“We’re rocking and rolling … from a construction standpoint,” said XL Center General Manager Ben Weiss. “The construction is everywhere, and we’re dealing with it.” Weiss and construction manager Robert Houlihan updated the Capital Regional Development Authority on Friday with the latest in the $145 million revamp of the aging arena. Between 30 and 40 construction workers are now on the job at the XL Center, getting ready to demolish the current bowl and make way for a revamped arena with upgraded seating, locker rooms, an elite club and a new commercial kitchen. Construction hasn’t impacted attendance so far at the arena, which drew 12,300 people for pop singer Sabrina Carpenter’s sold-out concert on Oct. 2, according to CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth. Work is also under way for a new commercial kitchen at the XL Center, with plans to upgrade the food offerings for premium areas as well as the arena as a whole, Freimuth said. Better food has the potential to boost the arena’s per-attendee spending and overall revenue.

https://www.nhregister.com/business/article/ct-hartford-xl-center-renovations-uconn-games-19879966.php

The city wants voter input on spending $6 million, 85% of which will be reimbursed by the state, for turf fields at the new high school and middle school complex. A referendum question on the appropriation is included on the ballot for Tuesday’s election. The expense would increase the cost of the school construction project from $179.575 million to $185.575 million. Originally the high school construction project included the fields but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the cost of goods increased, the Building Committee decided to scale back on some things, including the fields. Building Committee Co-Chair Edward Arum said the athletic complex will consist of two baseball fields, two softball fields and a multipurpose field. If they are grass, which is the plan as of now, Arum said maintenance would be more expensive. Lining, watering and mowing would run about $90 000 a year, he said. The quote the committee got to maintain the turf is $22,000.

https://www.rep-am.com/localnews/2024/11/02/torrington-voters-face-referendum-question-on-spending-6m-for-school-turf-fields-most-of-the-funds-would-be-reimbursed-by-state/#login

The town is moving forward with its plans to reconstruct the busy commercial and residential Park Road corridor that will reduce car travel lanes, add bike lanes, and increase pedestrian safety. Construction is expected to begin next summer on the $2.25 million plan to upgrade the roadway from Quaker Lane South to Prospect Avenue, which will include roadway resurfacing, sidewalk repairs, improved street lighting, and other added amenities such as benches, landscaping, and better wayfinding signage. To do that, the town is proposing to raise all crosswalks on the roadway that aren’t controlled by signals, like the one directly in front of Playhouse and Park. Added bump outs will also help shorten the distance that pedestrians will have to cross in certain places along the roadway as well. Sidewalk ramps will also be replaced and made accessible, with improvements to crossing signals also being recommended. Part of the project will be funded by $1.5 million in state grant funding that the town received two years ago. Sommer said they hope to finish the design by the spring, with a goal of construction starting next summer and finishing in the winter.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-ct-park-road-crosswalk-bike-lanes-19877367.php

Under a design attributed to the Stamford architectural firm Marsh + Woods Architects, one potential iteration of the building would include a residential tower rising nearly 40 stories with 484 units, with a wide base or a run of ground-level storefronts fronting Dock Street and a larger parking garage on the lower levels. That would top the Park Tower Stamford condominium building as the tallest in Stamford — but any new developer would bring their own vision to the property at 560 Atlantic St., according to Don Carbo, a commercial real estate broker with New England Properties Real Estate who is representing the property owners. Stamford is in the midst of an ongoing apartment boom that has seen the addition of thousands of units in the past several years, with as many as 4,500 units or more in the pipeline according to the most recent count by the city of Stamford’s economic development office. That number does not including the hundreds more that could be built at 560 Atlantic St.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/ct-stamford-560-atlantic-development-apartments-hq-19876818.php

For more than a year, staff at the Capital Region Development Authority and Metropolitan District (MDC) have been negotiating an agreement that would require the CRDA to help pay for the installation of a large stormwater drainage pipe, which would accept water flowing from parking lots and off buildings planned for the “Bushnell South” development area. Hartford, like many older cities in the Northeast, has a sewer system with pipes that carry both sanitary sewage — from toilets, kitchen sinks and shower drains — and stormwater. All this gets sent downstream to sewage treatment plants. That’s usually not a problem. But large rainstorms, which have increased in frequency in recent years, create sudden spikes in flow that can overwhelm sewage treatment plants, spilling millions of gallons of stormwater mixed with raw sewage into the Connecticut River. Jellison said he envisions a mile-long pipe of about 24 to 36 inches in diameter that could cost around $4 million.

Here’s how stormwater drainage is impacting a major Hartford development plan

Tweed New Haven Airport announced they were awarded $4 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to support the airport’s terminal expansion Thursday. The anticipated 81,568 square-foot terminal will feature four gates, expanded security screening, new baggage handling systems, and concessions space. This is part of continued work to modernize the airport’s infrastructure by replacing an outdated terminal built in 1931. The new terminal is expected to improve passenger experience, improve climate resilience and safety. This comes after Tweed New Haven announced the launch of an online tracking platform, WebTrak, for travelers to stay informed on flight information.

https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/tweed-new-haven-airport-receives-4-million-grant-for-terminal-expansion/

A 42-bed, 55,000-square-foot inpatient rehabilitation hospital should soon be under construction in Waterbury following the sale Monday of a roughly 4.5-acre building site to a Florida-based developer. Catalyst Healthcare Real Estate, a Florida-based national development and investment firm, bought a building site at the intersection of Reidville Drive and Harpers Ferry Road in Waterbury’s East End, city officials confirmed Monday. In December 2021, PAM Health and Waterbury Hospital filed a joint application with the state Office of Health Strategy seeking regulatory approval for the facility. The goal, according to the application, is to provide rehabilitative services to patients leaving acute care hospitals in western Connecticut. At the time, the project was estimated to cost $33 million.

Following property sale, new 42-bed rehabilitation hospital planned in Waterbury

Mayor Caroline Simmons and the Board of Finance are on a collision course over a multi-year, multi-school rebuilding plan that could cost the city $1 billion, and require that the state contribute the same. Simmons obtained the legal opinion after finance board members rejected her request for $895,000 to begin design work on Roxbury. One reason they turned down the request, board members said, is that the total project cost has jumped from $86 million to $131 million. In an email to the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives, Simmons wrote that while she respects their involvement in the process, “I have been clear that investing in our school facilities and embarking on this unprecedented school construction building program is one of my administration’s priorities. Given the deteriorating condition of Roxbury, I have an obligation to students, teachers, and parents to ensure the construction of a safe, modern, and high-quality learning environment. Therefore, I will be directing the director of operations to move forward with the schematic design for the Roxbury K-8 project.”

Simmons, Board Finance on Collision Course Over Stamford School Construction Costs

The Elmwood Community Center, which will bring together the senior center, teen center, a library branch and more into one central building, has been in the works for a few years now, with plans formulating after the town bought the former St. Brigid School at 100 Mayflower St. in 2021. The town hired GWWO Architects earlier this year to begin designing what the new 82,000 square foot community center would look like. According to the town’s request for proposal for its construction manager, which Palmer said is who will actually build the facility, the construction portion of the project is estimated to cost around $55 million. Once complete, the town’s new Elmwood Community Center will replace the aging community center on New Britain Avenue that was originally built nearly 100 years ago in 1931. The town’s proposal for its construction manager said it was seeking to build a new community center as issues at the current center, citing “handicapped accessibility, aging building infrastructure, site access and parking issues, program constraints” as persistent problems.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-ct-new-elmwood-community-center-plan-19868310.php

While the developers of the proposed minor league soccer stadium have repeatedly declined to offer specifics about its estimated cost, a grant application shows the initial price tag was close to $100 million as of roughly a year ago. The initial ask was for $30 million and in June the project was instead awarded $8 million. According to that budget document, recently reviewed by Hearst Connecticut Media Group, the stadium’s soft costs for things like architectural work, engineering, land costs and permits added up to $20.7 million, with the hard costs — environmental remediation, demolition of existing structures, construction — totaling $75.5 million. Combined those amounts add up to $96.2 million, including a $4.5 million contingency. The plan also calls for the eventual construction of housing, a hotel and retail establishments, with the ultimate goal of luring a major league soccer team to Bridgeport. But due to financing and construction delays ground has yet to be broken, and in August Connecticut Sports Group set a new stadium grand opening date of 2026.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/bridgeport-soccer-stadium-connecticut-united-fc-19868617.php