Located behind a residential neighborhood in South Norwalk, Manresa Island served as the home of a coal-fired power plant and later an oil-powered plant since the 1950s, until it was permanently shut down in 2013. Before its closure, the power plant sprinkled soot across the surrounding neighborhoods. However, under the latest plan from Norwalk residents Austin and Allison McChord, the once-hazardous site will be transformed to include nearly two miles of waterfront, a pedestrian bridge, a pier, and a 250,000-square-foot recreation center. According to Manresa Island Corp., the nonprofit organization created by the McChords, the 125-acre park is scheduled to open in 2030. A representative from the organization said it will acquire the property from the current owner, real estate firm Argent Ventures, in the fall. Over the next six years, Austin McChord said the project group has a lot of remediation work, community outreach and traffic planning to do.

Plans Unveiled for 125-Acre Park on Site of Former Power Plant in Norwalk

City Planner Jeremy Leifert has asked the Connecticut Siting Council to consider safeguards and conditions before it rules on whether to approve a solar farm proposed for a site on Lovers Lane in Torrington. Mayor Elinor Carbone also sent a letter to the CT Siting Council detailing her concerns about the project, saying three solar farms have been already been approved for the city. A fourth one would be excessive because it would use developable land that would result in lost tax revenue for Torrington, she said. The project, proposed by Lodestar Energy, would be built on a 54-acre property adjacent to the 80-unit condominiums on the west side of Torrington. The residents recently requested, and were granted, an extension of the public comment period on the project from Sept. 4 to Oct. 3.

https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/torrington-city-planner-solar-array-plan-ct-siting-19810873.php

The “Port Eastside” development partnership acquired a 5.7-acre parking lot at 321 Pitkin St. this week. “We have just cleared the most significant milestone in this project’s early lifespan to date,” said Bruce Simons, principal of Simons Real Estate Group in West Hartford. “Port Eastside” will blend 1,000 housing units — mostly apartments and a “small number” of condos — with a transportation center, 6.1-acre greenway and 400,000 square feet of entertainment, restaurant and retail space, according to a statement released by Port Eastside LLC. The partners are still working with the town of East Hartford to close and incorporate a stretch of East River Drive into the development. This will allow direct access to the riverfront near Great River Park. Harris Simons, who is also a principal at Simons Real Estate Group, said the group is in “very early stages” of a development that seeks to complement cultural, entertainment, recreational and retail offerings that can be found on the edge of downtown Hartford, just across the river.

Last key properties acquired for ambitious 1,000-unit, mixed-use redevelopment of East Hartford’s Founders Plaza

The town of Windsor is currently searching for a firm to conduct the analysis of the Day Hill Road corridor. It will include a look at the current land uses in the area, and a supply-and-demand breakdown for other development possibilities ranging from multifamily residential, assisted living, office, hotel and retail projects, along with industrial uses such as manufacturing. The study will also map out the best locations for multifamily and mixed-use projects, and make recommendations for the adaptive reuse of vacant or underutilized office space. Town officials expect a final report to be completed by February. Officials expect a portion of the study to focus on repurposing office space, as Windsor has an abundance of corporate parks and one of the state’s highest office vacancy rates.

Windsor looking to fast-track Day Hill Road corridor redevelopment strategy with new study

“About 30,000 people a day are driving by and not seeing the best of Stamford,” said Compton, the president and CEO of the Mill River Park Collaborative. That could soon change, thanks to a recently secured Community Investment Fund state grant that will provide the city with $7.7 million to complete the “Community Commons” project at the park. The commons refers to the southeastern section of the park that currently holds a small dog park and a large area filled with gravel. Once complete, the renovated area will swap out the gravel for a large grassy area named the “great lawn,” as well as new dog parks for large and small dogs located closer to the intersection with Broad Street. The reason the funding was approved this time, she said she believes, is that the city was able to get $4.5 million in federal dollars for the work, which got the project off the ground.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/stamford-mill-river-park-dog-great-lawn-19797434.php

Work on the Paddock Avenue bridge started with a bang Sunday as demolition crews cut and hoe-rammed the bridge’s concrete to take it down for construction of a new bridge. Around the corner on Paddock Avenue, the nighttime bridge work has created havoc for local travelers forced onto one lane during the day, , as well as detours, noise and bright lights when the road is closed at night. The detour takes drivers on a significant loop eastbound from Miller to Paddock to Murdock Avenue onto Reserach Parkway left on East Main Street and left to Paddock Avenue, or in reverse. The bridge replacement is part of phase II of the state Department of Transportation project to make the junctions of I-91, I-691 and Route 15 safer and less congested. The bridgework is expected to last two and a half years, according to the DOT. The project was awarded to O&G Industries for $185 million and is scheduled to be completed Nov. 30, 2028, the agency stated.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/paddock-ave-bridge-meriden-91-691-route15-detours-19804038.php

With more than $524 million in town projects on the horizon, officials are grappling with how to manage rising costs and potential tax increases. At a series of finance board meetings this week, officials from the town, school board and Water Pollution Control Authority said that rising inflation, a reliance on federal pandemic funds and years of deferred projects have driven up current cost estimates for the foreseeable future. According to the town’s new 10-year capital plan, projects include a $65.7 million rebuild of the aged Dwight Elementary School, a $49.7 million renovation of
Jennings Elementary School, more than $42 million in sewer line design, construction and replacement projects, and about $21.8 million in overdue fire station renovations and replacement fire vehicles. Chief Operating Officer David Becker, also chief of the Southport Volunteer Fire Department, urged the need to upgrade the town’s five fire stations. Of the more than $21.8 million in Fire Department-related expenses in the capital plan, improvements to the firehouses account for about $9.2 million from fiscal year 2026 until fiscal year 2031.

Fairfield Braces For Tax Hikes as $524M in Town Projects Loom

After a years-long process, a new multi-use trail connecting the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail to a local park is finally set to be completed by 2026. The town is currently planning for the nearly $2 million construction of an approximately half-mile trail to connect the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail to Curtiss Park along Tariffville Road near the Farmington River. The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, which runs from the coast in New Haven to the Massachusetts border, is a key portion of Connecticut’s section of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile walking and biking route spanning Maine to Florida. The town already applied for a grant to initiate design and some of the construction of that alternative route, but a lot of work still had to happen before that could get underway, Kessler said. “That project in itself is complicated, much longer,” he said, adding that it likely had a five to 10 year timeframe.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/farmingtonvalley/article/simsbury-trail-curtiss-park-farmington-river-fcht-19792644.php

Connecticut Sports Group’s pending application for key local land-use approvals reveals some additional details about its proposed minor league soccer stadium, including how the building, if necessary, can be de-constructed and moved to make way for a major league facility. The organization, which had initially wanted to erect the venue by spring 2025 but is now aiming for 2026, is hoping to secure a necessary special permit and site plan and coastal site plan reviews this fall. Two of the key agencies that would weigh in on the stadium’s design and environmental impact, Bridgeport’s economic development office and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, did not return requests for comment. So on Aug. 30 Connecticut Sports Group formally announced that it was now planning on having the minor league stadium ready for 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-soccer-developer-seeks-key-permits-19797570.php

It would be the first of its kind not only in Connecticut, but in the entire Northeast. UConn is working with a company to build a multi-million dollar “smart city” and research lab, which would allow companies and researchers to collaborate on emerging vehicle technologies and concepts. The Connecticut Transportation Institute (CTI), which is part of the UConn School of Engineering, and Promesa Capital LLC have been developing plans for this “Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Smart City” and research facility at UConn since about 2019. The development itself is called a “smart city,” which Jackson said refers to a worldwide movement in which physical infrastructure is smart and connected, with innovations like driverless cars linked to traffic signals. “So it’s really using the internet and cell service to track vehicles to provide them with information and then prevent traffic crashes or collisions from occurring,” he said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/education/article/uconn-smart-car-track-depot-campus-19795022.php