Construction of the 100-unit apartment complex at the site of the former Strand Theater in New Britain has officially kicked off following a ceremony this week. City officials joined New York Developer Avner Krohn on Tuesday for a groundbreaking of The Strand, a six-story, roughly 86,000-square-foot mixed-use apartment building at 157 Main St. In addition to 100 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, Krohn said the development will include about 3,600 square feet of retail and restaurant space. City officials said the project is expected to take about 16 months to complete. In August, Krohn’s development was named one of eight Connecticut projects sharing $23 million from the latest round of the Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant program. The Strand will receive $4 million through the program, Krohn said.

Developer breaks ground on 100-unit development in New Britain

After years of work and getting its necessary approvals in place over the summer, the Police Department Building Committee is nearing a construction date. In a recent update to the Town Council, members of the committee talked about finances, among other business: On Sept. 19, the Board of Selectmen approved nearly $360,000 to start construction of the project, which is expected to cost about $29 million. The town has a contract with SLAM Collaborative, an architecture group with an office in Glastonbury, to renovate the police station. Turner Construction Company joined the project in March. Joe Zagarenski, the town’s senior engineer, said the entire project should total about $29 million, a budget total approved by the Board of Selectmen on Sept. 5.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/new-canaan-police-department-upgrade-18376944.php?src=sthpdesecp

The UHL Fierce returned to State Pier with a second shipment of 318-foot blades from Denmark for the South Fork Wind project under development by the partnership of Eversource and Ørsted, but longshoremen weren’t unloading them on Wednesday. Instead, the members of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1411 in New London were outside the gate picketing – joined by hundreds of ILA longshoremen from locals stretching from Virginia to Maine, all protesting the decision to award work on the pier’s new heavy-lift crane to another union. Ørsted dismissed the protest as a jurisdictional dispute between the ILA and the Operating Engineers, but for the longshoremen climbed aboard buses in Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York and across the eastern seaboard to join the protest, it was a fight to protect their claim to work stevedoring for the offshore wind industry across the coast. At the center of the issue is a 500-foot tall, green crane Siemens Gamesa shipped to New London to load the massive turbines onto ships to bring them out to the South Fork site off the coast of Long Island. The longshoremen say operating that crane should be their work, but a project labor agreement with the Connecticut State Building Trades Council assigns that work to the Operating Engineers.

From Virginia to Maine, Hundreds of Longshoremen Take a Stand at New London’s State Pier

Having finished a $22 million, three-building apartment center on Broad Street this summer, city developer Robert Smith’s Metro Star Properties is starting construction of a $16 million two-building complex slated for nearby River Street this fall, he said Monday. Asbestos abatement continues and demolition will begin of an old downtown shopping center in October at 44-64 River St. The city issued the demo permit about two weeks ago, city officials said. The 50-apartment complex, which includes 12,000 square feet of retail space, is Smith’s 30th in and near downtown since 1999 starting with what is now known as Schooner Wharf, Smith said. Metro on Broad, the project completed this summer, is 78 units spread across three residential buildings ranging from studio- to three-bedroom apartments, with rents ranging from $2,095 to $3,295 per month. It’s at 135 Broad St., just off the Milford Green.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/milford-metro-star-apartments-river-street-18373565.php?src=rdctpdensecp

A key player in financing the housing boom, the Capital Region Development Authority, approved deals on more projects Tuesday that would create hundreds of new units, many in converted office space. The CRDA approved a $1.1 million low-interest loan to developer Simon Konover to convert office space on the building’s upper floors into 37 apartments, all of which would be rented at market rate. The gut renovation of the historic property is expected to cost a total of $7 million and add to the effort to create a residential and retail corridor in the heart of downtown on Pratt Street. The CRDA committee voted to allow developer Randy Salvatore to apply funds secured for a project stalled by a lawsuit against the city to be used for the campus redevelopment, which could result in 269 apartments in its first phase.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/hartford-apartments-housing-downtown-18375304.php

Three businessmen from Massachusetts with longstanding ties have joined with a pair of Connecticut builders for an ambitious push to develop small industrial rental properties north of Hartford. The partners broke ground this year on a 19,800-square-foot industrial building on nearly 4.5 acres at 29 Moody Road, in Enfield. The $2.8 million project will offer 11, 1,800-square-foot bays that can be leased individually or combined. Partner Adam Oliveri said the plan is to hunt for additional development sites that can be transformed into rental spaces for small, trades-focused businesses. Skinner and his brother, Everett Skinner, own Ellington-based The Barn Yard, a builder of timber-frame structures ranging from 100-square-foot sheds to rustic 10,000-square-foot events center barns. The Barn Yard has produced custom commercial and industrial buildings. It manufactures components using CNC machines, and ships worldwide.

Diverse mix of small business owners partner to build industrial rental properties north of Hartford

David Kooris, the chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority, announced Tuesday that state officials are discussing whether to fold the maritime agency into the Connecticut Airport Authority. The announcement means there could be a potential merger between the Port Authority, which manages Connecticut’s harbors and deep water ports, and the Airport Authority, which oversees operations of Bradley International Airport and five other state-owned aviation facilities. The agency has also caught flak from lawmakers for the ballooning cost of renovating the State Pier in New London into a port capable of shipping offshore wind turbines into the Atlantic. That construction project, which is now in the final stages, was marketed as a $93 million rebuild of the New London port in 2019, but the budget grew to more than $300 million this year after repeated cost overruns.

CT Port Authority may merge with Airport Authority, chair says

Two prominently-located downtown Hartford office buildings — one, a historic, former bank on Pratt Street and the other, directly across from Bushnell Park — could be converted and add another 120 apartments — and ease the stockpile of lower-grade, older office space that has gotten even tougher to lease after the pandemic. The Simon Konover Co. of West Hartford is proposing a $7 million conversion of the upper floor offices of 31-45 Pratt St. — once the headquarters of the old-line Hartford lender Society for Savings — into 37 market-rate apartments. CRDA, which has helped finance apartment redevelopment downtown in the last decade, is being asked to approve a low-cost, state-taxpayer-backed $1.1 million loan for the Pratt Street project and a $5 million loan and $2 million equity investment for Lewis Street.

CT city could see $34 million conversion of 2 office buildings into high-profile apartments

Regional educational service center LEARN is moving forward with its plans to acquire the vacant Southwest School building from the town. LEARN’s Board of Directors voted Friday to authorize Executive Director Kate Ericson to buy the 15.3-acre property and school building at 51 Daniels Ave. for $1. LEARN will use the site to construct a $95 million bilingual early childhood school that will encourage students to retain their home languages. The LEARN Board of Directors submitted a funding grant in June to the state for review. The General Assembly would not approve any potential funding until next spring, Ericson said. LEARN’s goal is to begin designing and then building the school next July with an opening projected for 2027. The current school would be demolished.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230918/learn-votes-to-purchase-vacant-waterford-school-and-build-new-95m-early-childhood-facility/

In an attempt to reduce motor vehicle crashes on one of the most dangerous highway on-ramps in the state, the state Department of Transportation is conducting a $50.4 million project to remove the stop sign-controlled on-ramp from Route 17 to Route 9 north in Middletown. The on-ramp’s current configuration resulted in 319 crashes and 27 injuries between 2019 and 2022, according to the latest UConn crash data information. Middlesex Corp. of Portland is the contractor for the project, which began in late March. Its expected completion date is mid-October 2026. Work includes the construction of a 1,000-foot, full-length acceleration lane in place of the stop sign, and widening of the area on both Route 9 and the Exit 23B southbound on-ramp at deKoven Drive. Once construction is complete, Conroy said, drivers no longer will be able to enter Route 9 north from Harbor Drive, as the street will end just north of the park entrance.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletown-route-9-highway-crashes-safety-work-18369453.php