Members of the city’s Board of Finance said they were worried about how to pay for a new Westhill High School even with substantial help from the state. The total cash needed to pay for the work in each of the next four fiscal years is high: it’s estimated to be $52.66 million in fiscal year 2024-25, $106.8 million the following year and $90.4 million the next, with more payments in future years. The total project is estimated to cost $301.3 million, of which the state has agreed to pay for 80 percent of eligible expenses. In a letter to the Board of Representatives, Simmons noted that the Board of Finance already cut her proposed operating budget for city government by $6.3 million and cut the Board of Education’s budget by $1.25 million. She argued that any further cuts by the Board of Representatives “would negatively impact city services for residents.” Simmons said in her letter that she and leaders of the Board of Representatives agreed on a $5 million reduction to the school construction reserve in lieu of other cuts.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-finance-board-worries-covering-new-17922363.php

Tony Valenti and Mark Lovely of Southington-based Lovely Development and Newport Realty are building The Steele Center, a $17-million, 75,000-square-foot commercial and residential development, that will bring 70 market-rate apartments and several commercial storefronts to the Kensington Village area. Steele Boulevard is a new road that stretches from Farmington Avenue to the new Berlin train station on the Hartford line, featuring several residential and mixed-use buildings under construction. The Steele Center project is moving along, despite some delays with supply chain issues, and a pivot from planned two-bedroom units to smaller apartments to keep pace with the changing market, Valenti said. “We can never move as fast as we want, but as soon as we got past all the supply issues, we are totally back on track and we want to finish off this development,” he said, expecting to be completely finished in a little more than two years’ time.

Berlin’s Steele Center taking shape, with two more buildings under construction

A five-story 150-unit mixed-use housing development could be coming to the former Puritan Furniture site on New Britain Avenue in Elmwood. If approved, the project — which has been called Elmwood Lofts in filing documents — would be the first to make use of the town’s new ordinance establishing a transit-oriented district in that part of town. In exchange for building there, the town gives developers the opportunity for higher density occupancy, reduces the amount of required parking spaces and provides incentives for affordable housing. The project also doesn’t need public hearings or Town Council approval, just the authorization of town administrators. If approved, the housing development would bring West Hartford close to having 1,000 new units of housing become available across town at several sites across town, with some having opened recently, others currently being built and a few more approved but not yet under construction.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-ct-housing-transit-oriented-district-17911270.php

The city’s post-pandemic landscape is busy with development activity, from new car dealerships opening and proposals for hundreds of new apartments on the booming west side to commercial and residential projects slated for the downtown’s Main Street. “The diversity of these projects and the variety of uses is an indication of Danbury’s attractiveness as a place to live and work and expand your business,” said Sharon Calitro, Danbury’s planning director. “It shows that our economy is diverse and robust; people want to be here.” The approved building projects and proposed developments — 17 of which are highlighted here, coincide with a growth spurt in Danbury that demographers project could put the city of 86,000 at 95,000 by 2040.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/danbury-development-projects-downtown-west-side-17917423.php

Connecticut’s highway system was recently ranked fifth in the United States in terms of its cost-effectiveness and condition, rising 26 spots from last year’s rankings, according to the 27th Annual Highway Report released by the Reason Foundation. While Connecticut’s improvement is due partly to a change in the methodology, it also rose in the rankings due to infrastructure upgrades, including smoother highway pavement, and lower fatality rates. State spending on highway construction projects also contributed to Connecticut’s upswing. The state ranked 12th in capital and bridge costs per mile, and 16th in maintenance spending per mile. The study’s methodology uses highway spending, conditions, fatality rates and urbanized congestion data submitted to the Federal Highway Administration.

CT’s highway system ranks 5th in national study, as per-mile spending rises

The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority’s Mortgage Committee unanimously endorsed $36.5 million in loans to affordable housing projects in Newington, West Hartford and New Haven Tuesday. The loan proposals include $3.17 million for the second phase of Massachusetts-based Dakota Partners’ “Cedar Pointe” development of a 7.7-acre former car dealership property at 550 Cedar St. in Newington.
On Tuesday, the CHFA subcommittee also endorsed an $11.7 million construction loan and a $2.1 million permanent loan for the first phase of West Hartford Fellowship Housing’s plan to replace 23, 1970-vintage buildings containing 168 units with six buildings containing 300 apartments for the elderly and disabled. The CHFA Mortgage Committee also endorsed $19.53 million in loans for rehabilitation of 66 apartments and construction of 26 more at the McConaughy Terrace complex in New Haven.

CHFA poised to approve $36.5M in loans for housing developments in Newington, West Hartford and New Haven

Avangrid confirmed Wednesday it plans to restart construction of its planned New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line in Maine to tap hydropower in Canada after a jury verdict that the Orange-based company could proceed despite a 2021 voter referendum to block the project. It is a major win for renewable energy advocates in New England, with the lines designed to carry half as much more power than Avangrid’s Park City Wind farm that will be staged out of Bridgeport. Through its Avangrid Renewables subsidiary based in Oregon, Avangrid is one of the nation’s largest developers of renewable power generation spanning wind and solar. The company is readying to drive the first monopile foundation this spring for Vineyard Wind off the Massachusetts coast, which will be the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States. Construction of Park City Wind will follow next year to supply renewable power for Connecticut.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/avangrid-ui-maine-canada-hydro-power-ct-ma-me-17919495.php

The town is asking residents to vote on spending $16 million to save the original 1928 Farmington High School building. The cost of that project would be offset by $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from the federal government, making the total price tag for the town $9 million. If approved, the town would convert the building into a new town hall, with offices for multiple municipal departments, meeting space and a 3,600 square-foot gym for community use. Town officials have said the time to decide is now because doing the renovations at the same time the old high school is torn down would result in construction savings. The third question on the referendum ballot is whether the town should spend $4 million to improve and reconstruct roads around town.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/article/farmington-budget-1928-building-17920043.php

Infrastructure was the buzzword on Wednesday as officials pushed ceremonial shovels into the ground to kick off the I-95 Exit 74 reconstruction project that will realign interchanges, widen lanes and replace the bridge at Route 161. The $150 million project is expected to be completed in Spring 2027. Garrett Eucalitto, state commissioner of transportation, said the project will alleviate bottlenecks in an area with a high rate of crashes due to inadequate design, especially in the on- and off-ramps. The state has also attached a Project Labor Agreement, or PLA, to the project, Eucalitto said, “which means that workforce training will occur right here on this job site.” “PLA’s help ensure the next generation of trades people get the hands-on training they need to help deliver the infrastructure of our future,” he said.

Officials Kick Off 4-Year Construction at I-95 Exit 74, Lamont Talks Faster Rail

A group of local and state officials, from First Selectman Kevin Seery to Gov. Ned Lamont, stood in front of an excavator at the former site of the Starlight Inn Wednesday morning. Construction workers watched in their yellow vests and hard hats from the staging area that will become a northbound on-ramp and commuter parking lot by the end of the more than four-year, $148 million project.
State Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Gary Eucalitto said the project will realign on- and off-ramps to give drivers more time before merging or trying to get off the highway. The goal of the project, which was referred to by multiple officials as “transformational,” is to reduce congestion and improve safety on the highway and Route 161. The state DOT is picking up 20% of the cost while the federal government, through President Joe Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure deal, is responsible for the rest.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230426/officials-say-exit-project-will-bring-transformational-improvements-to-east-lyme-traffic/