Beginning Oct. 2, the north parking lot at Darien’s Noroton Heights Metro-North Railroad station will be under construction for drainage improvements, the town announced in a press release. As part of the construction work, the lot will be excavated to install an underground drainage system intended to reduce flooding on Heights Road by directing the flow of water runoff underground from the parking lot. Construction is slated to last until Dec. 1. During the construction, the number of parking spaces will be reduced. However, work will be done in phases, so only portions of the lot will be closed at a time. Prices for commuter parking across Darien will be increasing beginning Jan. 1, which the Board of Selectmen approved earlier this month.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/darien-noroton-heights-metro-north-railroad-18382526.php

Dubbed “Project Maple,” the proposal from Enbridge — a large Canadian energy company with fossil fuel infrastructure throughout the U.S. — would involve substantial upgrades on the Algonquin Gas Transmission line. This pipeline runs from northern New Jersey through parts of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and into Massachusetts, where it feeds into the Weymouth Natural Gas Compressor Station and then connects to another pipeline north of Boston. Details about the proposed project remain vague, but according to documents from Enbridge, the upgrades would include replacing existing underground pipes with larger ones, running secondary pipelines alongside existing ones and expanding some compressor stations along the route. Without a local source of natural gas, New England relies entirely on fuel from other parts of the country. Most of the gas the region uses comes through underground pipelines like the Algonquin Gas Transmission line — if you live in Eastern Massachusetts, you likely rely on the Algonquin pipeline for heating or electricity.

https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-09-25/fossil-fuel-company-wants-to-expand-gas-pipeline-in-northeast

More than three decades after workers doused the last of the boilers supplying power from English Station, a simmering debate over what to do with the rusting carcass of the old power plant is threatening to once again delay a long-awaited redevelopment of the property. The island is riddled with contaminants such as asbestos and PCBs, which are left over from the years when it was used to store and burn coal — later oil — in order to generate power for United Illuminating, which is now on the hook for $30 million to clean up the property. Ownership of the site is currently split between two New York-based limited liability companies, Haven River Properties and Paramount View Millennium, which do not appear to have any relevant experience in large-scale redevelopment projects. The mayor added that it was his “preference,” that the site be used for something other than an industrial purpose, noting its location along the river and adjacent to a planned bus rapid-transit system the city hopes to launch by 2029.

https://www.sfgate.com/connecticut/article/new-haven-ct-english-station-power-plant-future-18373084.php

Plans to convert the long-vacant former Strong School building at 69 Grand Ave. in New Haven into residential apartments secured key approvals Wednesday night. Pennrose LLC and The Cloud Company LLC plan to create 58 mixed-income residential apartments and a community amenity space by renovating the school building and constructing a 50,225-square-foot addition. The building was used as an elementary school for about a century before closing in 2010. In the fall of 2022, the city announced it had selected Pennrose as its preferred developer for the site. City officials estimated the project would cost $25 million, with a completion date in 2025. The developer plans to preserve the school’s auditorium space. It will be available for community use, such as for health and wellness programs, community art shows, and New Haven Pride Center events.

New Haven panel approves $25M plan to convert school to apartments

The Board of Education is debating how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs and upgrades for the district’s four schools — a plan which could include closures of the elementary school campuses and moving students into new or renovated buildings on consolidated campuses. The goal of the master plan, which has been under discussion for over two years, is to update the infrastructure of the school district’s four buildings, which have an average age of 52 years. Renovating or rebuilding all four of the buildings is estimated to cost between $204 million and $231 million with state reimbursement. Another option would be to close one of the elementary schools and transition to a three-school configuration — a cost of $206 million with state reimbursement.

Haddam-Killingworth Face $200+ Million School Construction Costs

A Misquamicut business owner is seeking to build a 113-unit affordable housing project on the site of the former Rosalini’s nightclub in Pawcatuck. Fair Housing of Connecticut, LLC, of Trumbull, whose principal is Eugene Arganese, has filed an application for special use permit to develop the 4.2-acre Liberty Street property, which was home to the popular nightclub from the 1970s to the 1990s before it closed. The Rosalini’s project is the latest affordable housing project proposed for the village, which residents complain already hosts the bulk of the town’s affordable housing. The development will be serviced by public water and sewer and plans show decorative plantings along the road and trees around the perimeter of the property.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230924/affordable-housing-development-proposed-for-rosalinis-site-in-pawcatuck/

Development Director Eileen Buckheit shared an update on five East Hartford projects at a Capital Region Development Authority meeting Thursday, including information on where the Showcase Cinemas apartments and the redevelopment of Church Corners Inn stand. New Britain-based Jasko Development, in a partnership with West Hartford-based Zelman Real Estate, plans to build as many as 400 apartment units in an “amenity-rich” complex on the site of the former Showcase Cinemas, to be known as Concourse Park. The developers had previously agreed with the town to have a shovel in the ground by the end of September, or else face $30,000 per month in penalties. Mayor Mike Walsh said Friday that the project is estimated to cost about $110 million, with one of the eight buildings currently funded.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/east-hartford-housing-silver-lane-18382657.php

Ted Ferrarone has stepped down as co-president of Stamford’s largest developer, Building and Land Technology, he announced last week on the professional networking site LinkedIn. The announcement represents the end of an era for BLT and Harbor Point, the redevelopment project that has remade once-blighted portions of the South End into a bustling district of high-rise apartments. His role also meant being front and center in BLT’s tempestuous relationship with local politicians and activists who came to view their steady construction as overdevelopment. Controversial events such as the demolition of a beloved boatyard and the collapse of one high-rise’s outdoor patio became political red meat for those who opposed BLT’s work.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-ted-ferrarone-blt-harbor-point-18382516.php

With a groundbreaking ceremony tentatively planned for sometime before Thanksgiving, the project to build a new headquarters for the Wilton Police Department is finally moving forward toward construction even as costs increased to over $15 million. The Board of Selectmen gave its unanimous approval to enter into a contract with A. Secondino & Son Inc., a Branford-based general contractor, to build the 19,000-square-foot facility. The go-ahead came at a meeting Tuesday, Sept. 19, after the selectmen discussed an outline of the funding plans for the building’s $15,201,400 anticipated cost. This month, however, the base bid for the contract came in higher than expected, totaling $15,692,000. This, in turn, motivated the Police-Town Hall Building Committee to ask for some potential modifications to the plan on items that could be added or addressed down the road without impeding the construction. That was done in order to meet the costs of the project within the approved limit.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/wilton-police-department-headquarters-contractor-18382770.php

Officials have approved an additional $2 million to fund the final portion of soil remediation at Greenwich High School, which is expected to be the last spending on the long-running project. Public Works Commissioner Amy Seibert told the BET budget committee that crews found more toxic materials while working this summer, which are more expensive to dispose safely. The project entails excavating the dirt, sampling it for toxicity, transporting it, disposing of it and ultimately backfilling the field and planting new sod. DPW anticipates that the project will be complete in 2024, but the department will not have a firm completion date until crews start the next phase and assess how much more work is needed. The department previously projected that the fields would be open next spring.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-high-school-toxic-soil-18376140.php