Local officials have approved an $81 million project that Mayor Mike Walsh says would be the first apartment complex built in town in nearly 50 years. The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved the project at its meeting on Wednesday. Plans call for the apartment complex — Concourse Park — to include a pool, dog park and other amenities, and officials hope the development will help bring more people to the town and the surrounding area. The project will create 406 temporary construction jobs and will bring an annual economic impact of $14.1 million to the community, according to the town’s website. Concourse Park will be developed by Jasko Development and Zelman Real Estate. It will include 470 units, Brian Zelman, of Zelman Real Estate, said at an August planning and zoning commission meeting.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/East-Hartford-Concourse-Park-Silver-Lane-Plaza-17455010.php

Officials with Eastpointe, a Fairfield developer, have presented Cheshire’s Planning and Zoning Commission with plans for a 300-unit apartment complex that would be built within Stone Bridge Crossing. The 107-acre mixed use development, is located near the intersection of Interstates 691 and 84 as well a main entrance off of Route 10. Town officials are declining comment on who that tenant might be. Burt Flickinger, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, said it is likely either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Cheshire has an ordinance that limits retail development to 50,000 square feet or less. Charter Development’s online leasing information has the two largest retail space in Stone Bridge Crossing one that is 23,000 square feet and another at 22,000 square feet. Mike Glidden, Cheshire’s town planner, said Eastpointe’s apartment complex plans will be formally read into the record Monday night with a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 24.

https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/cheshire-commercial-property-development-17459894.php?src=nhrhpdesecp

Nicholas R. Morizio, a broker with Colliers International and manager for property owner 550-554 Berlin Turnpike Associates LLC, submitted applications to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission in July for the development project and a zone change from BT-1, Berlin Turnpike 1 designation, to BTD, Berlin Turnpike Development. The change, along with the site plan and special permit, would allow for development of a mixed-use project containing 106 residential units throughout three new buildings, with 20% of them affordable, a new retail building and reconfigured parking areas at 502, 522 and 554 Berlin Turnpike. A public hearing on the applications has been scheduled before the next regular Planning and Zoning meeting Oct. 6, where the board could take a vote.

Mixed-use apartment development eyed for Berlin Turnpike

A federal judge has slammed the brakes on Rhode Island’s truck tolls and sided with the long-haul trucking industry’s complaint that the highway charges were unfair and unconstitutional. After U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith ordered Rhode Island officials to stop collecting truck tolls within 48 hours, Rhode Island Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisbeth Pettengill on Wednesday afternoon said the tolls would be shut off “probably this evening.” The state has collected $101 million in truck tolls since the first one launched in 2018. Without the dozen toll locations across the state, Rhode Island would lose an estimated $40 million annually in revenue. Rhode Island is the only state in the country with a truck-toll system like the one Smith struck down. The trucking industry fought it since 2018 in large part to prevent any other states from trying their own.

https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2022/09/21/judge-ri-truck-tolls-unconstitutional-must-stop-charging-tractor-trailers/8072195001/

Despite concerns from several neighboring residents, the Planning and Zoning Commission overwhelmingly approved a proposal for a new Big Y on South Main Street near Randolph Road last week. The 6-1 decision made last Wednesday will allow Stone Point Properties to build a nearly 52,000 square foot Big Y supermarket at the site of the former Frontier and SNET fleet maintenance garage at 850 South Main Street – including a new traffic light on South Main and a 256-space parking lot. Traffic engineer Scott Hesketh said that, while the development would draw additional traffic, it could end up making it easier for Highland Avenue residents to turn onto South Main Street by creating more gaps in the traffic. Commissioner Sebastian Giuliano, who voted in favor of the application, said that the blinking traffic light has been a problem since it was installed. He said he hoped that the new development would be enough to convince the state that it needs to fix it.

Middletown P&Z Approves Big Y Development on South Main

As the town continues taking the steps necessary for securing a permanent bridge on Cherniske Road, preparations for installing a temporary bridge began this week. The temporary bridge will be open to first responders only. The one-lane, temporary bridge was delivered by the contractor M&O Construction, who began working on the abutments on Monday. The purpose of installing a temporary bridge, Bass said, is “to give our first responders quicker access to that area.” Following an evaluation by the town, the bridge on Cherniske Road received a poor rating in 2017, and despite the town’s efforts to repair it, it continued deteriorating until the town closed it in January 2021. Once the temporary bridge is installed, the contractor will work with engineers and other officials to finalize the permanent bridge. Bass said the permanent bridge project still hasn’t gone out to bid, and the town is working with its engineers on this project.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/New-Milford-makes-way-for-temporary-bridge-on-17452292.php

The Board of Education took a first look at a draft of the $130 million capital budget request for the next fiscal year for the Greenwich Public Schools during a meeting last week. It covers multiple large capital projects in the school district, including the new Central Middle School building, renovations at Old Greenwich and Julian Curtiss schools and other building updates. The capital budget would be for the 2024 fiscal year, from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The capital budget includes $5.211 million in Americans with Disabilities Act projects. Currently, every school has areas that are not accessible and not compliant with the ADA, according to the district’s ADA updates page online. The budget draft also includes $1.5 million for the Julian Curtiss expansion and renovation project during fiscal year 2024 and $29.7 million the following year. The district is requesting $69,187,000 in fiscal year 2024 to build a new Central Middle School building, but this amount may change.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Five-things-to-know-about-Greenwich-school-17452525.php

In a major victory for hundreds of Willington homeowners, town planning officials unanimously rejected a Texas developer’s proposal for a 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse along I-84. After three long nights of public hearings that featured many dozens of residents speaking passionately against TradeCenter 84, the planning and zoning commission on Tuesday night unanimously rejected the proposal. Hillwood Development Co., a Dallas-based company that has built mega-warehouses around the country for Amazon and other clients, wanted to change the land’s zoning from residential to Strategic Development. Hillwood billed TradeCenter 84 as a source of hundreds of new jobs and potentially up to $3.8 million a year in fresh tax revenue to the town. Commissioners concluded the size and scale of the project wouldn’t be consistent with the town’s development plan.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-willington-warehouse-defeat-20220921-7zrrty4m2rcq7pmq2fp7cwyety-story.html

A new $48 million ice hockey arena at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, which has been under construction since last April, is set to open in January 2023 and will be named after Board of Trustees Chairman Dan Toscano and his family. The new arena will have a capacity of 2,600. The environmentally sustainable design makes the facility as efficient as possible in energy and water use, the university said. The Toscanos have invested toward scholarships and awards to help students across the school, and have donated money for capital projects to support the basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer and lacrosse teams. The new arena is next to the existing Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum in the athletics district along Jim Calhoun Way.

UConn’s new $48M hockey arena, set for completion early next year, named after Toscano family

Yale New Haven Hospital broke ground Aug. 31 on a new $838 million neurosciences center, according to a project press release. Turner Construction will serve as the general contractor of the project, according to Mark D’Antonio, media relations coordinator at the hospital. The project will create hundreds of construction jobs as well as new positions at Yale New Haven Hospital, said Justin Elicker, mayor of New Haven, Connecticut. The Yale New Haven hospital was officially announced on April 29, 2019, but its start was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Costs for prevalent materials in hospital projects, like concrete and structural steel, have “seen significant increases over what they cost over the last 24 months,” said Chris Dunn, a health care construction lawyer at Epstein Becker Green. But that has not stopped massive healthcare projects, like the Yale New Haven hospital, from moving forward.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/838-million-neurosciences-construction-breaks-ground-yale-hospital-healthcare-connecticut/632190/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202022-09-20%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:44646%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive