CT Construction Digest Thursday September 30, 2021
New Britain seeking state funding to revitalize Arch Street, 'Barrio Latino' section of city
NEW BRITAIN - The City of New Britain will submit a proposal for state funding that would revitalize Arch Street and the surrounding area.
Mayor Erin Stewart announced Tuesday the city will submit a grant application for the Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LOTCIP). The program provides funding for transportation projects for urbanized area municipal governments. If approved, the $1.5 million grant would allow the city to make changes to Arch Street that include narrowing the road, paving sidewalks and aesthetic changes like adding trees and outdoor dining spaces.
The grant is funded by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Stewart said the city has been working on the complete streets master plan for the last 10 years. She said there have been ongoing discussions about the extension of the “complete streets plans” from downtown. Because Arch Street was redone in the late 1990s, Stewart said it was not a part of the original plan.
“Looking at the beautification that has happened on Main Street, it only makes sense to continue that up Arch Street,” Stewart told the Herald. “In the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a project but the money will be utilized to make safety improvements to the road.”
Stewart said the plan is to implement “road dieting,” a method of shrinking the size of the road which will allow for traffic to slow down. This method will be implemented to reduce the likelihood of speeding in the area, making it safer for pedestrians and other vehicles.
The city is working with architects at Fuss & O’Neill, a transit oriented development firm, to look at the streets master plan. The firm completed image renderings for what the street could look like after renovation. Images released show brick crosswalks, bump outs, and fence improvements.
“In addition to that we’ll look at other aesthetic improvements that can be made to the streets with paving, curb cuts,” Stewart said.
Stewart said there is a possibility the funding from the grant could be used to pave parking spaces at Steven Carey Park and renovate the basketball courts. The improvements made will expand the “Barrio Latino” neighborhood to the master plan of the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development.
Last year, the city won the LOTCIP grant for a $30 million project to redo roads and sidewalks on John Downey Drive. Stewart is hopeful this year's submission will be accepted. She said the city will officially submit the application next month, and hopes to hear back by January 1, 2022. If the grant is approved, the funding would be allocated in spring 2022. Stewart said the city could likely begin construction on the project 18 months from now.
“We have to do a lot of work to check all the boxes, to meet all the criteria based off what the solicitation calls for. There's a lot of work that goes into crafting the grant to make sure we're addressing all of the things that the State Department of Transportation wants to see,” Stewart said.
The Plan of Conservation and Development outlines plans to continue improvements moving up Arch Street to support business and property owners in the area. Specifically, working with the New Britain Latino Coalition to designate the area “Barrio Latino” in hopes to add Latino owned business on the street. Stewart said Arch Street is part of the second phase of complete street the plan, which is to acknowledge the area as a branch of Main Street and support infrastructure surrounding primary routes that lead to downtown.
“People want to invest in cities that invest in themselves. We’ve been able to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars of state and federal grant money to renovate our streets, our sidewalks and really transform the landscape of our downtown area,” Stewart said.
West Haven approves 140-unit housing, mixed use development despite neighbors' objections
WEST HAVEN — The Planning and Zoning Commission has issued final approvals for a mixed-use development that the panel hopes will begin the revitalization of the city’s central business district.
Chris Soto, the city’s planning director, said the only things that remains for owner Shmulik Aizenberg of GLI Holding LLC to do is to apply for the necessary permits to tear down two vacant buildings on the site of 291 Campbell Ave and 288 Washington Ave. and begin construction on the two L-shaped buildings in the developer’s site plan.
“We’re at a crossroads at the center of town,” said commission Chairwoman Kathleen Hendricks before voting to approve the final special permit and site plan review. “We can’t keep the center the way it is. It just won’t survive.”
Hendricks said she believes the development, which will add 140 housing units and retail space that is expected to be leased to a cafe and market, “helps us get to the big picture.”
A team of attorneys, engineers and architects presented a site plan to the commission for about 80 minutes; some displeased neighbors interrupted twice during the presentation, appealing to the commission that it was taking too long and was too difficult to follow with malfunctioning audio equipment in City Hall.
Attorney James Perito, who represented the developer before the commission, said one advantage of the site plan is that it connects Campbell and Washington avenues for pedestrians, with a walkway going across the site.
Landscape architect Joe Aveni, who worked with the developer, said the site would incorporate a “lawn aesthetic” to buffer between adjacent properties and so the more than 200 parking spaces are mostly not visible from the roadway.
The site will also include pocket parks on the edge of the property, Aveni said.
Kathryn Gagnan, an engineer that worked on the site, said the developer would increase the capacity for rainwater retention on the site through the use of raingardens and infiltration systems, following neighbors’ concerns about flooding in the area.
Engineer Christopher McLean said a traffic study estimated there would be an added 52 trips in the morning during peak hours and an added 79 trips in the afternoon during peak hours as a result of the construction.
Laura Gilmore, a project manager with Newman Architects, said the tallest portion of the development would be five stories. She said that alongside Campbell Avenue the construction would involve a red brick facade to tie it to buildings on that street; on Washington Avenue the developer will use white vinyl siding to match some of the buildings there.
Representatives from the team said they also intend to preserve interior elements from the American Buckle Co. Factory on the site before demolishing the building, and repurposing those parts in their construction.
Melissa Saint, a representative for the developer, said they intend to offer a flexible lease structure to residential tenants as a means of appealing to a wider base of tenants — such as employees of the West Haven VA Medical Center system who might not want a lease for a full year.
“This is an A-class property that would be attractive to an age group between 25 and 60,” she said. “There’s no specific market we’re directing ourselves towards. There’s proximity to the train station, and we think this property would be attractive to the commuter.”
Perito said that, in collaboration with the city, a wider pipe would be added to the city’s piping infrastructure under the development.
Objections
Some neighbors and property owners, who have raised concerns about flooding and quality of life concerns in the area at multiple meetings during the application process, made a stand before the commission to ask them to reconsider — or at least put additional conditions on the developer. Of the roughly six members of the public who testified, the most common concerns were about traffic and flooding.
Bridgette Hoskie, a councilwoman in the city’s 1st District and a neighbor to the development, said she has concerns that traffic could get out of control, with residents justifying the improper use of the one-way Atwater Street to circumnavigate traffic.
“I just know that street is very scary. We’ve had major rollovers in the last couple of months,” she said.
Hoskie also shared her concerns that adding a parking lot that connects Washington and Campbell avenues could inspire drivers to cut through the property — creating risks for pedestrians. Following her testimony, commissioners agreed to add a condition that the developer must add two speed humps on the property to deter drivers from speeding through the parking lot to get from one avenue to the other .
However, some residents also shared concerns about the proximity to the Washington School, where traffic is often hectic during drop-off and pick-up times as there is no bus loop.
“Anyone who lives in the neighborhood knows that’s a bottleneck,” said Michael Lipsett, a Realtor and property owner in the neighborhood. “That is a terrible bottleneck by the school.”
Lipsett said he believes the commercial space in the development is a “smokescreen” to create more housing in the central business district.
“There’s no doubt with this density that property values will go down,” he said.
He was challenged on that point by Commissioner Steven Mullins.
“The current situation at that location is there’s two dilapidated, eyesore buildings that have been vacant for decades,” he said. “You’re saying it’s more valuable than 140 apartments and market space and a coffee shop?”
Hendricks ended her colleague’s questioning, saying it was not germane to the purpose of Tuesday’s public hearing.
Others spoke against adding housing density to the area.
Tom Sciarappa said he has lived across from the site of the development for 36 years .
“Now I get to look like this,” he said, craning his head upwards, “at a five-story apartment building.”
Sciarappa said he felt he had no further recourse but to move.
“I hope someday they build one of these right in front of your house,” he said to the commissioners, walking out of the meeting room.
Sydne Palmer said that, where the development reaches five stories, it will face the bathroom window of her home.
David Suraci, manager of Fitzgerald’s Florist on Campbell Avenue said his customers are mystified when he tells them what the plans are for the site.
“No one wants more cars on the road in that area,” he said. “West Haven doesn’t have a housing shortage, an affordable housing shortage or a shortage of cars.”
The commission approved the project unanimously. Commissioner John Biancur said he hopes the development will be the first step in a revitalization project to bring more foot traffic and interest to the city’s business district.
“The idea is to encourage retail development,” he said.
Saint estimated the project will take about two years to complete, with a three to four month permitting and demolition process and 18 to 20 months for building — although Perito advised that the market for obtaining construction supplies has been difficult during the pandemic.
More storefronts under construction in Darien as retail district nears full
Alexander Soule
DARIEN — The forklifts were busy Wednesday morning in Darien, as stacks of fresh lumber and other materials arrived at the new Darien Commons complex set to open in a year’s time, adding new storefronts and apartments.
It is the first major new option for retailers looking to land in one of Connecticut’s wealthiest towns, but more are to follow as Darien’s retail core gets a remake coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Developer Federal Realty Investment Trust announced a quartet of initial tenants for Darien Commons, in the nail salon Glosslab, the Manhattan coffee shop Gregory’s, the Italian restaurant Molto, and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
The upper levels of the new buildings will include just over 120 apartments, located steps from the Noroton Heights station of Metro-North.
Darien Commons will have some 75,000 square feet of space across 14 storefronts. Walgreens has already opened at the site, relocating from its former home next door alongside a Stop & Shop supermarket, which was razed for the new complex. The chain retains its Goodwives Shopping Center location just off the Boston Post Road.
Patrick McMahon, senior vice president of regional development for Federal Realty Investment Trust, said the phones began to ring at this time last year nationally from retailers in anticipation of vaccine approvals and widespread distribution.
“It was generally the strongest concepts and the most established brands, that had the resources to begin to look around the corner,” McMahon said. “That has accelerated over this past summer and into the fall, and now the phone is ringing steadily — and certainly that holds true in Darien.”
It is one of two big developments underway in Darien. Baywater Properties is currently doing site preparation work for the first of nearly a dozen buildings planned for its Corbin District remake of seven acres along the Boston Post Road.
More than 18 months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, all available storefronts are full or reserved in the Post Road shopping district sandwiched between Interstate 95 and the Darien stop of Metro-North. For the smaller stretch of some 50 storefronts from the north side of the tracks to Goodwives Shopping Center, only four are idle.
Baywater Properties has relocated several retail tenants as it begins site preparation work for its planned Corbin District. If completed as envisioned, it will include nearly a dozen new buildings clustered around a leafy square set back from the Post Road. The development will include more than 30 storefronts, additional restaurants and 116 apartments.
“I think the pandemic really brought to the forefront in people’s minds of really having a vibrant downtown,” said Baywater co-founder David Genovese. “We all had our worries, but what happened was all of these folks were home and suddenly, in my opinion, they came to appreciate their hometowns.”
For The Corbin District, Genovese said he drew inspiration from a number of developments nationally — from the Palisades Village development in Pacific Palisades, Calif., to a Federal Realty development in Bethesda, Md., to the Grove Street Plaza created by his Corbin District co-developer Penny Glassmeyer.
“The trick and the goal — and we are really obsessed with this — is building this in a way that it looks organic, so that the buildings are all different,” Genovese said. “Darien has never been a real pedestrian-friendly downtown. It wanted to be, but it never really has been, and I think that’s the single most important thing that we get to do with this project.”
Work resumes on Shelton's Fountain Square development
Brian Gioiele
SHELTON — Work on Fountain Square, - which has remained dormant for more than a year, is back underway.
The site’s developers, Fountain Square, LLC, recently announced that construction of the 710 Bridgeport Ave. property has resumed. The site, at the intersection with Parrott Drive, was formerly occupied by the United Illuminating Co.
“The developers of Fountain Square have secured all necessary funding and investors needed to complete the project,” the company said in a written statement. “The restart of construction has already commenced and should be in full swing over the next few weeks.”
This update on the site’s status comes as many residents have spent months questioning the development’s future in letters to the editor and social media posts.
In early 2020, prior to onset of the pandemic, Daniel Witkins, Sr., of DFW Building Co., who has been the construction manager for the Fountain Square project, said lease agreements were in place for about 70 percent of what will be the available space at the 19.1-acre site.
Since that point, little to no work has taken place on site, leaving residents clamoring for answers and asking why the city has not forced the issue.
The Fountain Square project was first presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2017. The project was split into five phases, and final development plans for all phases were approved separately between 2018 and 2020.
Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Virginia Harger said some of the final development plans were also modified during that time due to tenant changes. After detailed development plans were approved, the plans were treated as an approved site plan, in accordance with city regulations, Harger said.
Harger said state statutes and city regulations give an applicant five years to complete construction from plan approval.
“If the applicant does not do so, the commission may invalidate its approval of detailed development plans,” Harger said.
That leaves a minimum of two years left for the Fountain Square project to be completed, Harger said. In addition, due to COVID-related executive orders issued by Gov. Ned Lamont, a 15-month grace period may be in effect.
“In view of the significant site improvements and building construction completed to date, it is very unlikely that the developers would have any intention of abandoning the project,” Harger said.
The original approval allowed for three restaurants, a pharmacy, bank, coffee shop, other retail, a small office building and a 123-room Marriott hotel. Since that time, there were changes in the list of tenants, headed by the addition of a Chick-fil-A.
In early 2020, along with Chick-fil-A, other tenants were to be Panera Bread, which will have a drive through; Jersey Mike’s Subs; Mission BBQ; DQ; The Goddard School; Pokemoto, along with an unnamed jewelry store, a hair salon, a Korean BBQ restaurant, a fitness operation and an Italian wood-fired tapas restaurant.
HARTFORD — New private investment in construction around Dunkin’ Donuts Park represents a small but significant statement of confidence in Hartford’s redevelopment.
Two major companies — Bloomfield-based health insurer Cigna and New Britain-based tool and storage giant Stanley Black & Decker — are making loans totaling $1.7 million through the Capital Region Development Authority.
“The fact that these two companies are participating financially in a project that is so significant to Hartford’s future and Hartford’s development is a strong statement that they have confidence in where we are headed and they believe that a strong and vibrant Hartford is good for everyone,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said.
Bronin said the city and CRDA, which helps finance projects with state taxpayer-backed loans and equity investments, have had conversations with corporate leaders in recent years about the goals of redevelopment in the city, especially around increasing housing to make downtown and the city’s neighborhoods more vibrant.
“I am hopeful that this initial pair of investments will be the first but not the last,” Bronin said.
The low-cost loans from Cigna and Stanley Black & Decker are contributing to the financing of the $200 million-plus North Crossing, the former Downtown North, or DoNo. The first 270 of 1,000 or more apartments eventually planned for around the ballpark are now under construction at Morgan and Main streets and could be ready for occupancy in the spring.
The loans signal that large corporations are getting increasingly comfortable with the city’s redevelopment strategy, and its results since CRDA was formed in 2013.
Since then, CRDA has invested $117 million of public funding in low-cost loans and equity investments, supporting $435 million in development in more than two dozen housing projects in and around downtown. Almost all of those projects converted former commercial spaces into rentals, with 2,100 apartments created, according to a CRDA analysis in May, toward a goal of reaching 3,000.
Based on property appraisals from before and after the conversions, $294 million of value has been created, CRDA said. The amount of tax revenue generated for the city wasn’t immediately available.
Michael W. Freimuth, CRDA’s executive director, said the string of housing conversions have, for the most part, held their occupancy levels. There was a dip during the height of the pandemic in 2020, but the majority now at are 90% or better, with a few exceptions, Freimuth said.
If momentum builds behind more corporations making loans into redevelopment, it may be possible to begin dialing back a little on the public investment in projects that now have a demonstrated track record, Freimuth said. That, he said, also could allow CRDA to focus more of its lending to promising — but still risky — projects, particularly in the neighborhoods.
“It’s a measure of where we’ve come from and where we are,” Freimuth said. “It’s an important achievement, but we still have a long way to go.”
Hartford’s history is marked by often heavy corporate involvement in city redevelopment efforts.
In the 1950s and 1960s, powerful corporate chief executives were part of the so-called corporate “bishops” which influenced development and philanthropic pursuits.
Even into the 1980s, insurer Aetna, now owned by CVS Health Corp., was helping to reshape downtown, partnering on the construction of CityPlace I.
A decade earlier, Aetna was instrumental in financing the construction of the nearby Civic Center with a downtown shopping mall. The Civic Center is now the XL Center, and the mall is long gone.
Stanley Black & Decker, which has established an advanced manufacturing “center of excellence” on Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford, said investing in redevelopment is another way to strengthen the capital city, an essential component for a thriving Connecticut.
“Our support of the DoNo project, one of the largest redevelopment projects underway in downtown Hartford, is one way we are working with partners like Cigna to help drive positive change in the city of Hartford,” Stanley Black & Decker said, in an email.
Cigna said it supports investments aimed at revitalizing Hartford neighborhoods and, as a health care company, providing “access to quality affordable housing is critical to helping people lead happier, healthier lives.”
The redevelopment loans open a new investment front for the city, but Bronin and others say the corporate community has been active for years in supporting the city in other initiatives.
In 2017, Aetna and two other major insurers in the city — The Hartford Financial Services Group and Travelers Cos. Inc. — committed to donate $50 million over five years to stabilize the city’s finances.
In Hartford’s Asylum Hill neighborhood, The Hartford has committed more than $10 million in grants for housing rehabilitation projects and other pressing needs in the community around where the insurer is headquartered.
This story was updated on September 27, 2021 to clarify the scope of use for more than $10 million in grants by The Hartford Financial Services Group.
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the approval of a new gas-fired electric generating plant in the town of Killingly, dismissing a complaint by opponents that the decision to certify the plant failed to consider potential environmental damage from expanding a pipeline needed to deliver fuel.
The decision by a divided court — there were two concurrences and a dissent — is a victory for NTE Energy, builder of the plant, as well as regional power grid operator ISO-New England. Eversource is expected to rebuild an existing pipeline to deliver gas to the project. Environmentalists have fought the project in the northeast corner of the state since its inception in 2016 and were encouraged early this year when Gov. Ned Lamont appeared to join the opposition while speaking to a meeting of environmentalists.
“I don’t want to build Killingly,” Lamont said, without expanding on what, if anything he might to do stop it.
NTE argues the 650 megawatt, duel-fuel electric generating facility on Lake Road is an environmentally responsible way to produce power in a region where electric rates are among the nation’s highest and where there is a shift to electric transportation and heat. Opponents are using the plant to rally support for renewables and elimination of fossil fuel based energy production.
The plant may be a flashpoint in the fight over electric rates and the environment, but the Supreme Court focused narrowly on state law that requires the Connecticut Siting Council to balance environmental and other concerns when deciding whether an electrical generating plant is in the public interest.
At issue was whether the siting council was required to consider the pipeline and power plant components of the generation project separately or, on the other hand, whether the two are intertwined and their combined environmental impact was the factor that mattered.
The council said it was required by law to consider the plant and the natural gas pipeline separately.
NTE applied for its plant permits in 2016. When the council reached its decision, Eversource had not applied for approval to expand the volume of an existing pipeline that runs about 2.5 miles through wetlands and open space to the proposed plant location. The council said it will decide on pipeline approval when Eversource applies for it.
Not Another Power Plant, the local environmental group that challenged the siting council decision, argued that it is nonsensical to consider the pipeline and plant separately. The group said the plant can’t operate without the pipeline, the expansion of which will require environmentally damaging work in sensitive wetlands and open space areas.
The diameter of the existing pipeline is not large enough to produce sufficient gas pressure to power the turbines that produce electricity.
Not Another Power Plant lost in Superior Court, which said the council acted properly under state law when it “segmented” the plant and pipeline components of the project. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision, but three justices disagreed to varying degrees with the reasoning of the majority opinion, written by chief Justice Richard A Robinson.