CT Construction Digest Thursday July 25, 2024
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has declined to press concerns raised by Republican legislative leaders about a public-private partnership looking to move forward with a $145 million renovation of Hartford’s downtown XL Center arena.
That raises the likelihood the renovation plan will move forward.
The Capital Region Development Authority last week postponed a vote on the XL Center renovation, after GOP legislative leaders questioned the involvement of an entertainment group tied up in a separate state lawsuit.
The CRDA has a tentative agreement with Los Angeles-based live entertainment promoter and venue manager OVG360 to contribute $20 million toward the pending renovation.
In return, OVG, which is under contract to manage the XL Center for another year, would get its contract extended 20 years from the completion of the upgrades to Hartford’s roughly 16,000-seat sports and entertainment arena.
As part of the agreement, OVG would also keep the first $4 million in annual XL Center profits. Additional profits would be split with CRDA for upkeep of the venue.
State House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora and Senate GOP Leader Stephen Harding, last week, sent a letter to Tong questioning the deal, noting the state has joined a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the latter of which has a close relationship with OVG.
Stressing the state’s hefty, proposed investment, the Republicans leaders requested Tong to publicly share any concerns he might harbor about OVG, prior to needed votes by the CRDA and state Bond Commission.
Tong, on Monday, responded with a letter saying his office has no role in reviewing the tentative agreement between the CRDA and OVG. But, Tong also stated he plans to recuse himself from any vote on the matter before the bond commission.
The attorney general is one of 10 members on the state Bond Commission.
“Vibrant, economically strong cities are essential to our state’s long-term prosperity,” Tong wrote in his letter. “The future of the XL Center is indeed a key component to the economy of Hartford.”
CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth, on Tuesday, described Tong’s response as “important news,” and noted a CRDA vote on the deal has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, July 30. That will depend on clearing some “final issues” in ongoing discussions with OVG, Freimuth said.
CRDA has requested a Bond Commission meeting to approve the funding in early August.
Efforts to revitalize Hartford’s XL Center received a boost in May after the state legislature’s passage of a $370 million budget stabilization plan. The bill increased the maximum amount of state funding toward the renovation from $80 million to $125 million.
The bond commission had earlier signed off on an $80 million contribution, contingent on OVG contributing $20 million.
The potential $45 million increase in funding came just weeks after bids for CRDA’s XL Center renovation plan came in nearly $40 million over the anticipated $107 million budget.
Bridgeport's Cherry Street Lofts developer: Project soon back on track
BRIDGEPORT — Gary Flocco said he is a few weeks away from re-starting the next phase of his Cherry Street Lofts apartments project after a three-year-delay and a recent condemnation order from the city.
"We've been working hard," Flocco said.
Flocco said he is on the cusp of settling a lawsuit for non-payment that an architectural firm, Crosskey, filed against him in 2019. Having that matter hanging over his head, Flocco was unable to access private and state dollars for demolition, environmental remediation and other pre-construction work.
"We've agreed upon everything. Documents have gone out," Flocco said of the effort to end the legal battle.
With that issue out of the way, Flocco will be able to obtain a bank loan and $2.2 million state officials awarded his project in December 2020.
Crosskey's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
Jim Watson, spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, said that agency "has been informed about the progress in settling the lawsuit."
He continued, "Once that is completed, we can move forward with an assistance agreement that is a prerequisite to any funds being released."
Daniel Roach, an aide to Mayor Joe Ganim who has been acting as a liaison with Flocco, also corroborated that the developer has provided the same information about his legal matters to the city.
"We're all very hopeful that the project can get back on track very soon," Roach said.
Located on the outskirts of downtown between the railroad tracks and Interstate 95, Cherry Street Lofts is a prominent renovation of some old abandoned factory buildings that initially earned Flocco accolades. It opened in 2018 and currently boasts 158 housing units and a charter school.
A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in July 2021 for the next phase — 133 units involving 62, 72 and 80 Cherry Street and 1325 Railroad Ave. And then, at least publicly, things went dormant until this past April when Bridgeport's economic development staff informed City Council members the four addresses in question had been deemed hazardous and ordered demolished.
Given Flocco's legal and financial woes, the economic development department wanted the council to commit to spending $10 million to tear the structures down.
In an interview at the time, Flocco insisted he believed he would soon have access to the necessary capital to restart his work, and council members decided to grant him a reprieve.
"Let's see what he can do," Council President Aidee Nieves had said.
Flocco on Tuesday said some safety-related demolition is required but "75 percent of what you see there now will be maintained. ... That would include the smokestack." That and other pre-construction work should start around September and last six months.
"The hope is by this time next year we're actually in the ground with hard construction," Flocco said. "We would be delivering (completed housing) units probably in May/June of 2026."
Stamford pitches new redesign for lower Atlantic Street after community worries over eminent domain
STAMFORD — A new proposal to redesign the lower half of Atlantic Street would take up much less personal property and hopefully put to bed concerns about eminent domain, city officials said.
Stamford Transportation Bureau Chief Frank Petise said the plan once had “19 personal property takes” but was lowered to zero takes and sidewalk easements.
The redesign, presented during a July 10 public meeting, came after plans shown in 2022 stirred anxieties about the use of eminent domain to complete the project. Similar worries prompted outcry from city representatives in response to eminent domain potentially being used on a street-widening project on Washington Boulevard and Pulaski Street.
“We think we have a much safer roadway design that addresses a lot of the comments and needs from the community,” Transportation Planner Luke Buttenwieser said.
A previous, wider plan had one lane going each way and more median turn lanes with a five-foot-wide bike lane on each side. Petise said the road in this plan was effectively three lanes wide.
The plan shown July 10 features a two-lane road with turn lanes primarily when going into intersections. It has a protected two-way bike lane on one side of the road and parking on the other.
The new plan uses less pavement, has safer bike infrastructure and shorter crosswalks that creates a safer roadway, Buttenwieser said.
“Which was a lot of what we heard from the community when
you're working on addressing those concerns,” Buttenwieser said, “Which we
think we did.”
A public survey presented during the July 10 meeting got just under 200
responses and showed that a majority of respondents drove through the Atlantic
Street area. A little less than half of the respondents, though, said they
wished to walk or run through the area.
The second largest group of respondents in the survey said they wished to bike through the area.
Jordan Force lives on Washington Boulevard and said he bikes around Stamford a lot, specifically to get to the train station.
He said he wanted safer bike infrastructure since he’s worried he’ll hit a car door as someone opens it to get out.
It almost happened to him once, he said.
“I’m pretty willing to put my neck at risk but even sometimes on Atlantic Street, it’s a little dangerous with all the cars,” Force said.
The bike lanes in the latest plans would be separated from the street and opposite the parked vehicles, according to the plans shown during the July 10 meeting.
A few people at the meeting were concerned about the possible use of eminent domain and asked if the option was still on the table to push the project forward.
Buttenwieser struck the idea down.
“It's never our intention to do eminent domain,” Buttenwieser said.
Sue Halpern has lived in the South End for 40 years and said she wanted to see parking on both sides of the street, rather than just one side having parking and another the bike lanes.
She also said she agreed with city Rep. Terry Adams, D-3, who during the meeting said more parking would slow down traffic as people watch out to prevent colliding with parked cars.
Part of the plans do include “a lot” of traffic calming methods, Buttenwieser said. Some features include bump-outs, potentially raised crosswalks and pedestrian refuge islands.
Halpern said she noticed more people walking on Atlantic Street than biking. She and another attendee questioned the need for bike infrastructure along the street. Halpern said she’d rather see a focus on making it easier to walk along the street.
Halpern said she noticed more people walking on Atlantic Street than biking and questioned the need for bike infrastructure. Instead, she said, she’d rather see a focus on making it easier to walk along the street.
Buttenwieser invoked the “build it and they will come” mantra in response. The public survey, he said, speaks to the fact that if there is bike infrastructure then people would use it.
The plan, however, is still at a 10 percent level design, according to the project’s website. The state Department of Transportation committed to funding the entire $9.4 million cost of the project.
The project, which also includes rebuilt sidewalks, better lighting and shortened and new crosswalks, is estimated to begin construction in 2026.
Another public meeting will be held sometime in the fall or winter to discuss the next design of the project.