The Capital Region Development Authority has lent out about $150 million for private development projects over the past decade, like the $12 million it granted to RMS Cos.’ nearly completed 270-unit apartment building next to Dunkin’ Donuts Park. RMS needed $13.5 million from CRDA, but the agency wasn’t able to deliver the final $1.5 million. At the time, Stanley Black & Decker and Cigna Corp. stepped in to fill the financing gap. Believing deep-pocketed corporations or other entities would probably like to support Hartford housing and redevelopment projects, CRDA worked with state and local officials to create a streamlined process. Language was inserted into the General Assembly’s budget implementer bill in 2022, Freimuth said, and the proposal underwent a state ethics review. The result is a clear process that allows benefactors to loan money to favored CRDA-affiliated projects in Hartford without unintentional conflicts.

CRDA program will allow deep-pocketed benefactors to loan money to Hartford development projects

The Bristol city council recently approved hiring Desman Inc. to design the parking garage that will be built in Centre Square on Hope Street. The company, the lowest of five bidders, will be paid $268,700 from federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, city officials said. The project’s total cost will be $5.2 million, also to be paid via ARPA funds. City officials said the new parking garage is aimed at accommodating private development and bringing city residents and others from surrounding communities into Bristol. Bristol Public Works Director Raymond Rogozinski said the city is expected to have a construction company on board by the end of the year and to start construction in early 2024. The two-and-a-half story garage will have capacity for 184 vehicles. It is scheduled to open at the end of 2024, Rogozinski said.

Bristol officials move forward with new $5.2M downtown parking garage 

Florida-based cannabis producer and retailer Trulieve reached a settlement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration last month after a Holyoke, Massachusetts employee died from an apparent asthma attack while filling pre-rolled joints. Trulieve, which is building a cultivation facility on Kensington Avenue, agreed to undertake a study to determine whether ground cannabis dust is required to be classified as a “hazardous chemical” in the occupational setting, in accordance with OSHA regulations. Work on the study is to be completed by May 29, 2023. In addition to the modified report, OSHA reduced the proposed fine from $35,219 to $14,502 and two of the “serious” items were withdrawn. The withdrawn items involved having a “safety data sheet” and providing training under OSHA’s hazard communication standard. The remaining citation, which identified the standard for listing “hazardous chemicals” was replaced with a citation about conducting a hazard analysis. Trulieve is a multi-state operator with hubs anchored in the Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast with large market share in Arizona, Florida and Pennsylvania. It has a license for a medical dispensary in Bristol.

https://www.myrecordjournal.com/News/Meriden/Meriden-News/Trulieve-reaches-OSHA-settlement-in-Massachusetts-cannabis-cultivator-building-in-Meriden.html

The redevelopers of the ex-Coliseum site won city approval to build 120 more apartments, 657 new parking-garage spaces, and a new 11-story lab and office building — all as construction of another 200 new apartments right next door has already begun — in the latest chapter of the planned overhaul of a former-arena-turned-parking lot into ​“Square 10.” That area, which is now an active construction site, has long sat as a surface parking lot ever since the demolition of the sports and entertainment complex in 2007. Thanks to Wednesday’s votes, the Norwalk-based developer Spinnaker Real Estate Partners has now won site plan approvals to build a total of 320 new apartments, a new 657-space parking garage, and a new 11-story lab office-building at that 275 South Orange St. property. City staff hailed the new site plans Wednesday night, with Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli welcoming the project as a means of ​“improving health outcomes for people all over the world” in a global ​“health mission” while introducing housing and affordable apartments as part of an ​“inclusive agenda” for New Haveners.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/coliseum_4

The Middletown Planning & Zoning Commission is hearing a proposal Wednesday for modified site plans which will allow for a “more luxurious and efficient” layout for an apartment building to be built on Newfield Street. The project was originally approved over a decade ago, with planning done by Middletown developer Glenn Russo. He then teamed up with Bob Dale, a principal at Newfield Residential. According to Dale, he and his company recently took over the principal planning. The modification proposal was originally supposed to go in front of the commission Jan. 11, but the applicants requested a postponement to address the city’s concerns about the plans. Director of Land Use Marek Kozikowski reiterated Dale’s sentiments, adding that the commission will likely approve the plans once the applicants can show it meets zoning code standards.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Middletown-Planning-and-Zoning-prepares-to-hear-17730970.php

Local water authority officials were able to give North Stamford residents more details on sewer improvements expected to break ground before the end of this year including the cost of phase one: $8.15 million, much of it financed by homeowners long term. The city’s Water Pollution Control Authority and the project’s structural engineers Tighe and Bond provided the information during an online meeting last week, discussing the first of three potential construction phases bringing sewer service to the area. The first phase, which includes properties mostly east of High Ridge Road from the Merritt Parkway to Perna Lane, is estimated to cost about $8.15 million. City boards previously authorized the WPCA to spend more than $6 million on the project. Officials are working on revising the project design to reflect raised sewer lines and obtaining the proper permits. Then, they will open a bidding process for the project, they said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Sewer-meeting-17730684.php?src=sthpdesecp

Facing rising challenges in the economy, developers Brian Zelman and Avner Krohn are seeking an option to significantly trim an approved 477-apartment development at the former Showcase Cinema site in East Hartford. Zelman is principal of Zelman Real Estate. Krohn is principal of Jasko Development. The town has agreed to sell the 25-acre Showcase Cinema site for $1 to the joint venture of Jasko Zelman 1 LLC. Zelman said he hopes to achieve necessary modifications to prior town approvals in the next 60 to 90 days. East Hartford Mayor Michael Walsh has expressed tentative support but said town staff are still vetting proposed changes. Under the initial development agreement approved last year, East Hartford is to supply $10 million in grant funding to offset development costs, which are currently estimated in excess of $100 million.

Citing economic headwinds, developers want option to scale back 477-apartment development in East Hartford

Construction on the city’s long-awaited community center is months away from becoming a reality. The City Council Tuesday voted to approve a $30 million construction contract and $2.9 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the first phase of what now is a $40 million project. The project totals three phases. Reyes said there have been many approvals before Tuesday for architects, bonding, engineers and construction managers, but the council vote was to build the center. He projects construction to start in the next two months and for the building to be finished Nov. 2024. For the past two years, the city worked to keep the budget for the building at $30 million. Reyes said he didn’t want to put blame on the COVID-19 pandemic, but cost factors today are just not the same. Downes Construction Company, LLC, the firm managing the construction of the center, sought bids for the project in the fall of 2022. Reyes said the city averaged five to seven bids per vendor, which he said shows the city maximized its ability to get the best price from the most qualified vendor.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230119/new-london-approves-contract-to-build-40-million-community-center/

For a project that has had its ups and downs over the past 15 years, serious progress was made this week with more residences, retail and now bioscience labs getting approvals for the former Veterans Memorial Coliseum site. That $76 million plan, labeled phase 1A, was tweaked Wednesday at the City Plan Commission meeting, but its major features of 200 housing units, some 25,000 square feet of public open space and a plaza along a retail laneway remain. For phase 1B, the commissioners approved 120 apartments that will wrap a 657-space garage on two sides. A separate life-science building, which originally had a later timeline, was approved in phase 1C. A consortium of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners, the Fieber Group and KDP, which got city approval in 2019, is building phases 1A and 1B.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/More-housing-retail-approved-for-New-Haven-17728533.php

As of this week, all the properties on the Fort Trumbull peninsula are slated for development. Parcels on the peninsula, which also is home to Fort Trumbull State Park, have been vacant for almost 20 years. The land was cleared for development in a move by the city that led to the landmark 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Kelo v. New London, about the use of eminent domain. The City Council Tuesday approved the sale of the remaining 6.28 acres of property to RJ Development + Advisors LLC, the same developer building 203 apartments on Howard Street. The land is owned and marketed by the city’s development arm, the Renaissance City Development Association. The agreement states the projects on the property will primarily consist of, but will not be limited to, “the construction of residential units to be offered for market rate sale or rent/lease,” with the associated parking and other improvements.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20230119/new-london-to-sell-remainder-of-fort-trumbull-properties/