In a new application to the Planning and Zoning Commission, READCO of Old Lyme and its development partner TRIO have proposed a revision of the master plan for the former Hoyt’s/Regal Cinema property on Route 2. READCO plans to expand its Pawcatuck theater redevelopment project by adding six adjacent properties, 108 more apartments and demolishing the theater and bank buildings on the site. The commission unanimously approved a zone change to Neighborhood Design District for the property in February, which allowed the developer to move forward on a project to repurpose the property as a recreational pickleball center, 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 124 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The change to a floating zone Neighborhood Design District provides the commission with a great deal of discretion about various aspects of the project, which Browning said was anticipated to cost between $70 million and $80 million.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240524/pawcatuck-theater-developer-proposes-expansion-of-property-additional-housing/

Funding secured, developer Randy Salvatore is moving ahead with plans to build a new mixed-use complex on the edge of downtown Hartford, confident that the demand for rental apartments in the capital city remains strong. A financing package to redevelop the former RPI campus near Dunkin’ Park won key approval on Wednesday, and work has begun to transform the 12.7-acre site at 275 Windsor St. into a mixed-use complex with an initial plan for 269 new apartments. Key to ramping up the RPI project was a $3 million loan approved by the Capital Region Development Authority board on Wednesday. The loan is meant to offset the $3.8 million that RMS paid for the long-vacant RPI property last year. First on the agenda for the RPI site is demolishing the main eight-story classroom building, which is apparently riddled with the pollutants common to 1970s-era structures. Initial cleanup has been done to remediate contaminants and pre-demolition work will start within weeks, Salvatore said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/hartford-ct-rpi-campus-apartments-dunkin-park-19476276.php

Part of Riverside Drive will shut down for more than a year in the coming months as construction crews rebuild coastal infrastructure that keeps floodwaters in check. Fairfield Engineering Manager Bill Hurley said the town will launch a more than $5.5 million project this summer to replace the tide gates and pipes that channel water under the Riverside Drive bridge between Ash and Turney creeks. Pipes known as culverts form holes in the Riverside Drive bridge and allow water to pass through self-regulating tide gates, which typically open based on water levels. The culvert system protects the Riverside Drive neighborhood from flooding during high tides and coastal storms and offers the primary outlet for a watershed that fills about 2.4 square miles, according to the report.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/fairfield/article/riverside-drive-traffic-fairfield-turney-creek-19435444.php

The utility provider is working closely with the city of Danbury and the Connecticut Department of Transportation on the project, “and our work will be complete in June to meet DOT’s schedule for their planned work along Main Street,” Ratliff said. Then DOT will take over the project. Iadarola said that under the current schedule for Main Street, DOT is scheduled to mill the street surface on June 28 and pave it on July 11. “A preconstruction meeting is scheduled on June 13 for this work and an update will be given after the meeting,” Iadarola said. And that’s not the only gas work to be completed on Main Street. Additional work along Kennedy Avenue and Rose Street to upgrade the system to a high pressure main is also underway. Officials expected Eversource to complete the Main Street portion of this work this week “with temporary patching of the street surface and sidewalk areas taking place to assure a safe route for Memorial Day parade marchers and viewers,” Iadarola said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/eversource-upgrading-gas-lines-along-danbury-main-19472496.php

A project to replace the bridge on Cedar Heights Road is now expected to be finished in November — a year later than initially scheduled. City Engineer Lou Casolo has said that the contractor for the “extremely complex” project, A. Vitti Excavators, has needed to submit plans for handling the flow of the Rippowam River, demolishing the more than 90-year old bridge and supporting utility lines to an inspection firm before moving from one stage of construction to the next. The original completion date was Nov. 30, 2023. A. Vitti Excavators committed to working during the winter and asked for an extension to substantially complete the project by May 31 of this year. Then the date changed to June 30. Cedar Heights Road, which is just south of the Merritt Parkway, has been closed to thru traffic during the project. A detour takes cars along High Ridge Road and Wire Mill Road, where another bridge is in line for construction.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-cedar-heights-road-bridge-19464639.php

The Offshore Wind Venture partnering Ørsted and Eversource told CT Examiner on Wednesday that the companies had canceled an agreement with Dominion Energy to use the as-yet-unbuilt Charybdis to install turbines off East Coast of the United States. The planned 472-foot vessel would be the first Jones Act compliant vessel for installing offshore turbines, clearing a significant hurdle for domestic offshore development. The spokesman declined to name the alternative vessel or disclose the cost of the agreement. But last August, it was reported that the vessel’s expected cost had risen from $500 million to $625 million, and that delays in its construction meant that Dominion would miss deadlines for the installation of 704-MW Revolution Wind, and 924-MW Sunrise Wind. In March, Ørsted submitted a bid for its latest project, Starboard Wind, a 1,184-MW project that the company planned to assemble off of State Pier.

Ørsted-Eversource Partnership Announces Cancellation of Agreement for Charybdis (Updated)

The city will receive $975,240 in federal funding to clean a brownfield and foundation rubble at the former Church and Morse building, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week. Funding for the Brownfield Cleanup Grant come from the bipartisan infrastructure law and will be used to cleanup the 0.33-acre vacant parcel. The site was previously used for commercial and industrial purposes, including generating electricity, welding and storage. The site is vacant and contaminated with volatile organic compounds, extractable petroleum hydrocarbons, metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The funds will be used to formalize a community engagement plan. The city’s award is part of $8.9 million in EPA grants to the state to expedite the assessment and cleanup. The grants are through the EPA’s dedicated program and revolving loan fund. The program aims to transform once-polluted vacant and abandoned properties into community assets, while helping to create jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities.

https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/meriden-epa-grant-brownfield-cleanup-19472006.php

A plan to build a new dorm for UConn’s regional campus in the heart of downtown Hartford won a key approval Wednesday, with the university’s Board of Trustees voting unanimously to sign a 20-year lease to move the project forward. The new dorm would house 200 students in 50 units to be built inside part of a converted office and retail building at 242 Trumbull St. Developer Shelbourne Global Solutions bought the eight-story building at 242 Trumbull in June; the new dorm will be built inside an annex to the main structure with the address 64 Pratt St. The $28 million needed to convert the 242 Trumbull building into student housing will be funded through a package of state and city loans, plus capital from the building’s owner. The estimated $1.4 million annual deficit incurred by subsidizing the student housing to make it affordable will likely be offset by renting the dorms out during the summer to city corporations seeking to house interns and major employers like Hartford HealthCare, Ritter said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/uconn-dorm-downtown-hartford-ct-pratt-street-19472046.php

Trinity and Johnson Memorial Hospital officials made their case to convert its surgery center in Enfield to a freestanding outpatient facility partially owned by physicians during a public hearing before the state Office of Health Strategy on Wednesday. A request for a certificate of need through OHS calls for a $17.8 million facility at Johnson Memorial Hospital’s Enfield campus that would establish a joint venture dubbed “Enfield Surgery Center,” and to cease surgeries at the hospital in Stafford. “The current operating rooms are undersized and outdated,” said Deborah Bitsoli, Springfield market president of Trinity Health of New England, adding that some surgical towers don’t fit in the Johnson Memorial operating rooms due to limited space and low ceilings. Therefore, a replacement ambulatory surgery center is being built and placed next to the existing surgery center site at 148 Hazard Ave.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-johnson-memorial-hospital-trinity-enfield-19471868.php

Local leaders applauded the new funding for the high school, as well as $1.9 million to replace the roof at Ellsworth Avenue Elementary School and $10.43 million to renovate the Danbury High School science labs. Lawmakers also touted a $7.54 million increase in the city’s share of state Education Cost Sharing grant monies. Now, the city will earn 80 percent reimbursement on up to $179.5 million of eligible costs, a $25.5 million increase from what the city initially anticipated, officials said. The estimated cost when Danbury voters approved the project in 2022 was $164 million. The project is still on track to open for the 2025-26 school year, Iadarola said. He said he does not anticipate the total project cost will exceed the $179.5 million level that was set for state reimbursement.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/danbury-career-academy-ct-reimbursement-19459913.php