The Wallingford YMCA has received approval for renovation of its 26,900-square-foot west side facility following a unanimous vote from the Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday. The Y is aiming to double the size of their existing facility with a brand new aquatics center at their west side location at 8 North Turnpike Road. Primarily a gym facility, the addition will add a 17,500 square-foot space for a six-lane lap pool along with a lazy river exercise channel and splashpad playscape. According to Executive Director of the Y, Sean Doherty, there is still around $3 million of the total to meet their $7 million project goal, and while they’re still talking behind the scenes with donors and legislators to secure more funding, he encouraged members of the public to donate what they could to reach their goal – to limit the amount of financing needed for the project.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/wallingford-ymca-pool-expansion-approval-ct-20369816.php

A development partnership has announced a new $43 million affordable housing acquisition and renovation in Brewery Square, in the Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven. Community Preservation Partners and Beacon Communities will collaborate on the purchase and upgrading of Brewery Square Apartments, a two-building development with 104 units. The historic complex was originally constructed in 1896 as the Quinnipiac Brewery Co., and then converted to housing in the 1980s after being vacant for several decades. The renovation will transition 84 of the 104 units into the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, with affordability levels ranging from 30% to 80% of the area median income, averaging just below 60%. The partnership has been in negotiations with the city of New Haven over the terms of the tax break for several months.

$43M New Haven affordable housing renovation to proceed

Indianapolis-based developer Scannell Properties is proposing two new warehouses, totaling 881,500 square feet in Windsor Locks. Scannell is seeking a special permit and site review for the project, at the corner of Old County Road and Route 20, on 76 acres owned by tobacco company OJ Thrall. Architecture and engineering firm BL Companies submitted an application, dated May 6, on behalf of Scannell. In a statement released to the Hartford Business Journal, Scannell Director of Development Daniel Madrigal asserted Monday’s hearing was a chance to demonstrate positive changes to the company’s development plans, which were prompted by input from residents and local officials. The project would result in the equivalent of 153 jobs during construction, then 110 warehouse jobs and 50 truck driving jobs, according to the Goman + York analysis.

Two warehouses, totaling 881,500 sq. ft., proposed in Windsor Locks

Private developers scrapped more projects in May than in any other month on record, according to the latest data from Cincinnati-based ConstructConnect. The Project Stress Index, a measure of construction projects that have been paused, abandoned or have a delayed bid date, increased 11.4% in May. That figure puts project stress 22.8% above 2021 baseline levels, said Devin Bell, associate economist at ConstructConnect. Bell pointed to high interest rates and shifting market conditions as key factors reducing project viability. He said those pressures continue to erode developer confidence. A 30.3% spike in overall project abandonments caused the surge in stress in May, according to the report. In contrast, delayed bids dropped 1.9% and on-hold activity remained essentially flat. Public projects moved in the opposite direction over the last year. Abandonments on public works remained flat, while public projects put on hold fell 15.2%, according to the report.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/private-project-abandonments-record-high/750100/

The 2025 legislative session ended last week without a financial commitment from his administration for up to $127 million in desired state aid to help construct a soccer stadium, housing and hotel. The land in question is located just across Stratford Avenue from Boca at the shuttered Shoreline Star off-track betting site. But for Rosario and other proponents of entrepreneur Andre Swanston’s minor league sports venue, the session was not a failure. Lawmakers passed a proposal allowing officials in Bridgeport to establish a tax incremental financing (TIF) district at the stadium site to help pay for up to $190 million of the purportedly $1.1 billion redevelopment. That means a portion of any new real estate taxes generated by the project would pay off the debt rather than going directly into Bridgeport’s municipal coffers. And in lieu of actual state financial aid, the legislature also adopted language requiring Connecticut’s departments of Economic Development and Revenue Services to, by Oct. 1, assess the “anticipated economic impact” of the stadium.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-soccer-stadium-funding-20364704.php

The cash-strapped city school system is set to get a financial boost after state lawmakers voted to set aside nearly $80 million to help build a new special education school and run the district. The Connecticut General Assembly approved a bond bill last week that includes up to $74 million for the construction of the new school in the North End. Lawmakers also provided about $5 million more for district expenses. However, the state’s top education official, Commissioner Charlene M. Russell-Tucker, will control the money. That $5 million infusion comes after district officials pleaded with lawmakers to increase education funding in the face of a more than $30 million deficit that has led to deep staffing and program cuts, including the elimination of several teaching jobs and bus transportation for about 2,400 students.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/bridgeport-schools-state-funding-20365450.php

The state plans to replace the superstructures of two Interstate 84 bridges near the Danbury Fair mall as soon as 2029 as part of a $138 million upgrade of the highway from the New York border to Exit 4. The bridges in question at eastbound Exit 3 carry a daily average of 81,000 eastbound motorists and an average of 40,000 westbound motorists, according to the DOT’s latest publicly available traffic data. Moreover, the bridges are in one of the most problematic sections of I-84 in Danbury, where daily rush-hour backups are the norm. Left exit ramps and other design flaws are the target of a larger, long-term project called I-84 Danbury to widen and straighten the highway from exits 1 through 8. The ambitious project, with a price tag of $3 billion to $4 billion, is not expected to begin construction for at least a decade, and it is not expected to be complete until the mid- to late 2040s.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/i-84-bridge-danbury-ct-deficiencies-dot-construct-20368074.php

The state government is serving up what Gov. Ned Lamont described Monday as a $4 million “meat and potatoes” grant to replace aging underground utility infrastructure along West Main Street that dates back to the late 1890s. The state funding will enable construction crews to upgrade or replaced approximately 4,440 linear feet water, sanitary, sewer, and storm drainage lines as part of a wider $28.9 million project to redevelop West Main Street between Riverside Street and the Waterbury Green in the heart of downtown. The State Bond Commission in April approved the $4 million allocation that the Community Investment Fund Board approved a month earlier for funding the third phase on the ongoing project to transform the streetscape along West Main Street. Lamont said replacing water and sewer lines is not an exceptionally exciting project, but the aging underground infrastructure dating back to the late 19th Century that this $4 million in state funding will replace is holding back development. He called it a down payment on a new foundation for Waterbury’s future.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/waterbury/article/waterbury-ct-west-main-street-grant-lamont-20367961.php

A committee of the Capital Region Development Authority recently backed a request from the city to transfer $2 million in city funds managed by CRDA to the demolition of the deteriorating, former data processing center on Windsor Street. The full CRDA board must still approve the transfer from a stalled, mixed-use development in Parkville, but typically committee approval leads to backing by the full board. The city expects a $6 million state grant to largely cover the estimated, $9.4 million cost of knocking down the former bank procession center at 150 Windsor St. The city has another $1.4 million set aside for the demolition. The developer of the apartments and parking garage at 17 and 35 Bartholomew Ave., Carlos Mouta, told The Courant that the project is essential to future growth in Parkville because it will provide sorely needed parking, already at a premium in the neighborhood. But Mouta said he understood the need for pulling the funding for the downtown project, as long as it become available again in the future for the development in Parkville, given the need for parking.

How $2 million in public funding could help a CT site needed for future major development

Despite a company’s assurances about using only modern technology, its proposed trash-processing plant in Connecticut hit a wall of public opposition when residents recently voted 10-1 against the idea. The non-binding Plainfield referendum doesn’t stop the Smart Technologies LLC proposal, because the state government — not the town — has authority over it. But the lopsided result shows that despite an extensive public outreach campaign, Smart Technologies still faces a steep uphill battle to build local support. Only 12% of the town voted, but gave the project a resounding defeat: 1,148 to just 125. The company wants to build an unconventional trash-to-energy plant on about 81 acres near Route 12 and Route 14. Unlike typical trash-burning incinerators, this facility would employ “gasification” — a process of break down garbage into gases, which would power a turbine and generate electricity for the power grid. Smart Technologies contends the system doesn’t generate the smoke and ash associated with trash incinerators, and wouldn’t be an environmental hazard. The company, a partnership of O & G Industries and Advanced Waste Technologies International, contends its system can separate hazardous materials as well as recyclable metal and glass from a stream of municipal trash. It directs organic material to an anaerobic digester that produces a biogas capable of being converted into natural gas, and can separately process methane and carbon dioxide to prevent pollution.

The proposal is for a high-tech trash plant. For many CT residents that’s a hard ‘no’