The city’s $385 million school construction project was approved easily by voters in November, but state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, needed to convince the General Assembly committee in charge of school funding that the project should be on the state’s priority list this spring. As the local School Building Committee is going through the early steps of selecting an owner’s representative program manager, Osten is working to secure state reimbursement for much of the project cost through the current legislative session. Voters were told of the estimated $385 million total project cost, city taxpayers would pay between $97 million and $153 million, depending on the reimbursement rate provided by the state. The General Assembly’s Education Committee will hold a public hearing on the school construction priority list this spring, Osten said. The date has not been set.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230206/state-legislature-to-consider-funding-for-norwichs-385-million-school-project/

The exemption would address the costly snag that recently hit the months-long negotiations between Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration and the Connecticut Airport Authority over the latter’s proposed $10 million purchase of Sikorsky Memorial. A preliminary review by the CAA of potential environmental contamination at the Bridgeport-owned, Stratford-based facility identified issues requiring anywhere from $6 million to $19 million worth of remediation, depending on the findings of future analyses. The CAA’s goal is to develop it into a more economically viable aviation hub, including reviving and adding the long-dormant commercial passenger operation to existing business, charter and private flight services. CAA’s tentative purchase offer of $10 million depends on the results of an ongoing audit to determine how much money Bridgeport has invested in the mostly federally funded Sikorsky over the years.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/bridgeport-sikorsky-exemption-regulation-sale-17756835.php

An applicant has withdrawn its request to change the town’s zoning regulations as part of an overall plan to convert the current Timex world headquarters site into a large “Amazon-like” distribution facility. However, while JSD Partners of Waterbury did not offer an explanation for the pull out, local residents say they expect the applicant will refile once it takes care of “procedural” matters. JSD Partners of Waterbury has been looking to build the 750,000 square-foot distribution center on the Timex campus off Christian and Southford roads, complete with 66 loading bays to accommodate as many as 106 tractor-trailers at a time. A hearing of the Planning and Zoning Commission was canceled Thursday night as a result of the withdrawal.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2023/02/05/plan-for-timex-site-pulled-in-middlebury/

A project to build a new middle school is estimated to cost as much as $21 million more than the amount approved by the town in referendum last June. The project, which was approved for $58.6 million in the referendum, is now estimated to cost nearly $80 million. $17.3 million is in additional construction costs, and $3.8 million is in soft costs. The construction increases include an increase in cost per gross square footage, escalation costs and “trade costs” — steel, HVAC, electrical, windows, roofing and other equipment. If the State of Connecticut approves the project, the town of Cromwell would be responsible for 60 percent of the increase — the state would cover 40 percent would come from the State of Connecticut in the form of a construction reimbursement grant. Committee members discussed whether to take the additional estimate to the town for referendum, or to wait until July, when the committee will receive official bids for the project.

School Construction Costs Leap to by $21 Million in Cromwell

Development on the peninsula, until recently, has long been hindered by restrictions the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has placed on the number of residential units. Mayor Michael Passero on Friday said the city negotiated with DEEP in December and the state modified the certificate to allow a total of 604 multi-family housing units on the peninsula. Last year the city approved a site plan by Optimus Construction Management to build a 100-unit apartment complex and 100-unit extended stay hotel inside the peninsula. In January, three properties totaling 6.28 acres were sold to RJ Development + Advisors LLC for $500,001. The company is the same developer building 203 apartments on Howard Street called “The Beam.” Passero said the city has used RCDA’s expertise on projects outside of Fort Trumbull and he anticipates RCDA will have an ongoing role with the city. He said RCDA will be in a transitional period for the next years as it finishes its business in the Fort Trumbull area and moves on to other functions within the development of the city.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230203/once-envisioned-for-commercial-development-fort-trumbull-is-now-filling-up-with-housing/

If someone compiled a list of dream projects for this city, a casino and high speed ferry service to New York City would be in competition for the top slot. That was when the Bridgeport Port Authority, with no fanfare, began construction of a new dock city officials say is aimed at attracting a private company interested in providing regular commuters as well as tourists high-speed ferry service between Connecticut’s largest municipality and New York City. Tom Gill, Bridgeport’s economic development chief, confirmed in an interview, “We’re going to build the facility and put out an RFP (request for proposal) for an operator.” The effort, according to Mayor Joe Ganim’s office, is being paid for with nearly $8 million in federal aid awarded years ago and administered through the state’s transportation department, $2.5 million out of the city’s share of the American Rescue Plan that federal lawmakers passed in 2021 to help bolster the national economy during the global coronavirus pandemic and $700,000 from the Bridgeport Port Authority.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-finally-get-high-speed-ferry-service-17759927.php

A 200-space Munson Street parking lot could be the site of New Haven’s next biotech lab building — according to a Winchester-factory-redevelopment zoning update that received a favorable, if still skeptical, recommendation from the City Plan Commission. The vote was in support of a request submitted by the redevelopment team behind the so-called ​“Winchester Center” project in Science Park. The proposal gained a vote of support Wednesday night alongside a few other changes to the self-described neighborhood reinvestment project. The requested PDD update now heads to the full Board of Alders for further review and a potential final vote. Twining Properties founder Alex Twining, whose company is one of the lead co-developers of the ​“Winchester Center” project, pitched the PDD expansion and amendments on Wednesday as part of the ​“making of a neighborhood place” that would see the ​“replacement of parking lots with places to work and live.” Walter Esdaile, the managing director of the New Haven Regional Contractors Alliance, complimented the developers’ commitment to engaging minorities and local businesses in the development of Science Park. Esdaile said the developers have agreed to participate in city programs to hire both minority-owned conrtactors while also helping with a student contractor program operating out of 30 different New Haven schools.

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

After considering opening a boutique hotel or market rate apartments, Brown, Vallone and the rest of WHI Camelot LLC settled on creating a mixed-income affordable housing development. Brown and his Honeycomb partner Steve Caprio, along with Vallone, the Simsbury-based Vesta Corporation and his brother Hagan Brown’s Avon-based Corridor Ventures, are planning to transform the property into 44 units of mixed-income affordable housing by renovating the hotel building and constructing a new building at the site of the restaurant, which most recently was occupied by Los Imperios. And housing — particularly the kind defined as affordable — is what West Hartford town leaders say they need more of right now. They recently set aside $6 million of its COVID relief funds to encourage developers to build more affordable units. Before Brown and his associates can break ground, the West Hartford Inn site will undergo remediation with the assistance of a nearly $1 million Brownfield state grant to help clean up the property, which has some environmental issues.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/west-hartford-ct-inn-hotel-affordable-housing-17756691.php

Contractors are reviewing their budgets to find creative ways and additional financial incentives to retain workers in today’s inflationary environment, said Misha Nikulin, managing director at Deloitte’s engineering and construction practice. Average hourly earnings for construction workers climbed 6.1% from December 2021 to December 2022, exceeding the 5% rise in average pay for all private sector production workers, according to Associated General Contractors of America’s 2023 Construction Hiring & Business Outlook. The construction industry’s long and well-documented struggle to find workers shows no signs of slowing down and is widely believed to have become endemic. Workforce shortages, which make projects take longer and cost more, will likely intensify, according to AGC, with 69% of contractors expecting to need more workers in 2023.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/inflation-is-pushing-wages-higher/641566/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202023-02-01%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:47736%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

A plan for Seaside State Park will include “the removal of the deteriorated buildings,” the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Wednesday in its announcement that the state has committed $7.1 million to implement a “passive park” design using federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The plan will also include new restrooms and walking trails, picnic areas, improvements to the shoreline, parking upgrades and historic interpretation of the property, according to a news release from DEEP. DEEP will convene a working group in the coming months to start planning for the park design, with input from the public. The $7.1 million is part of $21.5 million in ARPA funds that Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature authorized for infrastructure improvements at state parks, as part of the $51.5 million Restore CT State Parks initiative. The other $30 million is bonded.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230201/state-plan-for-seaside-demolish-buildings-spend-7-1-million-on-passive-park/