The bid packages now approved include: $6.669 million for Marguerite Concrete of Hopedale, Mass.; $11.101 million to Berlin Steel Construction Co. in Kensington; $1.314 million for Giliberto & Sons of Hartford for waterproofing, air barrier and sealants; $1.595 million to Blackwater Services Group of Waterbury for fire protection; $29,330 million to MJ Daly of Waterbury for plumbing; $11.697 million for electrical services to Paul Dinto Electric Contractors of Middlebury; and $17.725 million to CJ Faucci Inc. of New Haven for site work. The council also approved a request from the building committee to terminate its contract with Construction Solutions LLC, as a consultant. In May, the school building committee and the S/L/A/M Collaborative said they wanted to start work in October.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Torrington-school-committee-starts-spending-17500157.php

The U.S. General Services Administration, which oversees the development of federal buildings, announced the potential sites for the $335 million project Tuesday after a search that was launched nearly a year ago. The announcement drew immediate concern from local officials. All three sites have been targeted for years for mixed-use redevelopment, with an emphasis on housing. No timetable for a decision was announced Tuesday, but the next step would involve further study beginning this fall and the seeking of public comment, GSA said. A master plan for the Bushnell South area, near the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, envisions converting a barren stretch of parking lots into a new neighborhood of housing, commercial and entertainment space. The plan has made no mention of a potential courthouse. The Capital Region Development Authority, the quasi-public that is overseeing the area’s development, is in the midst of selecting a developer for the first parking lot, just west of the one being considered for the courthouse.

https://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-new-federal-courthouse-hartford-20221011-k6iqxh6yufay5fglg6r2num5uy-story.html

Construction added a total of 19,000 jobs in September, with the bulk of those gains coming on the nonresidential side, signaling that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes have yet to quell demand for hard-to-find workers in the sector. Overall construction unemployment dropped to 3.4%, below the national rate of 3.5% for all industries, as nonresidential builders added 13,100 positions for the month and 181,500 for the year, a 4.2% gain from 12 months prior, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data conducted by Associated Builders and Contractors. But the gains in the overall job market worried Wall Street on Friday, since they indicate the Fed may need to get even more hawkish in its campaign to reign in runaway inflation. An additional report that came out this week indicates that cooling is already underway in the architecture, engineering and construction space. The latest quarterly market forecast from Newton, Massachusetts-based AEC consultant PSMJ Resources indicates proposal activity is already slipping.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/fridays-hot-jobs-report-terrible-construction/633693/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202022-10-10%20Construction%20Dive%20Newsletter%20%5Bissue:45130%5D&utm_term=Construction%20Dive

With 200 housing units completed and more under construction, Philadelphia-based Pennrose is asking Hartford officials for permission to modify plans for its “Village at Park River” development in the city’s North End. The development is rising on nearly 40 acres at 1550 Albany Avenue that had housed the Westbrook Village public housing complex. The Hartford Housing Authority demolished the faltering complex to make way for redevelopment. The request to modify the master development plan is on the Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission’s Oct. 11 agenda. Under the requested changes, the development will ultimately yield 412 housing units instead of 431. Other changes include trimming 19 parking spaces, a change in landscaping plans and dropping a requirement that one building be restricted to senior residents.

Developer seeks changes to ongoing 400-plus unit mixed-use development in Hartford’s North End

The Board of Aldermen, at its meeting Thursday, voted to allow the city to apply for two Connecticut Community Challenge grants — the first for $2.2 million for Canal Street reconstruction projects, the second, $2.4 million for extension of Constitution Boulevard. As part of the grant, the city must put up 50 percent of the requested amount, meaning Shelton would provide $1.1 million for the Canal Street reconstruction work, bringing the total to $3.3 million for all the planned projects. The city would also put $1.2 million into the Constitution Boulevard extension work, bringing the total amount available for the project to $3.6 million. The city is also setting aside funds for engineering, design and construction of the Wooster Street railroad crossing, which has been closed for the past several years. All work on the reopening of the crossing would be done by the railroad company and paid for by the city.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Shelton-CT-grants-Constitution-17498722.php

The city is seeking approval of a $25 million bond authorization request to fund five projects crucial to improving its water supply and distribution infrastructure. The projects would be completed over the next three years, Rob Langenauer, superintendent of water, wrote in an email last month to Mayor Neil M. O’Leary. The $25 million bonding request follows a $17.7 million bond authorization in 2015 that upgraded some of the city’s water infrastructure. Costs for each of the five projects were not included in Langenauer’s memo to the mayor. Pumps and motors provide drinking water, fire flow, storage capacity and pressures needed to meet “elevation challenges” throughout the city, Langenauer said. They carry electricity costs of at least $44,000 per month, he said. In his memo to O’Leary, Langenauer mentioned the water crisis in Jackson, Miss., which began in August after a river near that state’s capital city flooded due to severe storms. The flooding caused the city’s largest water treatment facility to stop treating drinking water, leaving roughly 150,000 residents without safe drinking water, according to national news reports. The facility had been running on backup pumps due to failures earlier in the summer.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/10/10/waterbury-vote-focuses-on-upgrading-water-infrastructure/

A firm hired to provide oversight of the $179.5 million Torrington Middle/High School project is out of a job after the City Council and Board of Education voted to terminate its contract. The move follows a series of votes by the boards in recent weeks over a nearly $1 million contract with Construction Solutions Group, or CSG, of West Hartford. The company was hired last year to serve as an owner’s representative on the middle/high school building project starting to get underway at the site of the current high school on Major Besse Drive. An owner’s representative is someone hired by the owner of a project to manage and execute a construction contract project on their behalf. The school project building committee voted to remove CSG as the owner’s representative on Sept. 30 following an executive session. Arum said it’s up for discussion whether there will be a new owner’s representative hired to replace CSG.

https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/2022/10/07/torrington-officials-fire-school-oversight-firm/

The city of Waterbury, Conn., once known as America’s “Brass City” due to the many brass manufacturing plants located within it, is now, via its Waterbury Development Corporation (WDC), demolishing many of the factories and taking steps to clean up the contaminated sites to allow for future development. The WDC has hired Stamford Wrecking Company to complete the second phase of the demolition of the former Anamet site located at 698 South Main Street, which is currently owned by 698 South Main Street Inc., a single-purpose entity created to redevelop the property. To cover the cost of the demolition and clean up, the city was recently awarded $2 million in USRAP funding, as authorized by the State Bond Commission, to use toward Phase II of the Anamet project. It also was awarded $2 million in DECD Brownfield Municipal Grant Program funding and $200,000 in NVCOG EPA RLF funding to use at the site.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/stamford-wrecking-eyes-brass-factory-demolition-completion-by-december/58194

Instructions for integrating President Joe Biden’s Buy Clean Initiative are on the way, compliments of an interagency task force overseeing the procurement program. Agencies will receive the instructions, which prioritize the purchase of steel, concrete, asphalt and flat glass that feature lower emission levels in their manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance and disposal. The group pointed out that last year’s infrastructure spending law included funds for GSA, Transportation and EPA to “designate and use construction materials and products that produce substantially lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions.” It also noted that the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act provides funding for retrofitting industrial facilities and tax credits for clean technology manufacturing.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/buy-clean-initiative-interagency-task-force-readies-to-issue-instructions/58184

The Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to vote next month on a proposed zone change that would allow the Felician Sisters group to partner with developers on a 250-unit multi-generational housing complex. The Felician Sisters would continue to own the 26-acre property, while partnering with The Community Builders on the project, which calls for senior and family housing units, 50%-55% of which would be age restricted to 62 years and older. The zone change would allow for a higher density than the existing regulations for the property, going from 5.3 units per acre to 9.3 units. A public hearing was closed on Sept. 8, and a vote must take place by Nov. 12. The commission has a regular meeting scheduled on Nov. 10.

Multi-generational housing project eyed for Felician Sisters’ Enfield campus