As about 350 people listened online and in person, a long procession of Willington residents on Tuesday night told town officials that the proposed TradeCenter 84 project is far too big and completely unwelcome. None of the roughly 30 speakers supported Hillwood Development Co.’s proposal to build a 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse just off Exit 70 of I-84. One after another, residents told the commission that a six-story mega-warehouse doesn’t belong in a sleep suburb of fewer than 6,000 people. One called it “a gargantuan Godzilla.” Texas-based Hillwood is eyeing 160 acres of woodlands just behind River Road for a massive warehouse with more than 220 loading bays along with parking spaces for 700 tractor trailers and 500 workers. The company said it would bring hundreds of jobs and a net gain of about $2.7 million a year in tax revenue for the town. Additionally, the operation would spur more economic development in that section of town, according to Hillwood’s representatives.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-connecticut-willington-warehouse-opposition-20220817-dq5skkfplfe4no45ok65ttpv5u-story.html

Port Authority interim Executive Director Ulysses B. Hammond said that three of nine stages of construction at the State Pier have run into difficulties and run behind schedule in the last month – construction of the south wall of the pier, its toe wall, and the heavy lift platform that will allow for it to be used for offshore wind staging. Hammond said the contractor Kiewit reported that higher than anticipated rock elevations and obstructions have negatively impacted pile driving progress on the pier, which needs to be substantially completed by March 2023 in order for Eversource and Ørsted to use it for construction of their joint offshore wind project, South Fork Wind. Despite the issues, Hammond said the target is still “substantial completion of the project” before Feb. 28, 2023, and final completion by June 2023.

One in Three Projects at State Pier Hit Obstacles, Testing Budget and Timeline

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