CT DOT Bids 9/4/2024

Revolution Wind project hits milestone

The first offshore wind turbine has been installed at Revolution Wind, which is proposed to be the first commercial scale wind farm to supply power to Connecticut and Rhode Island, Ørsted and Eversource announced this week.

The project, whose turbine components are being assembled and shipped from State Pier in New London, consists of 65 Siemens Gamesa turbines and is expected to generate 704 megawatts of power ― 400 MW to Rhode Island and 304 MW to Connecticut, or enough electricity to power 350,000 homes.

The installation of the Revolution Wind turbines follows completion of South Fork Wind, a 12-turbine wind farm powering homes on Long Island.

Gov. Ned Lamont, in a statement, said the completion of this first turbine “represents a milestone as we work towards decarbonizing our electric grid while also creating new, good-paying jobs in this growing sector for Connecticut residents.”

Ørsted and Eversource continue installation of the foundations for the Revolution Wind turbines and also are performing onshore construction work for the transmission system in North Kingstown, R.I.

Earlier this month, Orsted and Eversource announced a one-year delay for completion of Revolution Wind related to the onshore construction obstacles.

$16M invested so far toward massive, mixed-use redevelopment of East Hartford office park

Michael Puffer

The team behind a proposed massive, mixed-use redevelopment of portions of East Hartford’s Founders Plaza has spent about $16 million so far as it closes in on final property acquisitions needed for the project.

Christopher Reilly — president of Hartford-based real estate developer Lexington Partners – told members of East Hartford’s Town Council Tuesday that his team has a “total investment of about $16 million” in the project so far.

The council, on Tuesday, unanimously signed off on agreements that will allow the town to spend up to $6.5 million in state funding to demolish a 189,890-square-foot office building at 99 Founders Plaza and a 180,000-square-foot parking garage at 111 Founders Plaza.

Port Eastside representatives have declined recent interview requests from The Hartford Business Journal, but did release a statement on Tuesday’s vote.

“We are very pleased that the Town of East Hartford will move forward with its agreement with the Capital Region Development Authority to clear the way for what we hope will be the first physical site work for the Port Eastside riverfront revitalization project—the demolition of the vacant building at 99 Founders Plaza and cleanup of the site,” reads a portion of the statement.  “The apartment homes we hope to see permitted here will be a major step in our multi-year process to energize the east side of the river and complement the Greater Hartford region with supporting growth and connectivity.”

East Hartford Director of Development Eileen Buckheit said she anticipates demolition will go ahead in the first quarter of 2025. This will provide a portion of the roughly 30-acre development site envisioned in the Port Eastside plan.

The project, when complete, will blend hundreds of apartments with retail, office and recreation space along the Connecticut River. The plan calls for the town to surrender a portion of East River Drive to ensure river access.

The development partnership includes Hartford-based Lexington Partners and its frequent collaborator Hartford-based investor and businessman Alan Lazowski with Hoffman Auto Group Co-Chairman Jeffrey S. Hoffman; Manafort Brothers Inc. President Jim Manafort; Nicholas Michnevitz, president of West Hartford-based MBH Architecture; Peter S. Roisman, head of Houston-based multifamily investor REV; as well as Harris and Bruce Simons, brothers who are principals of West Hartford-based development and real estate services firm Figure 8 Properties.

Port Eastside has purchased two properties so far. Last summer it paid $4 million for the office building on 7.34 acres at 99 Founders Plaza. This summer, a limited liability company tied to Port Eastside paid $7 million more for a vacant 70,350-square-foot “flex” office building on 6.5 acres at 300 East River Drive.

Reilly said Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has signed onto a “long-term” lease of the building at 300 East River Drive for use as a distribution hub.  The excess land on that property will be used as a part of the larger development site, he said.

M&T Bank sold Port Eastside a $17.49 million mortgage owed on the 19-story office tower and parking garage at 111 Founders Plaza. Port Eastside is expected to foreclose on the property in a hearing before a Hartford Superior Court judge on Monday. Attorneys for Port Eastside and the current owner, Merchant 99-111 Founders LLC, have submitted a stipulated agreement requesting the court sign off on the foreclosure.

Port Eastside is looking to convert the office tower at 111 Founders Plaza into housing. The parking garage is lined up for demolition.

Reilly, on Tuesday, said Port Eastside expects to also purchase a 5.7-acre landscaped parking lot at 321 Pitkin St. in October. The site is adjacent to the office tower and parking garage at 111 Founders Plaza. The cost of that deal is not part of the $16 million tally Reilly shared with the council on Tuesday.

The Capital Region Development Authority will manage the demolition project facilitated by Tuesday’s vote of the council.

In return for access to the state’s $6.5 million, Port Eastside is promising to secure permits for construction of at least 150 apartments within four years of the first disbursement of grant money.

Earlier this year, Reilly told the council that, while his team could only commit to 150 units in the first phase of development due to an uncertain financing climate, it is aiming for closer to 300 units in that first building.

Reilly told council members Tuesday that he will incorporate some homeownership opportunities in the plan following a request by a council member. He also reassured council members that preserving and enhancing public access to the riverfront is an important component of the plan.

“We have the same goals in mind, and we really appreciate your investments in all the properties and your continued willingness to cooperate with us to continue down the road with the shared vision we have,” Town Council Chair Richard Kehoe told Reilly. 

Fort Trumbull apartment developer seeks millions in city tax breaks

John Penney

New London ― A development firm is seeking assurances it will receive nearly $6.5 million in tax breaks over 20 years before it will commit to constructing 500 new apartment units on sections of the Fort Trumbull peninsula that have been off the city tax rolls for more than two decades.

Representatives of RJ Development + Advisors, LLC, on Monday presented members of the City Council’s Economic Development Committee with a proposed fixed tax agreement they said is needed to help defray unexpected site preparation costs on the two parcels slated for the the apartments.

Attorney William Sweeney, representing RJ Development, said without the agreement, which is set to be discussed by the full council on Sept. 16, the proposed construction projects “will halt, will not move forward.”

The Renaissance City Development Association, the city’s development arm, brokered an agreement in 2023 that includes selling the two city-owned parcels, totaling 6.28 acres, to RJ Development for $500,000.

The agreement contained terms that required the development company, which built The Beam, a 203-unit apartment complex on Howard Street, to obtain state and local permits for the construction of a pair of apartment buildings, each containing approximately 250 units, on land located on Nameaug and Walbach streets.

But since that development agreement was signed, new costs have cropped up, including those related to meeting state flood plain requirements, site clean-up and sub-surface issues, Sweeney said.

Sweeney said a previous agreement with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection requires the site to meet 500-year flood plain thresholds, which will mean building the complexes on raised steel and concrete podiums.

He said more environmental testing is also needed on the land, which is suspected to contain the remnants of filled-in basements, rocky ledge and other construction obstacles.

Sweeney estimated it will cost roughly $13 million to address those issues – money the developer can’t put up without it being partially offset by the proposed fixed tax schedule.

Under the proposed agreement, the city would forgive 80% of the complex’s assessed real estate taxes in the first year after a certificate of occupancy is granted. Sixty percent of year two taxes would be forgiven, as would 40 percent of taxes for years three through 20, for a total of $6.4 million in tax forgiveness. It is the same agreement the city made with RJ Development for the Beam project.

The schedule estimates the city would by the end of the 20 years still have received $18 million in tax revenue from the two properties at Fort Trumbull, while helping offset about half of the developer’s pre-construction costs.

Sweeney noted the two properties, located within walking distance of Electric Boat, have been vacant and not generating property taxes for “literally a generation.”

Sweeney said his clients also hope to avail themselves of federal opportunity zone financing.

Councilor Akil Peck questioned if a different firm might be interested in developing the parcels without any such tax agreement. Felix Reyes, the city’s director of planning and economic development, said any developer would face the same cost obstacles RJ Development is facing.

Sweeney said the planned apartments, as per a previously signed development agreement with the city, will be rented at market rate and not deemed “affordable.”

If the council approves the tax agreement, which has already been vetted by the city’s law firm, construction of the Nameaug Street complex on the northern tip of the peninsula would begin early next year, Reyes said on Tuesday.