A dying mall near the junction of two interstates and within hailing distance of a transportation hub might be ripe for what planners call “repurposing.” If that mall is in a growing, well-populated area that’s short on housing, particularly affordable housing, that repurposing might involve a “highest and best use” that includes a mix of commercial and residential components. A deed filed Thursday with the town clerk’s office revealed Namdar Realty Group, a Great Neck, N.Y., real estate investment firm with a penchant for acquiring struggling properties, had landed Crystal Mall at auction last month, submitting a winning bid of more than $9.5 million. If Waterford has a plan of development for Crystal Mall, the town eventually may have to buy the property itself to pursue the plan, Clapp said, as the City of East Hartford did in acquiring an abandoned Showcase Cinemas on Interstate 84, once pitched as a casino site.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230624/crystal-mall-seen-as-suitable-for-mix-of-commercial-residential-development/

After a nearly yearlong moratorium on data center applications, proposed data center regulations will go to a public hearing on Tuesday. The proposed regulations conditionally would allow data centers, which could be no larger than 12,500 square feet, in industrial zones only. Any proposed data center must comply with the state’s noise standards. A data center also cannot use fossil fuels for power generation, except due to an unforeseen power loss, and cannot use water evaporation techniques for cooling purposes. Proposals must include a fire suppression plan and an agreement with water and electrical utilities to show that the data center’s utility demands can be met, among other requirements. The public hearing will be at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Hall Annex and via Zoom.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230625/grotons-proposed-data-center-regs-to-go-to-public-hearing/

The City Council voted Tuesday to apply for a $1.4 million state grant to help build a new Meriden Soccer Athletic Complex Project at Columbus Park. The new fields in Columbus Park will ensure residents still have a place to play soccer, since the fields currently located next to MidState Medical Center on Lewis Avenue are slated to close. The city has a 99-year lease agreement with the hospital but MidState has stated it needs the property to build a new medical office building for cancer treatments. The new medical building will be taxable. MidState has committed $1.5 million to the city’s soccer fields relocation. The project has been discussed with the council for several years, but was delayed by the pandemic, Coon said. Officials worked with MidState and field users to search for a replacement site.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Meriden-applies-for-grant-to-move-soccer-fields-to-Columbus-Park.html

State lawmakers recently approved over $100 million in upgrades ($20 million of which would come from private funding), but that will only fix critical issues that are desperately needed, Freimuth said. Then there’s Gov. Ned Lamont’s public interest in bringing an NHL team — potentially the arena-challenged Arizona Coyotes — to Hartford, which would mean even more needed renovations and perhaps a complete revamp of the XL Center, which the Hartford Whalers once called home. The building will undergo a renovation that Freimuth says will take about two years, with most of the work done in the summer when there are fewer events at the arena. Officials had been trying to push through more funding for the XL Center for years but finally got it fully included in the budget that recently passed the state legislature. The deal paved the way for Oak View Group — which runs day-to-day operations of the XL Center — to invest $20 million in exchange for a long-term agreement to keep operating the arena.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/capitalregion/article/xl-center-hartford-ct-renovations-nhl-18154374.php

A stone bridge on Wesskum Wood Road in Binney Park needs to be replaced and work is expected to start July 5, according to Greenwich’s Department of Public Works. The project is expected to take a year to complete and traffic will be detoured on Arch Street, Sound Beach Avenue, West End Avenue, Summit Road, Drinkwater Place and Owenoke Way during construction. In addition to the new bridge, there will also be new curbing, a sidewalk on the bridge’s interior, a path connecting to Binney Park trail, decorative crosswalks and accessible pedestrian ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Crews will also widen the bridge so cyclists have better access and parts of Wesskum Wood Road will be repaved. Replacing the bridge is expected to cost $1.67 million, with half the construction and inspection fee to be funded by a State of Connecticut Local Bridge Program grant.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/greenwich-binney-park-bridge-wesskum-wood-road-18149476.php

Dixwell Plaza’s redevelopers plan to start knocking down vacant buildings in the mid-century shopping plaza as soon as September — as they move forward with a years-in-the-making effort to build up the heart of New Haven’s historic Black neighborhood. Those plans were presented by the Connecticut Community Outreach and Revitalization Program (ConnCORP) and its construction partners on Wednesday night during a community meeting they hosted at the Stetson Library at 197 Dixwell Ave. ConnCORP Chief Operating Officer Paul McCraven said in the next 60 days neighbors should expect to see activity begin at the site. He said phase one of the project will cost an estimated $146 million. Skanska USA Building Inc. Senior Project Manager Beau Burgess and Project Superintendent Brian Lake shared with neighbors the timeline and logistics of the demolition period.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/dixwell_plaza_update_3

The development, called the Regency at Woodbridge, will feature three or four complexes with a total of 70 carriage-style town homes covering about 15 acres on Bradley Road and Litchfield Turnpike, the plans show. A sign on site touts luxury-style homes. The cost of the units will start at more than a half-million dollars, according to a listing for the project on the website for Toll Brothers, the project’s developer. Woodbridge Zoning Enforcement Officer Kristine Sullivan said work began on the development earlier this year. Toll Brothers has estimated that it will take about three years to complete, according to Sullivan. The Woodbridge Town Plan and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the housing development application at a meeting in September 2022. Based in Fort Washington, Pa., Toll Brothers has built 10 age-restricted developments in Connecticut, a project official said at the time.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/regency-woodbridge-housing-development-townhomes-18165031.php?src=nhrhpdesecp

A local golf club received the approval needed to go forward with a $4.5 million construction project that will offer new amenities to its members. Bull’s Bridge Golf Club submitted a special permit and site plan application to the New Milford Zoning Commission in March to make kitchen and dining room additions in its clubhouse on Old Stone Road. The club’s application also called for building a new golf house that would be connected to the clubhouse by a breezeway. The Zoning Commission unanimously approved the club’s application at its June 13 meeting.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/newmilford/article/new-milford-approves-4-5-million-expansion-18163101.php

The analysis found that solar power had lowered the demand for energy in the region and fewer power plants had retired, putting New England in a better position to manage gas constraints in the winter. ISO-New England President and CEO Gordon van Welie cautioned, however, that the study is not complete and that there are still serious concerns about long-term winter reliability. The study assumes that the gas distribution system will operate without issues, and that new offshore wind resources will compensate for oil plants shutting down. But recent delays and canceled contracts for Northeast wind projects have raised doubts, van Welie said. Eversource Vice President of Energy Supply James Daly said the study used “optimistic” assumptions that should be questioned, including projections of 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind and 1,400 megwatts of energy storage coming online, most of which isn’t under contract.

New England Energy Officials Challenge ‘Optimistic’ Study on Natural Gas Supply

An extra $5 million for the school building project could be used to add turf and lighting to the property’s new playing fields, and members of the project’s building committee are eyeing a grant to pay for it. Construction began in mid-2022, and the middle-high school project is well underway on Major Besse Drive. Construction crews are working on the actual buildings, which are being built on steel beams and concrete foundations. The new school campus, which has separate spaces for middle and high school students, and shared areas, such as the cafeteria, gym, auditorium and athletic spaces, is taking shape. The grant request came to the City Council with a grant application for their review, defining the reasons why the grant was needed. The application also defined the high school’s athletic fields and the adjacent city swimming pool, playground, basketball courts and other community facilities as a “Community Fitness Complex” that would be used by the whole town, not just the high school.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/torrington-school-project-planners-want-5-18161230.php