CT Construction Digest Monday June 26, 2023

GREENWICH — A stone bridge on Wesskum Wood Road in Binney Park needs to be replaced and work is expected to start July 5, according to Greenwich's Department of Public Works.

The project is expected to take a year to complete and traffic will be detoured on Arch Street, Sound Beach Avenue, West End Avenue, Summit Road, Drinkwater Place and Owenoke Way during construction.

A 2021 presentation on the replacement project stated that more than 1,000 vehicles a day passed over the bridge, which was built in 1950.

Though the bridge is in the middle of Binney Park, near the tennis courts, the tennis courts, playground, and baseball fields will remain open to the public via Binney Park Drive during construction.

This project is the latest DPW undertaking in Old Greenwich, which has been subject to several other traffic detours recently. DPW recently finished replacing a bridge on Sound Beach Avenue on the north side of Binney Par, and crews are working to improve drainage near the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center.

The Wesskum Wood bridge project has been in the works for years as the town finalized plans and secured approvals to start work.

In addition to the new bridge, there will also be new curbing, a sidewalk on the bridge’s interior, a path connecting to Binney Park trail, decorative crosswalks and accessible pedestrian ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Crews will also widen the bridge so cyclists have better access and parts of Wesskum Wood Road will be repaved.

Replacing the bridge is expected to cost $1.67 million, with half the construction and inspection fee to be funded by a State of Connecticut Local Bridge Program grant.

Additional information and updates on the Wesskum Wood Road Bridge replacement project can be found at greenwichct.gov/1607/Wesskum-Wood-Road-Bridge.

What renovations to Hartford's XL Center mean for UConn games, concerts and CT's pursuit of the NHL

JONAH DYLAN

ARTFORD — On a Tuesday afternoon in June, Michael Freimuth walks through the XL Center and points out things that need to be fixed on the 50-year-old arena.

Utility parts that can't be replaced because they're outdated and aren't made anymore. Seats that don't have cupholders. A railing that isn't high enough.

That's part of the challenge in consistently trying to upgrade an arena, albeit one that has been around for as long as the XL Center. State lawmakers recently approved over $100 million in upgrades ($20 million of which would come from private funding), but that will only fix critical issues that are desperately needed, Freimuth said. Then there's Gov. Ned Lamont's public interest in bringing an NHL team — potentially the arena-challenged Arizona Coyotes — to Hartford, which would mean even more needed renovations and perhaps a complete revamp of the XL Center, which the Hartford Whalers once called home.

"You can make this work," said Freimuth, the executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority. "Is it going be the top of the line, top shelf, sexiest building in the NHL? No. It's an old lady. But you can make it work."

A much-needed renovation

The building will undergo a renovation that Freimuth says will take about two years, with most of the work done in the summer when there are fewer events at the arena. The renovations have three main tenets:

Rearrange the floor so that the stage for musical acts can be pushed back and create more sellable seats. Freimuth said the XL Center does most of its business on concerts, even though the arena serves as one of two homes for UConn basketball and hosts the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Rearrange the loading dock. The loading dock only allows for one truck to load in and out at a time, something Freimuth said lags way behind most other arenas and entertainment venues. The renovated loading dock will be able to offload five or six trucks at a time, which should help the XL Center compete with other venues that have more space.

Rebuild the entire lower bowl of the arena, creating a new concourse at ground level and creating more luxury-level seats near the floor. Right now, the arena only has one concourse, which creates long lines at restrooms and concession stands, Freimuth said. This renovation will have a positive effect on basketball and hockey games, Freimuth said, as well as concerts.

Officials had been trying to push through more funding for the XL Center for years but finally got it fully included in the budget that recently passed the state legislature. The deal paved the way for Oak View Group — which runs day-to-day operations of the XL Center — to invest $20 million in exchange for a long-term agreement to keep operating the arena.

According to the budget agreement, OVG would be responsible for any monetary losses but would earn any profit up to $4 million. OVG and the CRDA would split any money over $4 million.

Retail sports betting site set for this fall

The construction to create a sports bar that will also offer sports betting kiosks is underway and could open in September, Freimuth said. The XL Center opened a sports bar that overlooks the floor and found that people enjoyed the space and would spend more money there than at traditional concession stands because they can hang out and watch a game without having to go back-and-forth to their seats, Freimuth said.

That led to the new sports bar, which will be accessible from the street. Anyone can walk in, but people will need a ticket to get through to the arena on the other entrance. The bar will be open on nights there's no event at the XL Center, Freimuth said.

The Connecticut Lottery will operate sports betting kiosks and a sports betting window in the bar, Freimuth said. Money from that operation will be split amongst distributors, but the XL Center could net six figures a year, Freimuth said.

That project was financed separately and was not part of the current $100 million.

The future of the XL Center

Freimuth's job right now is to make plans for the renovation and ensure that they stay within the budgeted $100 million. If he can't do it for that amount, the entire project could be shelved.

But Freimuth is quick to say these renovations will only bring the arena up to a normal standard, and will probably keep the building operational for about 20 years. Other upgrades will be needed, including an IT revamp to address the fact that people attending events are often unable to send texts or make phone calls because of bad service.

After that, it'll be time for more renovations, not to improve things but just to make sure the arena can continue to serve its current needs. Without the money?

"A slow decline to closure," he said.

In that context, the idea of an NHL team willingly relocating to play here seems far-fetched. Major renovations would be needed, probably at least $500 million-worth of them, Freimuth said, which matches up to Lamont's assertion that it would cost "quintuple" the $100 million to get the XL Center ready. Getting Climate Pledge Arena ready for the Seattle Kraken cost over $1 billion, though that included basically gutting the entire building.

That's aside from all the other logistical challenges relocating the Coyotes would take, starting with any indication the team or the NHL is remotely interested in Connecticut. That uncertainty is one of the reasons Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin stressed last week that the priority is ensuring the XL Center gets renovations to serve its current tenants.

"Regardless of what happens with this effort to secure an NHL team, it's important that the XL Center is an arena that is modern, competitive, worthy of the national champion Huskies who play there and able to attract entertainment acts of all kinds," he said. "We are focused on continuing to work in partnership with the Capital Region Development Authority and with the state of Connecticut to get those improvements underway."

Still, the XL Center is the largest arena in the area and routinely brings thousands of people to the downtown area. That helps sustain business for bars and restaurants in the area, meaning the arena serves an important purpose for the entire region.

That's probably why, faced with the idea that the arena could continue to decline, Freimuth had this to say.

"Since the Greeks and the Romans, great cities have had arenas. I mean, let's just get down to it, right? The Greeks always had a theater. The Romans got the Colosseum, the sucker's still standing. Right? And you'll pay to go see it. Great cities have always had great public assemblies. Qualify the word great however you want, but an arena, a big public assembly, is truly an element of a city. No matter if it's Cincinnati or Hartford or, for that matter, Bridgeport. An arena — a gathering place, an event — happens in great cities. Hartford deserves it as well."

Meriden officials plan soccer field complex at Columbus Park

Mary Ellen Godin

MERIDEN — The City Council voted Tuesday to apply for a $1.4 million state grant to help build a new Meriden Soccer Athletic Complex Project at Columbus Park.

The new fields in Columbus Park will ensure residents still have a place to play soccer, since the fields currently located next to MidState Medical Center on Lewis Avenue are slated to close. The city has a 99-year lease agreement with the hospital but MidState has stated it needs the property to build a new medical office building for cancer treatments. The new medical building will be taxable. MidState has committed $1.5 million to the city’s soccer fields relocation.

Tuesday’s vote authorizes City Manager Timothy Coon to submit an application to the state’s Community Investment Fund for an assistance agreement with the state.

The project has been discussed with the council for several years, but was delayed by the pandemic, Coon said. Officials worked with MidState and field users to search for a replacement site.

“The best site available for what would be intended would be Columbus Park,” Coon said. “We will build two large soccer fields and one smaller practice field will be retained.”

The existing softball fields are natural turf fields that the city hopes to convert to artificial turf, which is the reason behind the funding application and pushes the project price tag closer to $2.8 million.

“Artificial turf is more effective in this situation because these fields get heavy use,” Coon said. “They require more maintenance on a regular basis.”

The fields are currently being used by the Meriden Amateur Softball Association two nights a week, said Chris Bourdon, director of parks and recreation for the city.

“Columbus is not in use nearly as much as it appears to be,” Bourdon said.

MASA has agreed to use Nessing Field and fields at Lincoln Middle School and Platt High School for games and tournaments. The club doesn’t use the fields for tournaments, Democratic Councilor Larue Graham said.

“There were 121 teams 15 years ago, now it’s 28 teams,” Graham said.

MASA representatives could not be reached for comment.

The vote doesn’t commit the city to paying the $1.4 million should the grant application fail. Instead, city officials and councilors will decide whether to bond the added costs or go with a sod field. Work can begin as early as next fall without having to make a final decision.

The Meriden Raiders will continue to use the fields in the fall and winter months, and the smaller girls’ softball field will remain. When asked by Graham if the remaining field will also be upgraded, the answer was yes.

The work consists of upgrading the fields and relocating lights. There will be improvements to the parking lot and exterior.

Democrat Majority Leader Sonya Jelks asked if the local community had any input into the city’s plans. Coon replied that the primary users were notified because the use is going from athletic field to athletic field.

But the soccer fields used by the Meriden Soccer Club and the Mexican Soccer League of Meriden are expected to draw more traffic because the complex can be used for tournaments.

“I would encourage us to do community communications so folks are aware of what the change is, especially in a high traffic area,” Jelks said.

Jelks also called for structured parking on site to reduce hazards, and provide space for food trucks.

Mayor Kevin Scarpati agreed with the need for public outreach, comparing it to changes in the North End Field that drew complaints because not all users and neighbors were included in communications.

The work is being done in phases with the artificial turf, and the attached grant application the final phase.

“Meriden Soccer with artificial turf and lighting will bring tournaments,” Scarpati said. “I do believe we’ll see gains. Meriden is going to see a gain with this field and it’s not just soccer.”

Groton’s proposed data center regs to go to public hearing

Kimberly Drelich

Groton ― After a nearly yearlong moratorium on data center applications, proposed data center regulations will go to a public hearing on Tuesday.

The proposed regulations conditionally would allow data centers, which could be no larger than 12,500 square feet, in industrial zones only.

Data centers are defined under the regulations as facilities to “house a group of networked computer servers in one physical location or multiple contiguous locations to centralize the storage, management and dissemination of data and information.”

The proposed data center regulations are in response to some of the concerns that had been raised about data center proposals, the town’s Assistant Planning Director Deb Jones said. Residents had expressed concerns, including about noise and the impact on the environment.

Accessory data centers ― such as if a business needs a small data center for its operations ― would conditionally be allowed in all zones in town, except for green districts.

Both data centers and accessory data centers would need to comply with a list of standards under the proposed regulations.

Any proposed data center must comply with the state’s noise standards. A data center also cannot use fossil fuels for power generation, except due to an unforeseen power loss, and cannot use water evaporation techniques for cooling purposes. Proposals must include a fire suppression plan and an agreement with water and electrical utilities to show that the data center’s utility demands can be met, among other requirements.

The regulations state that accessory data centers can be no larger than 20% of the gross square footage of the business or principal use, or no larger than 1,000 square feet.

Applications for data centers, though not accessory data centers, would require a special permit.

The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission wanted to establish regulations for data centers and passed a moratorium almost a year ago to allow time to craft the regulations with assistance from the Horsley Witten Group, Jones said.

The Groton Town Council last year rejected a potential host agreement with data center developer NE Edge LLC.

Host agreements, which set parameters for a potential data center and revenue to the town, serve as the first step in potentially bringing a large-scale data center to a town, under 2021 state legislation establishing tax incentives for developers investing in data centers.

The Town Council approved in 2021 a host agreement with Gotspace Data Partners, but the town has not received a data center application and the developer would have to obtain the land for the proposal, Burt said.

The proposed regulations, if approved, would apply to the town, but not Noank, Groton Long Point or the City of Groton, which have their own zoning, said Jones.

The public hearing will be at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Hall Annex and via Zoom.

The proposed regulations are available at: https://www.groton-ct.gov/departments/plandev/pendingapps.php

Crystal Mall seen as suitable for mix of commercial, residential development

Brian Hallenbeck

A dying mall near the junction of two interstates and within hailing distance of a transportation hub might be ripe for what planners call “repurposing.”

If that mall is in a growing, well-populated area that’s short on housing, particularly affordable housing, that repurposing might involve a “highest and best use” that includes a mix of commercial and residential components.

Count Waterford First Selectman Rob Brule among those who believe Crystal Mall is such a mall.

“Given the demographics, the location ― it's an incredible location ― near public transportation, I-95, I-395,” Brule said early last week. “If we can have a vision of what we want there, I think the Planning and Zoning Commission would entertain quite a few things.”

He said the mall’s vast parking lots need to be “greened up” and there needs to be a focus on “recreation for kids and families.” He said the site is “perfect” for affordable housing.

Brule made the comments during an interview days before the outcome of a change in Crystal Mall’s ownership became known. A deed filed Thursday with the town clerk’s office revealed Namdar Realty Group, a Great Neck, N.Y., real estate investment firm with a penchant for acquiring struggling properties, had landed Crystal Mall at auction last month, submitting a winning bid of more than $9.5 million.

Namdar Realty’s news clippings indicate it and its partner, Mason Asset Management, also of Great Neck, have little interest in repurposing the malls they acquire. As of Friday, Namdar representatives had yet to discuss their intentions with town officials.

Neither Brule nor Namdar responded Friday to requests for comment.

“Economically, what they’re doing makes sense,” John Clapp, professor emeritus of real estate at the University of Connecticut, said of Namdar. “Bottom fishing, they get in at a very good price for the amount of real estate they’re getting. They keep the restaurants open, a few stores, then they go to the town to get a reduction in taxes so they can afford to hold onto it, waiting for something good to happen.”

Since 2019, Namdar, which owns more than 60 U.S. malls, has acquired three in Connecticut, in Enfield, Meriden and Trumbull, and has continued to operate them as malls.

If Waterford has a plan of development for Crystal Mall, the town eventually may have to buy the property itself to pursue the plan, Clapp said, as the City of East Hartford did in acquiring an abandoned Showcase Cinemas on Interstate 84, once pitched as a casino site.

Clapp, who has studied and written extensively about the subject, said he expects malls, battered by consumers’ turn to online shopping and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will continue to decline, especially enclosed ones like Crystal Mall, which he said need to generate lots of traffic to pay heating and air-conditioning costs.

“Open-air malls do a lot better,” Clapp said.

De-malling the mall

In Woburn, Mass., a city of 42,000 residents nine miles north of Boston, a mall repurposing has become something of a model for communities elsewhere.

The Woburn Mall, about the same vintage as the 39-year-old Crystal Mall and less than half its size, was “well past its prime,” Mayor Scott Galvin said in an interview, when Edens, a national real estate owner, operator and developer, approached the city with a plan to turn the mall into Woburn Village, a mix of commercial and residential development. Backed by the City Council, the transformation advanced apace, starting with Edens’ 2017 acquisition of the site in a direct sale for $44 million.

Ground was broken in 2019 and, despite the pandemic, construction was largely completed by the end of 2021. By last summer, virtually everything was in place.

In a 2022 report, “Rethinking the Retail Strip,” the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a regional planning agency that studied more than 3,000 strip malls and shopping centers in Greater Boston, put it this way:

“Woburn, like many other cities, was facing a host of other pressures (besides changing consumer tastes): increasing housing demand, a need to grow the tax base, and a desire for more placemaking and character. The mall’s decline was not helping. It was no longer the financial asset for the City that it had been, and it was devolving into an eyesore.”

Today, Woburn Village is an attractive mix of commercial space ― including connected retail stores as well as freestanding restaurants, a bank branch and other buildings that help break up the parking lot ― green space and two six-story apartment buildings containing 350 rental units, 25% of which are categorized as affordable. A half-dozen stores are attached to the apartments. Commuter rail is a mile-and-a-quarter away.

Market Basket, a popular local grocery chain, and a T.J. Maxx/HomeGoods store, two Woburn Mall holdovers, anchor the retail portion of the property.

Mark Vaughan, an attorney for Edens, said the apartments at Woburn Village supply customers for the stores and restaurants.

“Restaurants have become the equivalent of new (mall) anchors,” Vaughan said. “With the slowdown in the apparel and retail businesses, restaurants have become the new draw. They bring in a lot of activity.”

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, the traffic at Woburn Village’s Tavern in the Square restaurant was brisk. The mall parking lot was nearly full.

The repurposing involved a fair amount of demolition. The retail portion was rebuilt without any interior corridor, a staple of traditional malls. Each of the stores is only accessible from the outside.

Galvin and Tina Cassidy, Woburn’s planning board director, said the project has been a resounding success, having encountered little opposition, aside from traffic concerns, during the permitting and approval processes, and proving to be a boon to the city’s housing stock and tax base.

Galvin said the mall, valued at $40 million in the city’s 2017 fiscal year, was valued at about $80 million in fiscal 2023, a figure he said could eventually go as high as $85 million to $90 million.

“For us, it’s worked out really well,” Galvin said of the repurposing. “We’re in a good location, where I-93 and I-95 meet. We have a lot of amenities, good schools, a low tax rate …”

If there’s been a downside, it’s that families with children who’ve settled in the Woburn Village apartments have had a greater-than-expected impact on school enrollment, Cassidy said, since many of the tenants are new to Woburn.

Ryan Leeming, Edens’ vice president of development and construction, said Woburn Village was the product of a three-way partnership among Edens, the city and the state, whose 2004 Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District program, known as “Chapter 40R,” encourages municipalities to create dense residential or mixed-use zoning districts for developments that include a high percentage of affordable housing units.

By taking advantage of the program, Woburn qualified for $1.4 million in incentive payments from the state. And, under state law, because 25% of Woburn Village’s 350 rental units are deemed affordable, the city can apply all of the units against the requirement that 10% of the city’s housing stock be affordable.

Cassidy said that since 2012, Woburn has added close to 1,500 residential rental units, counting those built, those under construction and those for which permits have been approved. The 350 units at Woburn Village put the city over the 10% threshold. The city now stands at 11.5%.

Tenants of the affordable units at Woburn Village ― AvalonBay Communities developed and owns the residential component ― must have incomes of less than 80% of the area median income, which for Woburn is $46,000 for an individual and $92,000 for a household, according to Cassidy. Affordable monthly rents for one-bedroom apartments at Woburn Village exceed $2,000.

Despite the success of Woburn Village, Leeming, the Edens executive, is not ready to sound the traditional mall’s death knell.

“Malls are not obsolete,” he said. “Plenty of traditional malls are successful in places all over the world. But they don’t work everywhere. I don’t think retail is dying by any means. It’s evolving.”

New London to get $17 million for transit hub improvements

Greg Smith

New London ― The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded New London $17 million for planned transit-related infrastructure improvements downtown, the largest portion going toward expansion of the city’s Water Street parking garage, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, announced on Thursday.

The city has for years sought federal funds for the garage expansion and improvements that would alleviate pedestrian safety and congestion concerns in the area, especially in anticipation of the completion of the National Coast Guard Museum on the city’s waterfront.

Initial plans for the garage expansion would add 400 spaces ― it currently has 910 ― to the top three floors of the five-floor garage and expand the garage over the existing surface lot adjacent to Water Street. The ground level would serve as a tourism center and transit hub for Southeast Area Transit (SEAT) buses, moving buses off Water Street and passengers out of the elements.

The $150 million museum project, now under construction and expected to be completed in 2025, is expected to draw an estimated 300,000 people a year to the city in an area that is already home to the parking garage, train station, busing hub and waterfront ferry service. The grant money announced on Friday will in part fund ADA improvements and the parking garage expansion, the new transit hub, a restoration project planned at Union Station and Cross Sound Ferry’s new high speed ferry terminal. A breakdown of the funding was not immediately available.

A portion of the grant is also earmarked for support of the $20 million state-funded pedestrian bridge that links the museum and the parking garage and will carry visitors over Water Street and the railroad tracks.

“Today’s federal grant announcement is a big deal for New London,” Courtney said in a statement. “The award of this funding reflects years of persistent, diligent work by the city, and our congressional delegation, to make the case that the thriving downtown hub of New London deserves the support of critical federal infrastructure funding.”

The money is coming through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, discretionary grant program, funded by the federal infrastructure law Congress passed last year.

The city’s years-long effort to seek funding was led by New London Parking Authority Director Carey Redd II and supported by Courtney and Sen. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.

While the money ― the city had applied for nearly $25 million ― is not expected to cover the entire cost of the parking garage expansion, New London Mayor Michael Passero said the city will continue to seek outside funds to complete the project.

Courtney said the projects will continue a “dramatic transformation of New London’s downtown and boost economic opportunity for the entire region.”

Murphy said in a statement that he expects the number of visitors to New London to “skyrocket” when the National Coast Guard Museum opens.

“This project will bring a major boost to the local economy and help make sure the city can manage the influx of visitors and traffic. The future of New London is bright, and I am laser-focused on fighting for federal funding to support the growth of southeastern Connecticut,” Murphy said in a statement.

Redd thanked the Congressional delegation for support of the grant application and said while the project’s focus is safety, “it will also greatly enhance economic opportunities in the City and beyond.”