U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh became the latest in a parade of President Joe Biden’s cabinet members to visit Connecticut as he toured Ella T. Grasso Technical High School on Tuesday. Tuesday’s visit by the former Boston mayor celebrated the start of CareerConneCT, which is funding 19 job training programs at a cost of $70 million. The the state Office of Workforce Strategy is running the program which is meant to help people whose employment was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic find work. CareerConneCT is looking to train and place workers in the manufacturing, health care, information technology, infrastructure/construction, life sciences and business services sectors, among other career paths. Lamont, as he has many times throughout the pandemic, urged people to take up a trade and fill the state’s job openings.

https://www.theday.com/nation/20220816/secretary-of-labor-praises-new-workforce-development-program-in-groton/#

A federal grant of about $16 million will help finance the completion of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Plainville, part of a $30 million project that also would connect the heritage trail to downtown New Britain. Construction is expected to begin within a year, according to the Capitol Region Council of Governments, which is overseeing the project. The heritage trail also will be connected with a new trail in Plainville that will run four miles to the CTfastrak trail at the busway’s downtown New Britain station. Funding also includes $13.2 million in state funds and $600,000 from the state Department of Transportation’s Community Connectivity program that seeks to foster transportation connections for bicyclists and pedestrians. In New Britain, CRCOG said, the new trail will further boost the city’s aggressive moves to roll out a multi-phase “Complete Streets” plan. Three phases of the plan have already been completed and a fourth is scheduled for this year.

https://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-biz-farmington-river-canal-funding-20220816-fkjhqnmavng3hm256ai5bgpcfu-story.html

The Airport Authority will consider authorizing the authority’s chairman and vice chairman to sign the new lease in a virtual meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The authority, through a long-term sublease and development agreement, would cede control of certain portions of the airport to “The New HVN LLC,” a new corporation that is a subsidiary of Avports, LLC. Avports, owned by a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, has managed Tweed New Haven Regional Airport for the past 23 years in exchange for the company investing money in airport operation and expansion, eliminating $1.8 million in annual city and state subsidies. They also call for Avports to build a new, 74,000-square-foot, carbon-neutral terminal with 4-6 departure gates on the East Haven side of the airport, with a new entrance to be constructed off Proto Drive in East Haven. East Haven Mayor Joe Carfora criticized the authority Monday in an email to authority Chairman (and former West Haven Mayor) Picard — just before three East Haven representatives on the authority voted against going into closed-door executive session to discuss the proposed new lease, saying hundreds of pages had been dropped on them at the last minute.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/New-43-year-Tweed-New-Haven-Airport-lease-that-17378004.php?t=1eaa9e2664&src=nhrhpdesecp

The University of Connecticut will build a $215 million residence hall with suites — the first new, student housing to be constructed on the Storrs campus in six years and nearly two decades before that — an expenditure seen as critical to attracting top-notch students to the university. The new residence hall also steps up competition with private developers who want to build off-campus apartments with amenities near the Storrs campus. In an average year, between 11,500 and 12,500 students live on campus and UConn sees room for more growth. The residence hall, expected to open in fall, 2024, has long been contemplated as part of the UConn 2015 master plan. The total price tag for South Campus residence hall is closer to $222 million because an additional $6.6 million is need to prepare the site for construction, plus move and renovate a historic house at 4 Gilbert Rd.

https://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-uconn-new-residence-hall-suites-20220813-ayyme2on3ndppipapbduxmshcy-story.html

The commission approved ND Acquisition LLC’s plan to construct two 100,000-square-foot high-tech manufacturing buildings and two large warehouses, combining for more than 2 million square feet on 300 acres just south of Rentschler Field. Director of Development Eileen Buckheit and Interim Town Planner Steve Hnatuk said ND Acquisitions still needs to apply for building permits and meet conditions of the town’s approval. Also during the meeting, Jasko Development and Zelman Real Estate presented their plan to build an amenity-focused apartment complex at the old Showcase Cinemas property. The proposal would include 470 units after being previously approved for 477. The bulk of the units will be built on the main campus and 30 other ones will be in a building just east of the campus.

One Silver Lane plan moves forward, while another is tabled

UConn’s Board of Trustees recently approved an option agreement to sell 105 acres in the southwest portion of the school’s Mansfield Depot Campus to a private company — Promesa Capital LLC — headed by Cortese, who would lead a group of investors in developing the site as the region’s first-ever connected and autonomous vehicle test track and research facility. Under the option agreement — if all steps and zoning approvals are met — UConn would sell the Mansfield property to Promesa Capital LLC for $5 million. Promesa Capital would use its own money from investors to fund construction of the estimated $30 million test track facility, named Spectrum Park. UConn — and other entities — would use the property for different purposes. Cortese said the testing facility’s business model is to have a consortium of large companies that want to invest in the project and have a presence in the facility. Potential clients would be charged a user fee, which is how the facility would earn revenue.

Meet the duo behind an ambitious $30M plan to build the region’s first autonomous vehicle test track facility, research center

Developing the former Chromium Process site must include the developer guaranteeing 45 parking spaces, at least nine of which would need to be off site. The Planning and Zoning Commission, at its meeting Tuesday, asked consultant Tony Panico to prepare a resolution approving, with conditions, John Guedes’ request for a Planned Development District at 113 Canal St. The plans call for the development of a four-story building with first-floor retail space and 30 apartments on upper floors and 38 parking spaces. The development, named Chromium Commons, is planned on land between Canal Street East and Canal Street West that is presently used for city parking. The 38 parking spaces with 30 units equals a 1.27 parking ratio. Zoning regulations require a 1.5 parking ratio, or a total of 45 spaces, so at least nine spaces have to be provided offsite somewhere, and the commission wants specific “private parking” spaces obtained somewhere.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Shelton-P-Z-wants-off-site-parking-at-Canal-St-17369355.php

The Board of Education held numerous special meetings over the spring and summer to determine what size building would have longevity in central Greenwich, and Thursday evening, the board approved a 115,311-square-foot plan. The district’s consultants at Construction Solutions Group also added extra space in the media center and hallways, which Mercanti-Anthony didn’t support. “In the grand in the grand scheme of things, though, holding off on moving the project forward because of the debate over 500 square feet in the library is not in the best interest of the community,” he said. The Central Middle School building committee is currently editing a request for proposals for an architect and owner’s representative. Board member Christina Downey said they could add detail to the educational specifications once they receive the results of the soil testing. The testing was delayed a few days this week after the soil team contracted COVID-19.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Greenwich-school-board-OKs-plan-for-660-student-17370246.php

Challenges in sourcing American construction materials, coupled with continued supply-chain issues and industry concerns, have pushed the DOT to temporarily suspend President Biden’s Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements. During the program’s pause, contractors can research domestic construction material sources and stockpile supplies for federally funded transportation construction projects. The DOT concluded that avoiding the disruption to civil infrastructure (particularly transportation and transit) projects constitutes a rare and appropriate use of the agency’s authority, said John Smolen and Steve Park, Ballard Sphar law firm. The association was happy when in May the DOT proposed slowing rollout of the Buy America requirements to allow for development of enforcement and compliance guidance. Suspension of provisions was intended to “provide for strengthened enforcement over time,” according to the DOT.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/dot-pauses-buy-america-provision-to-provide-relief-to-already-strained-industry/57506

Great Pond Village, the massive multi-use project in Windsor planned for more than a decade, is advancing to the second stage as builders prepare to erect a 750,000-square-foot warehouse and a network of new roads and utilities. NorthPoint plans to spend about a year constructing the warehouse and logistics center. Winstanley Enterprises initially talked with town officials about Great Pond in 2008, and at the time was looking to build as many as 4,000 houses, condos and apartments for nearly 8,000 residents. That version of the plan also included 850,000 square feet of civic, retail and office space. Currently the plan is for more intensive development north of Great Pond itself, with new housing and hundreds of acres of open space to the south. Winstanley completed the Preserve at Great Pond, a 230-unit apartment complex, several years ago, and plans more housing. Part of the second phase of development is roughly $15 million in road work and new infrastructure to accommodate future buildouts beyond the warehouse.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-windsor-great-pond-20220811-hke3rwnymra2xcxbxzyqazx624-story.html