion-19575123.php

Gary Flocco said he is a few weeks away from re-starting the next phase of his Cherry Street Lofts apartments project after a three-year-delay and a recent condemnation order from the city. Flocco said he is on the cusp of settling a lawsuit for non-payment that an architectural firm, Crosskey, filed against him in 2019. With that issue out of the way, Flocco will be able to obtain a bank loan and $2.2 million state officials awarded his project in December 2020. Located on the outskirts of downtown between the railroad tracks and Interstate 95, Cherry Street Lofts is a prominent renovation of some old abandoned factory buildings that initially earned Flocco accolades. It opened in 2018 and currently boasts 158 housing units and a charter school. In an interview at the time, Flocco insisted he believed he would soon have access to the necessary capital to restart his work, and council members decided to grant him a reprieve.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/cherry-st-lofts-developer-says-project-to-restart-19592130.php

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has declined to press concerns raised by Republican legislative leaders about a public-private partnership looking to move forward with a $145 million renovation of Hartford’s downtown XL Center arena. That raises the likelihood the renovation plan will move forward. The CRDA has a tentative agreement with Los Angeles-based live entertainment promoter and venue manager OVG360 to contribute $20 million toward the pending renovation. Efforts to revitalize Hartford’s XL Center received a boost in May after the state legislature’s passage of a $370 million budget stabilization plan. The bill increased the maximum amount of state funding toward the renovation from $80 million to $125 million. The bond commission had earlier signed off on an $80 million contribution, contingent on OVG contributing $20 million.

CT AG Tong declines to take up GOP concerns over $145M XL Center renovation; clears way for CRDA vote

The 459-foot-long Wind Scylla wind turbine installation vessel dwarfed smaller sailing vessels as it made its way up the Thames River Tuesday. Scylla is owned by Cadeler, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based company that has a fleet of offshore wind installation vessels and inked a long-term contract with Ørsted earlier this year for future projects. Wind Scylla has a 1,500-foot crane and 344-foot legs that can install wind turbine components in water depths of more than 200 feet. Wind Scylla will be used to install turbines at Revolution Wind, a 65-turbine offshore wind farm whose first foundation was installed in May. The 704-megawatt farm, producing enough energy to power 350,000 homes, is the country’s first multistate project and will supply power to Connecticut and Rhode Island. State Pier in New London is currently the staging and assembly area for Revolution Wind farm, which would be the first wind farm to supply wind energy, 304 megawatts, to Connecticut.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240723/danish-vessel-dwarfs-smaller-ships-as-it-docks-in-new-london/

The Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a four-story affordable housing development, citing both the constraints of state statute 8-30g and the vital need for affordable housing stock. The July 16 vote marks a win for New York City-based developer Vessel Technologies, who now has the green light for constructing a 64-unit apartment at 25 Avonwood Road. “Suitable location, it addresses a vital need for affordable housing in Avon, its environmentally friendly, I believe it protects the public health and safety, and the applicant has taken reasonable measures to address the concerns of the commission,” said commission Chair Lisa Levin. With a typical Vessel development construction time of six to nine months, the town could potentially see this development ready next summer.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/farmingtonvalley/article/avon-vessel-affordable-housing-approved-19588752.php

Several of the major routes in Danbury center will be better than new after a recent repaving spree. Deer Hill Avenue is the latest roadway to receive a new asphalt facelift. Work on that project began on Thursday, July 18 and should last for two to three weeks, according to a city announcement. Meanwhile, a series of Department of Transportation-led repaving projects on local state roads are also ongoing. They include projects to repave Federal Road from the White Street intersection into Brookfield as well as Newtown Road’s span between White Street and Lyon Street, as well as a South Street paving project. Antonio Iadorala, the city’s public works director and city engineer, said city leaders are trying to post notices related to the roadwork, most of which are not city projects, because they “getting inundated with questions of when the paving is going to get done, when it’s going to get started, when it’s going to get finished.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/danbury-state-dot-repaving-local-city-roads-19588943.php

Officials have further paved the way for Manchester’s new “21st century” library by approving demolition of the Webster Bank building at 1041 Main St., expected to begin later this year. After voters approved $39 million in bonds for the project in November 2022, Manchester recently approved a set of agreements to acquire three parcels totaling roughly 1.6 acres, in exchange for $1.6 million to Webster Bank and the disposition of 3.12 acres at 601 Lydall St., to build a new main library branch in the downtown area to expand beyond the cramped Mary Cheney Library just up the hill. Though the projected costs have since grown to $53.6 million, largely due to increased construction costs across the board, Manchester has received federal and state funding intended to make up the difference.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-manchester-library-webster-bank-demolition-19591078.php

In August, the East Norwalk Train Station will close for another three weeks while crews begin the process of replacing the northbound platform. The replacement of the East Norwalk Train Station is a part of CDOT’s $1 billion Walk Bridge replacement project, which includes several improvements along the rail. “The Train Station upgrades include extending platforms on both sides of the station to accommodate six train cars, new platform canopies, and improved parking and access — including a dedicated drop-off lane,” the Walk Bridge website states. CDOT is starting with replacing the northbound side and will finish constructing the new platform in 2025. The process will be repeated to build the southbound side and will be complete by 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/east-norwalk-train-station-close-august-platform-19584029.php