A Minneapolis-based developer is proposing a housing development in Farmington with hundreds of units, including a mix of upscale apartments, owner-occupied townhomes and detached single-family dwellings. Crown Equities LLC has filed an architectural master plan with the town for the development, called Enclave at the Farmington River. The project, estimated to cost $225 million, would be located on two properties that span a combined 63.5 acres at 3 Bridgewater Road and 1179 Farmington Ave. The developer plans to include an affordable component and will seek financing through Build for CT, a state program that incentivizes construction of housing for middle-income residents. According to a development summary submitted to the town, the project would have a positive fiscal impact, improve wetlands and remove the gravel pit operation. They are in the process of compiling a zoning application and are seeking state permits.

Minneapolis developer eyes $225M upscale housing project in Farmington

Stagnant water from a tributary of the Kinneytown Dam gives off a stench that keeps residents in the North Fourth Street area of Ansonia from opening their windows in the summer heat. While below, at the base of the dam, shad, eels and salmon attempting to migrate up the Naugatuck River have found themselves stuck until they die trying. Then, vultures and other predators swoop in to eat the corpses. Zak and other environmental activists, elected officials and government agencies have been working for years to address the problems caused by the dam. And now, armed with $47 million, including $25 million in state funds received this month, they hope to acquire and remove the dam by the end of 2028. The most costly and complicated part of the project is likely going to be dealing with up to a million cubic yards, roughly 50,000 dump tri-axle trucks-worth, of potentially contaminated sediment that has accumulated around the dam, said Paul Woodworth, senior director of ecological restoration for Save the Sound.

https://www.ctinsider.com/waterbury/article/ansonia-kinneytown-dam-removal-naugatuck-river-20372634.php

By next spring, the town’s Public Works Department hopes to begin work to replace the aging single-span bridge that carries Wheaton Road over the East Aspetuck River. Built in 1985, the 35-foot-long Wheaton Road bridge consists of a multigirder steel beam and concrete deck superstructure supported by concrete abutments and wingwalls, according to data from the Wethersfield consulting firm Close, Jensen & Miller. The bridge is located 300 feet east of Route 202 between Northfield Cemetery and Carlson’s Grove Park, and has an estimated average daily traffic of 890 vehicles per day, according to data from the state Department of Transportation. The bridge has been deemed in “poor condition” and is vulnerable to failing due to erosion from flowing water on the East Aspetuck River. The estimated cost of construction is $2.52 million, according to the DOT. Ballard said 80% of the project will be paid for with federal funds and 20% will be paid for with state funds. Construction is tentatively expected to start the spring of 2026 and finished by November 2026, according to Ballard. A detour route will be prepared this year, with Wheaton Road traffic redirected to Litchfield Road and Upland Road, he said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/newmilford/article/new-milford-wheaton-road-bridge-replacement-20375683.php

The state Department of Transportation is alerting motorists to nighttime closures and detours on Paddock Avenue and intermittent lane shutdowns on Route 15 beginning Sunday night. The closures are expected to continue for about five weeks and are necessary to install girders for the Paddock Avenue bridge, according to the DOT. The bridge replacement is part of a three-phase project to improve safety at the junctions of 691, o91 and Route 15 in Meriden. The Paddock Avenue bridge replacement is part of Phase II of a multi-year project aimed at improving traffic flow at the 91,691, Route 15 interchange in Meriden and Middletown. Phase I will realign and widen ramp from 691 eastbound to I-91 northbound. It remains under construction and expected to cost $85 Million It will also provide one additional lane on I-91northbound to relieve congestion caused by a steep uphill grade and widen the bridge. Phase II It is expected to cost $185 million and includes bridge replacement due to ramp realignment and widening. It will also build a two-lane exist ramp from Route 15 northbound to I-91 northbound to reduce congestion on the exit 68 ramp.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/recordjournal/article/detours-highway-reconstruction-meriden-ct-20386370.php

Construction on a massive new Amazon facility on the Naugatuck/Waterbury line has been underway for just over a month. It came after the City of Waterbury closed a $2.5 million deal in late April, selling 157 acres of land to Amazon. Spanning nearly 15 of those acres will sit a five-story fulfillment center that Amazon hopes to have up and running in 2027, where goods will be warehoused for distribution. There will be 3.2 million square feet of space among its five floors. That’s nearly as big as Mohegan Sun’s property, which spans 3.5 million square feet. The multi-floor building is proposed to be 106 feet tall. That means it won’t be nearly as tall as the Hartford State Capitol Building, reaching heights of over 250 feet, or any of Connecticut’s tallest buildings.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/living/article/amazon-facility-ct-size-waterbury-naugatuck-20347693.php

West Hartford received a $200,000 grant for assessment activities of the former AC Petersen Ice Cream production facility, a 1.02-acre site located at 240 Park Road. The assessment and subsequential cleanup will allow the building’s existing businesses, including the Playhouse on Park, a performing arts theater, to expand into the environmentally affected areas that have been unused or underused for several decades, according to state officials. Another $688,000 grant will focus on demolition and remediation of the 1.21-acre site located at 579 New Park Ave. The remediation activities will enable the construction of a mixed-use, transportation-oriented development project that will include 70 residential housing units, officials said. The grants are part of a total of $18.8 million in state grants that will be used for the assessment and remediation of 227 acres of contaminated land across Connecticut, and allow them to be restored to productive use, state officials said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/westhartford/article/west-hartford-state-remediation-grants-20382827.php

The 1.13-acre coliseum site, 275 South Orange St., is currently a parking lot and was awarded $880,000. The funds will be used for site remediation that will enable the construction of a phase of a multi-use development that will include 7,159 square feet of retail space and 120 residential units. The other New Haven site, chosen through the Department of Economic Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation and Development Program is a 1.34-acre site located along the Quinnipiac River at 185, 212 and 213 Front St. The state released a total of $18.8 million grants that will be used for the assessment and remediation of 227 acres of contaminated land across Connecticut. The funding will support 23 properties in 19 towns and cities, helping cover the costs of cleaning up these parcels so they can be redeveloped and returned to productive use, state officials said.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/new-haven/article/ct-new-haven-coliseum-brownfield-remediation-20375719.php

A new double-track train station supporting a rail line between Hartford and Springfield, Massachusetts, as well as the historic downtown train station, are both expected to be constructed and renovated by early this fall. The $65 million new train station has been under construction for about three years, and the “major initiative” is expected to revitalize downtown Windsor Locks by attracting new daily visitors, First Selectman Scott Storms said. The historic train station is also being renovated to compliment the new modern train station, with both expected to be completed by September, Storms said. Meanwhile, the state has awarded a $4 million grant for brownfield remediation on the parcel adjacent to the train station. The grant will be used to clean up ash and waste on the land, as the historic train station used the property for a dumping ground.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/journalinquirer/article/ct-windsor-locks-train-station-20382825.php

In June 2024, the town of Wallingford unanimously approved a special permit and site plan for a privately developed facility that would be devoted exclusively to charging electric vehicles (EVs). The plan submitted by Gem Property Group LLC intended to develop a 2.04-acre vacant lot just off Exit 15 of Interstate 91 at 1 Miles Dr. The proposed facility was approved for up to 38 EV charging stations, 36 of which would be beneath a canopy. There would be no gas pumps, just EV charging stations. Following the election of President Donald Trump and his administration’s subsequent decision to freeze more than $3 billion in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funding, as well as the state legislature’s decision to reduce similar EV support, the Wallingford project is not the only significant charging station development in the state to be canceled or scaled back. Elizabeth Verna, a principal with Verna Builders & Developers, said her family runs Gem Property Group and has owned the Wallingford property on Miles Drive for more than a decade.

With $3B in federal funding frozen, charging station projects across CT mothballed, scaled back