The Planning and Zoning Commission took issue with the zoning process and the area Quinnipiac University wants to designate as a planned development district, a zone change the legislative body itself passed in July. The public hearing portion for the PDD designation was, however, postponed to Oct. 23 after Quinnipiac’s presentation ran over 2.5 hours — to the point one of those in attendance shouted mid meeting: “This has gone on long enough, let’s move on.” The main concern from the commissioners was that if the construction for the three new buildings would only take part in the southern part of the campus, why changes the whole campus area to PDD. Quinnipiac’s $244 million expansion, “South Quad” project, includes a 79,000-square-foot, School of Business and a 137,000-square-foot general academic building and a 417-bed residence hall. Pellegrino said the construction would take around two years.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Concerns-arise-as-QU-looks-to-designate-zoning-17472561.php

An ambitious, $280 million expansion of Connecticut Children’s in Hartford that would roughly double the size of the hospital could be connected to a new parking garage across Washington Street via a pedestrian skywalk. The plans for a parking garage, near the southwest corner of Washington and Lincoln streets, were included in a master plan for the 25-year-old campus filed with the city’s planning and zoning commission. If all approvals are secured, construction could start this spring and take two years to complete. Financing is expected to be though a combination of debt and foundation fundraising. Construction on the hospital and the parking garage would be timed so they would open at the same time, Calhoun said. The Frog Hollow NRZ wrote that it supported the new tower, but it was reserving judgment on the parking garage until it learned more details.

https://www.courant.com/business/hc-news-connecticut-childrens-expansion-20220928-yqeab63p5jdvtpkkk4a27k23hy-story.html

Mayor Caroline Simmons’ first public meeting with Glenbrook residents opposed to her plan to sell their community center to an affordable housing developer has them fact-checking her information. Simmons repeated during Wednesday’s meeting with residents what she has said many times since she began pushing her plan for the 35 Crescent St. community center early this year – the cost of fixing it is $23 million. However, when a Glenbrook man during the meeting asked Simmons what the cost would be to refurbish it as a community center, not a 51-unit housing complex, Simmons said she didn’t know and referred the question to a member of her administration. The developer, Darien resident John McClutchy and his son, Todd McClutchy, of JHM Group, say in their proposal that they cannot limit tenancy to Stamford residents or workers. The Simmons administration put out a fact sheet saying the process for deciding who will be selected for the apartments “is to be determined. The developers have used a lottery system for other properties they own to ensure that the process is fair.”

Glenbrook Residents Question Mayor’s Math for Rehabbing Community Center in Stamford

Middletown is in line for $12 million to fund its “Return to the Riverbend” plan, an effort to make better connections with parkland and redevelop industrial, commercial and waste treatment sites along the Connecticut River. Waterbury is teed up to get $10 million, which local officials say is enough to finish cleaning a roughly 20-acre brownfield adjacent to its downtown. New Haven is the other big winner, with a $10 million allocation Tuesday. This list of projects blessed by the Community Investment Fund 2030 board now needs Gov. Ned Lamont’s approval to go on the state Bond Commission Agenda for funding. But no cuts are anticipated. Approved by lawmakers last year, the Community Investment Fund Board has a mandate to approve up to $875 million in projects and grants in distressed communities over a five-year period.

New state board allocates $76.4M for economic development; Middletown, New Haven, Waterbury big winners

Shelton has received two Small Town Economic Assistance Program, or STEAP, grants totaling $240,000 — with $120,000 going toward the extension of the Housatonic Riverwalk on Canal Street and $120,000 toward creation of Shelton Canal Lock Park. These grants were among more than $31.8 million given to cities and towns throughout the state. The $120,000 in state funding approved for the restoration of the Shelton Canal will be matched by $30,000 from the city. This money will be applied toward creation of the Shelton Canal Lock Park. The second grant will cover the city’s costs for hiring an engineering firm to complete the study necessary to establish a new public open space at the northern end of Canal Street. The STEAP grants are awarded through a state program managed by the Office of Policy and Management that delivers grants to small towns for economic development, community conservation, and quality-of-life capital projects.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Shelton-CT-grants-downtown-17462715.php

The town has executed contracts totaling about $3.14 million with two companies that will work on the new middle school building. Perkins-Eastman, a Stamford-based architectural firm, and Arcadis, a Middletown-based project management company, were both hired by the town last week to plan, design, and oversee construction of the new Cromwell Middle School. The contracts with Perkins-Eastman and Arcadis — signed by Town Manager Anthony Salvatore Sept. 22 — are worth about $2.48 million and $662,000, respectively. According to the committee, Cromwell will be responsible for about $36.5 million of the project’s total cost, which is estimated at about $58.6 million. The state will reimburse the town about $22.1 million for work on the project. Construction is expected to commence in October 2023 and last about 18 months, ending around March 2025.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Cromwell-hires-two-companies-for-new-middle-17472718.php

Avangrid Senior Vice President for Offshore Projects, Sy Oytan, said that the company will ask Connecticut for a “modest adjustment” to the state’s contract to buy power from the company’s planned 804 megawatt Park City Wind project south of Martha’s Vineyard, to “reflect the current economic realities.” Since Connecticut agreed to buy power from the Park City project in 2019 at a price of $79.83 per MWh, Avangrid has faced the same challenges as other businesses around the world – inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain shortages and escalating commodity prices, Oytan said. Park City is now scheduled to come online in 2027 instead of the original state date of 2025. Oytan told investors that the delay will allow Avangrid to use newly-developed wind turbines with a capacity of between 17 to 20 MW each.

Park City Wind Asks Connecticut to Adjust Energy Bid ‘to Reflect Current Economic Realities’

The Board of Selectmen Thursday endorsed the amendment to the Property Disposition and Development Agreement between the town and Mohegan tribe and scheduled a town meeting and vote for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 at Preston Plains Middle School. The Preston Redevelopment Agency approved the amendment Wednesday night. Cleanup work has virtually halted at the 393-acre property for the past two years as the parties wrangled over the terms of the final cleanup, to be funded with a $7 million state grant approved in 2020 and a $2 million state loan to the town if necessary. The amended agreement also changes terms to the $2 million low-interest loan the town obtained several years ago. The original language called for the loan to be forgivable if Mohegan development creates 200 permanent jobs, and the amendment allows loan forgiveness for either the 200 jobs or $200 million in construction value of new buildings.

https://www.theday.com/local-news/20220923/preston-residents-to-vote-on-amendment-to-norwich-hospital-sales-agreement/

What began as a $64 million total vision is, at the 90 percent design stage, going to instead cost another $30 million. And as of this week it was unclear where those additional dollars, a figure that until now had not been made public, will come from or when ground will be broken. The most recent goal had been this winter. Resilient Bridgeport is being planned by the state’s housing department, with help from Connecticut’s departments of transportation and energy/environmental protection. City Councilman Scott Burns, a budget committee co-chairman, said he has been concerned about the lack of progress. Told Friday about the $30 million issue and asked whether the city could help foot that bill, Burns said, “We don’t have $30 million of capital lying around. (And) I wouldn’t be inclined to say we should go bond (borrow) for all that.” Hanks disputed the allegation that there has been poor communication. And she also sought to address any skeptics who believe Resilient Bridgeport is a failure and will never get finished.

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/A-decade-after-Sandy-Bridgeport-flooding-project-17462645.php?src=rdctpdensecp

The city has chosen a firm to be part of a public/private partnership to redevelop three parcels at the site of the former municipal garage near the Connecticut River. These “opportunity zones” are located on a total of 3.5 acres at 60 Dingwall and 195 deKoven drives, and at the rear of 222 Main St., something officials have described as prime real estate. The original request for qualifications sent out two years ago solicited only two applicants, Acting Director of Economic and Community Development Bobbye Knoll Peterson explained, so the city issued another, which drew five developers. Those were narrowed down to a final three, which were recommended to the mayor, she said. The project would initially kick off efforts to reconnect the city to the riverfront, which was cut off with the construction of Route 9, the deputy mayor said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Hartford-firm-chosen-for-Middletown-redevelopment-17462313.php