If the city had not earlier this month begun tearing down parts of the blighted Remington Arms plant along Barnum Avenue, the crumbling East Side edifice, ruined by neglect, vandals, multiple fires and the elements, would have soon fallen in on its own, possibly injuring passersby. As head of the city’s building department, Kica, following an inspection of the long-abandoned property’s interconnected structures last winter, issued a Jan. 9 emergency demolition order to the economic development department for a large section of the former factory complex. Kica cited significant degradation of the roofs, walls, masonry and flooring of the handful of linked buildings at Barnum Avenue and Helen Street. By mid-February, other building department documents show, Manafort Brothers Inc. of New Britain had been hired for the job, with an estimated start of early to mid-March.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-s-building-chief-remington-imminent-17920099.php

Earlier this week, the Department of Energy released its newest roadmap toward developing a temporary solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel — a process the agency now says will take between 10 and 15 years to complete. Without any purpose-built facilities to handle spent nuclear waste, operators of U.S. nuclear power plants have been forced to store their spent fuel rods on site in giant pools or in dry concrete casks. Over the next two or three years, the agency said it plans to embark on a campaign to inform communities about what hosting a nuclear storage facility would entail, as well as what federal funding would be available, before soliciting a call for volunteers. Officials will then take several more years to assess those bids, before negotiating and signing agreements with the selected locations. Permitting and construction would then take another three to four years, according to the DOE timeline, before the facilities are ready to begin operation.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/department-of-energy-spent-nuclear-fuel-storage-ct-17924070.php

The High Line, a 1.5-mile elevated park full of lush greenery in New York City, could influence the city’s vision of creating a pedestrian walkway that would “float” above Route 9 in Middletown, reconnecting people to Middletown’s portion of the Connecticut riverfront. In 2021, Cooper Robertson of New York drew up the master plan that is expected to become a private-public partnership with the city. The project, which cost some $187 million to build, has humble origins. The Middletown group also visited Little Island, a man-made public space over the Hudson River with a base of concrete, funnel-looking support structures upon which sits a park on various levels. There are hills, lush grass, and other plantings mixed with pieces of art, as well as seating areas. Florsheim also talked about the casual nature of the High Line and his vision for what Middletown’s version could be. “The goal is that we want it to be a place that you just end up, maybe without intending to.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/middletowners-visits-high-line-nyc-route-9-17922838.php

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