The Town of Groton won’t have to pay for the planned replacement of the Groton Long Point Road Bridge over Palmer’s Cove, saving about $1.7 million in town funds, according to town and state officials. The town originally had anticipated it would participate in a program in which it would have to pay 20% of the estimated $8.4 million cost to replace the bridge. But the town recently was accepted into a newer program in which the town would not have to pay anything toward the project cost, according to town officials. The Town Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday recommended moving forward with the funding program, with the full council slated to take a final vote to approve it at its Feb. 7 regular council meeting. Public Works Director Greg Hanover told councilors that under this new federal local bridge program, called the Design Managed by State Program, the state would take the project through design, permitting and rights of way acquisitions, and manage the contractor during construction. He said the town will still be involved in providing input throughout the design and construction phases and there will still be a public input component to the project.

https://www.theday.com/article/20230128/no-town-funds-needed-for-groton-long-point-road-bridge-replacement/

In all, Durham developer Dominick DeMartino, who owns properties around the state, will be investing $15 million in these ambitious projects. He chose Middletown because he’s “very connected” to the city and active in numerous area organizations. Construction is underway for 10 housing units in the top two stories of 418-22 Main St., where, on the ground floor, the original Amato’s Toy & Hobby was located in the 1970s, as well as Vinnie’s Jump & Jive dance hall, which closed in late July. He has an application in to the city to build 12 market-rate apartments — six on each floor — geared toward young professionals, college students, medical workers and those “who live and play on Main Street,” the developer said. In the old Woolworth’s building at 428 Main St., most recently occupied by Irreplaceable Artifacts, there will be a restaurant located below a rooftop patio bar overlooking the Connecticut River.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-developer-investing-15m-downtown-middletown-17744540.php

University officials, along with students, faculty and local community members, officially opened the new Recreation and Wellness Center in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, with the goal of providing students with “social, emotional and physical well-being support.” The $45-million building also is home to the university’s partnership with Hartford HealthCare. The university’s student health services merged with the health system last year in a $5 million deal. The agreement was to grow the Connecticut health care workforce by creating a career pipeline for students and expanding nursing and medical programs at Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac began construction of the Recreation and Wellness Center in 2021, and partially opened the building to students last fall.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/quinnipiac-opens-new-recreation-center-17746661.php

The Old Towne Hotel project would convert the Stamford Savings Bank building at 160 Atlantic St. beside Veterans Memorial Park into an 82-room boutique hotel with a ground-floor restaurant and rooftop patio. A 2022 valuation appraised the building at about $3.27 million, city building records show. The renovation would add nine additional stories atop the existing structure. At the public hearing, the Board requested several changes to the project, including a complete redesign of the building’s rear, which previously would have included a loading dock, dumpsters, electrical transformers and a guest entrance. On Monday night, Leydon requested four more weeks to present the revisions.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/stamford-developer-eyes-stamford-savings-bank-17735813.php?src=sthpdesecp

The new career academy-style high school and middle school that aims to accommodate 1,400 city students at a refurbished west side office park will miss its 2024 opening goal and be delayed at least a year. The reason for the missed opening date: Negotiations to buy the hilltop building on Apple Ridge Road ate up too much time. The city didn’t close on the deal until late November. “The voters passed the ($164 million career academy) referendum in June and we had expected to close in July,” Iadarola said. Danbury closed on the property sale Nov. 26., which made an August 2024 opening date undoable, he said. “Although we anticipate being able to finish the project well before August of 2025, you can’t open up a school of this size in mid-year,” Iadarola said.

https://www.newstimes.com/news/education/article/Danbury-career-academy-won-t-open-in-2024-17736556.php

State officials released a highly anticipated audit into Connecticut’s school construction office late last week, but it is unlikely to alleviate all of the concerns about the multibillion-dollar construction program, which became the focus of a federal investigation last year. The 23-page report that was produced by Marcum LLP, an independent auditing firm, included an analysis of more than 111 school construction projects that were undertaken in Connecticut between 2018 and 2021. Marcum’s findings noted, for instance, how state officials within the Office of School Construction Grants & Review often skipped steps while reviewing completed school projects. It pointed out how the state doesn’t scrutinize smaller charges that are billed by school construction contractors and subcontractors. And it highlighted how the state’s financial share in some school projects was larger than Connecticut law allows, even though there was no explanation for why the state was picking up a bigger portion of the tab.

https://www.theday.com/state/20230123/ct-school-construction-program-audit-done-but-questions-remain/

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