An ongoing $19.4 million effort by the City of Hartford to build a 32,000-square-foot mixed-use building — combining a new health department headquarters with ground-floor retail space — is in line to receive an emergency $700,000 boost. Capital Region Development Authority leaders are proposing the capital infusion after unexpectedly finding a patch of subsurface pollution at the vacant 2.3-acre city-owned lot at the corner of Albany Avenue and Woodlawn Street. The city and Grow America — a nonprofit developer partnered in the building effort — have applied for a roughly $1.5 million state brownfield cleanup grant to help defray costs, even as project leaders try to identify the scope of the newly discovered pollution and the real cost to remediate it, CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said Thursday. The project is about 40% complete. Any stoppage due to an out-of-balance budget would end up increasing costs, Freimuth warned.

https://hartfordbusiness.com/article/unexpected-pollution-drainage-issues-add-cost-to-new-hartford-municipal-retail-building/

Construction of the new Norton and Barnum elementary schools is on track, with energy-efficient features and modern designs taking shape as the district prepares to close three older buildings for the next school year. The new Norton Elementary, located at 414 North Brooksvale Road in Cheshire, will cost an estimated $76 million and will house 650 students. Barnum Elementary, a $90 million project, will serve about 750 prekindergarten through sixth-grade students when completed. The decision to build new schools came after the district explored whether to renovate the aging facilities, which are 60 to 70 years old, school officials said. Renovations would have cost two-thirds of the price of new construction but added only about 20 years of usable life to the buildings, according to officials.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/cheshire-new-school-barnum-norton-open-2026-build-21041054.php

A major development that could put 450 new mixed-income apartments in two buildings on what are now two parking lots along State Street between Chapel and Fair streets has moved forward, with the Board of Alders’ approval of an agreement to sell the property for $1.29 million. The two-phase project is proposed by GDXP NH JV LLC, a joint venture between Gilbane Development Co. of Providence, R.I. and New York-based Xenolith Partners CT. Both properties, which together comprise 3.25 acres, are between State Street and the Amtrak/Metro North railroad tracks. A rendering provided to the alders shows The Iron to be at least 10 stories. He told Walker-Myers that the city and the developer anticipate a construction start date in June 2026 and the completion of Phase I in the early spring of 2028.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/ct-new-haven-apartments-housing-21043229.php

An “upscale” marina and housing project off River Road could also become home to a racquet facility if developers have their way. Ricar, LLC and Mianus Holdings, LLC, developers of the project dubbed Great River Water Club, are approved to build 35 condos, 110 apartments, a restaurant, a medical office building and boat storage along the Housatonic River. All of this has been in the works in some form for roughly 17 years. New plans have been filed to modify the restaurant building, eliminating the medical office space and adding 10,000 square feet to accommodate the new “court concept,” according to developer Rick Kral. The new racquet facility would be open to the public for membership, not limited to only the residents on site. The restaurant will be open to the public. The developers are seeking Planning and Zoning Commission approval to modify the Planned Development District, which was granted last year. The commission will hold a public hearing on this proposal at a future meeting.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/shelton-riverfront-development-ct-pickleball-21044390.php

The U.S. Navy will replace a pier at the submarine base in southeastern Connecticut, the latest of a series of infrastructure upgrades at the hub on the Thames River to accommodate the larger subs that will be berthed there in the future. In early September, the Navy officials announced that it had awarded a contract to replace Pier 31 at Naval Submarine Base New London, with the project expected to be completed by November 2027. Nebraska-based Weeks-Cashman JV won the $87.8 million contract to replace the pier. If all of the deal’s options are exercised, the full value could be as much as $95.6 million, according to the Navy. Navy officials described the upgrade as “essential” to support berthing not only older Los Angeles-class submarines and more advanced Block V Virginia-class nuclear subs — already homeported at the 10-pier base — but future vessels as well. The design process for the Pier 8 replacement is already under way, but its construction has not yet been funded.

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/work-to-start-on-new-878m-pier-at-conn-naval-submarine-base/69010

The City Council on Monday is scheduled to consider a resolution that would authorize Norwich Public Utilities to pursue increased natural gas capacity from the Algonquin Gas Pipeline, which supplies the Northeast, under an upcoming expansion planned by the pipeline’s owner and operator. In September, Enbridge, which owns and operates the Algonquin line along with several others around the country, announced that it will be moving forward with two gas expansion projects, one of which, called the Algonquin Reliable Affordable Resilient Enhancement (RARE) project, also known as the AGT Enhancement project. It would increase supply for gas distributors in the Northeast, if they agree to help finance the project. The RARE project is expected to finish in 2029.
The cost of opting into the Algonquin expansion project, purchasing the additional capacity, will eventually be rolled into gas customers’ rates in the future, NPU officials say. Those rates are partly calculated based on what NPU pays for the gas it receives from the Algonquin pipeline, and how much is used. Gas customer rates are currently locked in until November 2026.

https://theday.com/news/787661/norwich-public-utilities-looks-to-join-major-gas-line-expansion-project/

The Department of Labor intends to rescind a 2024 rule on independent contractor classification, according to its regulatory agenda. The agency did not signal how it intends to change the rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule is a method of determining if a worker is an independent contractor or a full-time employee, and therefore owed benefits by their employer. For construction, the rule is significant in determining if someone is employed as a subcontractor or directly by the general contractor on the jobsite. The current framework uses a “totality of the circumstances” method, weighing six major factors considered by the DOL to determine employer status. Groups representing construction employers had opposed the Biden-era rule and now applaud its imminent repeal.

https://www.constructiondive.com/news/independent-contractor-rule-repeal-construction/759826/

Now at Enfield Square Mall, Nebraska-based Woodsonia Real Estate this week said it wants to move forward on its plan to demolish most of it and build hundreds of apartments and fresh retail businesses. Local officials are hoping a broad-scale redevelopment of the 72-acre property will generate jobs, create badly needed housing, beef up Enfield’s tax base and restore vibrancy to a showcase property that’s become rundown and dreary. Woodsonia is asking for a zoning change Thursday night to consolidate the development rules for a series of parcels that make up the mall property, and at the same time has updated its master plan for what it calls the Enfield Marketplace. Earlier this year Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration put forward $10 million toward the project, which Woodsonia has estimated would run $250 million in all.

https://www.courant.com/2025/09/11/latest-plan-for-failing-mall-in-northern-ct-add-several-hundred-more-housing-units/

Sewer construction — and who should pay for it — was at the center of Tuesday’s Water and Pollution Control Authority meeting, where Chairman Steve Cinami sharply criticized the Board of Selectmen for failing to call a referendum at last week’s meeting. “I think that it is irresponsible for the Board of Selectmen not to move this forward to a referendum to allow citizens to vote,” Cinami said. “What they’re looking for is some magical accountant to determine what all the other costs would be. And I don’t know of any person who can predict into the future what ifs.” He warned that the likely outcome would be the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection approving sewer construction for the three beach associations and receiving 50% in grants and forgivable loans to help cover the costs. Meanwhile, the town portion — Sound View and Area B — would be required to install sewers later, but at a higher cost because that state aid would no longer be available. That estimate assumes that half of the cost would be paid by DEEP through the Clean Water Fund and that both the town and the three beach associations would participate in the project. If any of the parties opt out, the cost of the infrastructure portion of the project would increase for the remaining homeowners.

https://ctexaminer.com/2025/09/10/old-lyme-wpca-chair-criticizes-selectmen-for-delaying-sewer-referendum/

The Waterbury Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved the sale of about 17 acres adjacent to Amazon’s distribution center, which is currently under construction. In a 14-0 vote, following a public hearing, the alderman agreed to sell the city-owned property on the Waterbury-Naugatuck border to Amazon for $325,000 for an access road for its new distribution hub. Waterbury Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. said Tuesday that the parcel was nearly equally split between Waterbury and Naugatuck. Waterbury and Naugatuck have agreed to divide property tax revenue and building permit fees for the project. According to Pernerewski, the project will lead to 1,000 full- and part-time jobs and ancillary businesses such as restaurants near the Amazon campus.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/waterbury-amazon-land-sale-21039816.php