The state offered the town the right of first refusal for the property at 538 Center St. next to Vinny’s Deli which the state purchased as part of the bridge project that dragged on for years before it was finally completed in 2021. Construction began on the bridge in 2016 but was almost immediately delayed when a contractor expressed concerns about the stability of the structure after a portion of it was demolished. Ultimately plans were redesigned and work began again in 2019 with an anticipated 2022 completion date. The project was completed early, but the additional work increased the cost of the project from $3.9 million to $5.7 million. Now that the bridge is complete, the state wants to sell the property it used as a staging area for workers.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Wallingford/Wallingford-News/Wallingford-declined-offer-to-buy-land-next-to-Center-Street-bridge

Choate Rosemary Hall overcame one hurdle this week in its quest to build a 14,000-square-foot admissions building and 70-space parking garage on 6.5 acres at the corner of North Elm and Christian streets. At the commission’s February meeting, it also heard from residents concerned about runoff from the construction. “The project is more than just a stormwater discharge,” he said. “There was clearing of acreage of trees, and where there’s natural runoff, that’s now affecting it, and relative to the detention pond, nothing has changed since they built the houses but the water is much greater now.” Ultimately the commission approved the application with only Kern voting no, citing too many unanswered questions that came up during the discussions. Choate now has to gain Planning and Zoning approval before beginning the project. The application is expected to be on the agenda for its monthly meeting March 13 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Town Hall.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Wallingford/Wallingford-News/Inland-Wetlands-Commission-approves-Choate-plans-for-admissions-building

A draft environmental assessment for Tweed New Haven Regional Airport’s proposed expansion project says extending Tweed’s runway and building a new terminal on the East Haven side actually would improve the airport’s impact on the environment. Among the EA’s findings, highlighted by airport officials, is that the project would reduce overall noise by shifting aircraft ground noise farther from nearby homes. The expansion plan also calls for building a new, 80,000-square-foot terminal on the East Haven side of the airport. A new airport entrance would be off Proto Drive in East Haven, with access off Coe Avenue. The proposed new terminal “would be constructed on piers, raising the finished floor elevation above mean sea level,” the EA says. “The space below the finished floor elevation would be left open to allow floodwater to pass.”

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/study-tweed-expansion-bring-environmental-17816253.php

In the latest phase of the Walk Bridge Project, the state Department of Transportation purchased a property about one mile from the bridge to act as a staging area. News of the purchase comes as construction to replace the 127-year-old bridge is expected to begin in full swing this spring, and as the state begins construction work to remove the former IMAX building to accommodate the project. Property records show the parcel was purchased by the state of Connecticut, but the “co-owner” address, located on the Berlin Turnpike, is DOT headquarters. Previously, the land was owned by Antonios and Penelope Koskerides, who purchased the land in the early 1990s, according to land records. In 2018, the property was appraised at $1.42 million. Once construction begins, it is expected to take about six years, according to DOT.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/walk-bridge-norwalk-property-construction-17816667.php

Funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is finally making it to projects, according to the CEOs of several major public construction companies. Additional federal money from the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS Act is also boosting the civil construction outlook, they said. President Joe Biden signed the IIJA in November 2021, and despite excitement about the five-year, $1.2 trillion law, construction companies said late last year they haven’t yet seen much benefit. That’s starting to change as the money makes its way from state and local budgets down to the project level. “I am very encouraged by the tailwinds we are seeing not only in our construction segment, but also throughout the entire civil construction industry,” Kyle Larkin, CEO of Watsonville, California-based Granite Construction, said during a recent earnings call.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/iija-infrastructure-act-money-start-to-flow-construction-projects/643721/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202023-03-01%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:48423%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

The New York developer planning to build 172 apartments on the former site of the Children’s Museum in West Hartford recently paid $10.57 million for the property, as well as a small portion of the neighboring Kingswood Oxford School site. Developer Continental Properties bought the 3.96 acres from the Kingswood Oxford School – which has owned the museum property at 950 Trout Brook Drive since 2001 — in a deal recorded by the town on Feb. 2. Continental Properties is among the largest developers of Class A rental communities in the Tri-State area, according to Colliers. In Connecticut, Continental has developed communities in Rocky Hill, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Milford, Shelton and Trumbull. The bidding process for the site in 2021 was extremely competitive, according to Cafasso and Hunt.

Developer planning 172-unit luxury apartment project in West Hartford buys former Children’s Museum property

Texas-based Anthony Properties seeks town approval for eight residential buildings, two commercial buildings and a clubhouse off West Street. The 41-acre property is in an enterprise zone, making the development eligible for a seven-year tax abatement. If the project is approved by the planning commission, Anthony Properties will get a 100 percent tax break on improvements to the land in the first two years of the program. The tax abatement program is open to developers in areas designated as enterprise zones, a state program set up in the wake of Pratt & Whitney’s departure from Southington.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Southington/Southington-News/Divided-Southington-leaders-approve-tax-breaks-for-Texas-developer.html

ThayerMahan, a Groton-based marine technology company, no longer plans to redevelop the Groton Heights School property, located in the city near the Bill Memorial Library and Fort Griswold, as its headquarters and research and development center. The growing company, which is located at 120 Leonard Drive in Groton and has more than 100 employees, was looking for additional space and had planned to redevelop the town-owned Groton Heights property. A town and city committee had selected ThayerMahan as the preferred developer for the roughly 2-acre former elementary school property, located at 244 Monument St., which has been vacant since 2007. Jon Reiner, the town’s planning and development director, said the Groton Heights School, like many older buildings, faces issues, such as lead, PCBs, asbestos and mold, and also has to be brought up to building and fire codes. As ThayerMahan was doing its due diligence on the property, the company realized the extent of the environmental remediation on the property was more than anyone originally thought.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230301/thayermahan-cancels-plan-to-redevelop-groton-heights-school/

The four-member BET Budget Committee is currently split on how much to spend on the new school; the question became divisive Tuesday morning after new design information was provided to the CMS Building Committee. The architect on the project said a new school would need to be about 20,000 square feet larger than first estimated to accommodate the number of students the Board of Education wants to place there. Wednesday was the second day of the Budget Committee’s “consolidation day” where the four members discussed potential adjustments to the $480.9 million budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2023-24. The committee will bring its revisions to the full BET, which will vote on April 4. The BET will also hold a public hearing on March 29 to gather input from residents.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/central-middle-school-price-questioned-budget-17813176.php

The committee voted unanimously to hire Construction Solutions Group of East Hartford for $3.68 million as the city’s owner’s representative. The firm will oversee the applications for state reimbursement for the bulk of the cost, design and construction of the three schools in the first phase of the project. The group will review the project master plan, firm up cost estimates and file for state reimbursement grants by the June 30 deadline. The project calls for building four new elementary schools to replace the current seven schools, either renovating or replacing Teachers’ Memorial Global Studies Middle School and renovating the Samuel Huntington Elementary School to become the adult education center and administrative offices. Construction Solutions Group will represent the Norwich School Building Committee, organize and coordinate the design and construction process, ensuring maximum reimbursement rates from the state, Guiliano said.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230228/norwich-selects-east-hartford-firm-to-oversee-first-phase-of-385-million-school-project/