The General Assembly approved a $7.5 billion two-year bond package late Wednesday that invests nearly $5 billion in transportation, housing, capital projects at public colleges and universities and local school construction. The Democratic-controlled legislature endorsed the financing in overwhelming bipartisan fashion, with the House of Representatives voting 145-4 and the Senate backing the measure 35-1. The plan also orders new financing to help local school districts improve air quality, support renovations to the Connecticut Convention and XL centers in Hartford, and to cover added costs involved with dredging New London port to facilitate a wind-to-energy project. Rebuilding Connecticut’s aging highways, bridges and rail lines again consumes a major portion of the state’s credit card. Lawmakers authorized nearly $1.6 billion in transportation bonding for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and another $1.5 billion in 2024-25.

Lawmakers send $7.5B bipartisan bond package to Lamont’s desk

The 1.88-acre property at 16 Cedar St., with a commanding view of Norwich Harbor, is the site of the former New London County Jail, a factory associated with the jail and the home site of an early 19th century prominent Norwich African American family. A Hartford-based housing developer purchased the property in January for $80,500 and has submitted plans to the city for a proposed four-story, 26-unit apartment building, with open recreational space in the front area near the School Street intersection. The Commission on the City Plan will hold a public hearing on the permit application by 16 Cedar Street Development LLC at 7 p.m. June 20 at 23 Union St. The abandoned jail was torn down in the 1950s, its foundation and stone walls now concealed by thick brush and trees that have taken over the property.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230604/apartment-building-proposed-for-19th-century-jail-site-in-norwich/

Yale New Haven Health’s goal to build a comprehensive medical center at the site of the former Macy’s at Meriden Mall remains behind schedule. Yale New Haven officials said the 179,258-square-foot former Macy’s store will be used to provide out-patient care for patients through partnerships with Smilow Cancer Hospital, the Yale New Haven Heart and Vascular Center and Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. Construction workers have been doing interior demolition and recently filed a plan revision with city building officials, said city Economic Development Director Joseph Feest. After purchasing the former anchor store for $2.8 million in October, Yale New Haven Health initially said it planned to start construction in early 2022, and open some services in the next 18 to 24 months.The project was expected to be completed by the end of 2023 or early 2024.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Yale-New-Haven-still-in-planning-stage-at-Meriden-mall.html

For the third time in a year, planners have shut down a major development proposed for the open terrain off Interstate 84 at Exit 9 — this time a rezoning request to allow 300 apartments. Bloom was referring to request by New Jersey developer Sterling Properties to rezone 70 of the 100 acres in question on Hawleyville Road from light industrial to residential, to allow a 14-building complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments with rents ranging from $2,300 to $2,900. The two other developments planned for Hawleyville Road were both run out of town after residents organized opposition. First, Newtowners successfully opposed a Manhattan investor who wanted to build an 8-acre trucking warehouse on the 100 acres. Next, residents successfully objected to a New York developer’s plans for 200 apartments on a next door property. At a June 1 public hearing where Newtown planners voted 4-to-1 to reject the rezoning request for 300 apartments, resident Mark D’Amico said a residential development of that size would cost the town more than it would contribute, starting with an estimated 127 school-aged children that could come with the project.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/newtown-apartments-denied-new-jersey-developer-18135459.php?src=nthpdesecp

After months of delays caused by environmental issues, the developers of the luxury apartment project at the Steelpointe site are now aiming to break ground on the first phase in around 50 days. As reported in early January, the Christophs had hoped construction would already have been well-underway. But things got complicated after it was determined the site, the former location of a steel works and electrical substation, had more ground pollution problems than initially anticipated. The overall goal is to build 1,500 luxury apartments in all. Phase one involves 400 and is estimated to take two years to complete, though Christoph said tenants might be able to move in in stages as the units are finished. “It’s going to be exciting,” Christoph said. “It’s going to be another great year to show off Bridgeport’s waterfront.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/steelpointe-luxury-apartment-project-passes-18137492.php

Connecticut taxpayers could cover up to $80 million in renovation costs for the XL Center arena in downtown Hartford under the budget deal struck by Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative leaders this week. Among the multitude of provisions in the budget compromise is the outline of a deal that would see Los Angeles-based entertainment and events company Oak View Group bear at least $20 million in XL Center renovation costs in return for a long-term agreement to manage the roughly 15,500-seat sports and entertainment venue. The CRDA – a quasi-governmental agency responsible for economic development initiatives in Hartford and East Hartford – manages the XL on behalf of the city of Hartford. The facility currently runs at a roughly $2.5 million to $4 million deficit yearly, which is covered by the state. Backers say the XL Center is needed to promote vibrancy in Hartford, and pays dividends in extra demand at restaurants, hotels and other nearby businesses. CRDA leaders believe renovations to make the building a more attractive and economical venue for performers could see it turn a profit.

Lamont budget deal pledges up to $80M for XL Center renovations

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $51.1 billion biennial budget early Tuesday morning that features a broad-based state income tax cut and dramatically boosts funding to local school districts. The package, which passed 139-12 with strong bipartisan support following a nearly three-hour debate that began late Monday, now heads to the Senate, which also is expected to approve the budget before the regular 2023 legislative session adjourns at midnight Wednesday. “We think there’s lot of good things in there,” House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said of the overall budget, which negotiators for the legislature and Lamont administration finished crafting this past weekend. “Look, do I wish we could spend a couple of hundred million dollars more? Yes, I do. I think that’s where our caucus was,” Ritter said. But he quickly added that would have forced a much larger effort to work around the spending cap and praised Democrats for compromising on this issue to ensure support from Lamont, other fiscally moderate Democrats and the GOP.

CT House adopts $51B budget with big middle-class tax cut

Transportation planners and contractors in Connecticut are shoring up a section of this vital roadway in Norwalk. The cost of the project is expected to be $104 million. The venture began in the summer of 2022 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024. The goal of the job is to improve safety on this busy thoroughfare. Yonkers Contracting plans to use an innovative procedure that will save time and improve safety by executing a “bridge slide.” The contractor and its team will build the I-95 bridge over Saugatuck Avenue in Westport, then slide the enormous structure into place in late summer. In addition to the innovative construction on the I-95 bridge over Saugatuck Avenue, the construction team will carry out repairs on bridges over Franklin Street and the Saugatuck River. For this part of the project, workers will replace expansion joints and install new standpipes on the bridges.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/yonkers-contracting-to-perform-bridge-slide-on-i-95-in-conn/61322

Construction employment is on an upward path and that’s both good and bad. By extension, if jobs increase, so does the need for workers. And that’s the continued challenge for the industry: contractors are beating the bushes for skilled labor to meet their labor needs. Construction employment rose from April 2022 to April 2023 in 42 states and the District of Columbia. While the numbers declined in seven states, they held their own in Hawaii. For the month of April 2023, construction employment increased in 24 states and D.C. Hiring declined in 26 states. Washington added the most jobs over the month, at 4,300; Illinois added 2,700; Wisconsin, 2,600; and California, 2,100. The construction sector shed 9,000 jobs that month, the first decrease since January 2022. This happened even as the sector’s unemployment rate fell and total number of job openings in the sector hit a near-record high, according to AGC. Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in construction jumped by 6.7 percent over the year to $33.94 per hour.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/construction-jobs-picture-looks-bright-but-where-are-the-workers/61298

Almeida and the New Haven Fire Department rescue company he oversees faced that challenge on Friday afternoon after an apartment building under construction on Lafayette Street partially collapsed. They moved fast, but carefully, amid danger to themselves to save the life of a laborer for an Orange-based company called Seven Concrete while helping to build the sixth new apartment complex rising on a former Urban Renewal-leveled asphalt stretch of the Hill neighborhood. They didn’t know much about the call they were responding to as Rivera steered toward the partial collapse at 188 Lafayette St., in the heart of the ​“Hill-to-Downtown” redevelopment area where builder Randy Salvatore has been erecting a mini-city of medical district-marketed apartment complexes under the banner of ​“City Crossing.” This latest building is slated to rise seven-stories with 112 apartments. Seven Concrete workers directed Almeida to a portable ladder rising to an upper deck they were pouring.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/step_by_step_rescuers_dodged_danger_to_save_a_life_in_partial_building_collapse