To speed up construction, CRDA eyes project labor agreement for $100M XL Center upgrade

Michael Puffer

Taking a lesson from a year-long delay in the recently completed sports-betting lounge at Hartford’s XL Center, the Capital Region Development Authority plans to sign an agreement with local unions to ensure a ready supply of trained labor for the venue’s broader $100 million renovation.

The sports lounge, part of a $20 million package of upgrades, was originally intended to open for the fall 2022 football season, creating another draw for downtown Hartford and adding an amenity to a building that has struggled to bring in acts.

Instead, the betting lounge opened this past September, a delay Freimuth blames on a snarled supply chain and difficulty accessing adequate labor.

Now, as the CRDA prepares to launch a grander $100 million, two-year XL Center reconfiguration and repair program, Freimuth is hoping to avoid some of the same pitfalls. Material, especially electronic switchgear, will be ordered well in advance and stored, he said.

A project labor agreement will mean paying a premium for some trades, Freimuth conceded in a meeting with his board Monday morning. But it will also guarantee access to trained pools of labor and ensure predictable labor rates negotiated in advance, he said.

“The anxiety I have at this hour is we are on a very tight two-year window,” Freimuth said. “We are going to disrupt the building’s operations. We are going to shut the building down at periods. And we can’t afford hiccups in bids. We can’t afford hiccups in the schedule.”

The CRDA board voted on Monday to allow Freimuth to negotiate a project labor agreement with local unions.

The planned project will reconfigure the stage and some seating, to create in-demand premium seating areas close to the stage. It will also improve loading and unloading areas, a key component in attracting shows. The plan will also address long-deferred maintenance.

Freimuth said Monday he expects bids for various portions of the job to come in over the next six to eight weeks, allowing the agency to know if the project will fall within the $100 million budget. The CRDA would then approach the state Bond Commission to tap $80 million approved in Gov. Ned Lamont’s two-year state budget for the XL Center renovation.

CRDA would also then be able to finalize an agreement granting international entertainment company OVG a long-term contract to manage the facility. In return, OVG would invest $20 million in the renovation. 

Naugatuck seeks construction manager

ANDREAS YILMA 

NAUGATUCK – The borough hopes to secure a construction manager deal to pave the way for the development of a road network for a new industrial park.

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses gave the goahead for Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess to enter into an American Institute of Architects document standard form agreement with O&G Industries, of Torrington, to develop a road network at former Uniroyal Chemical/United States Rubber Co. complex site for Industrial Park #3 at 280 Elm St. The agreement is subject to final review by borough attorney Ned Fitzpatrick and will be for the preconstruction services that will not exceed $275,000.

The contract is about 90% complete where borough officials will need to make a few minor modifications.

Town officials previously reached a $1 purchase agreement with Lanxess Corp., a successor to Uniroyal Chemical, to acquire roughly 86 acres off Elm Street between the Naugatuck River and Cherry Street Extension to begin the Naugatuck Industrial Commons Redevelopment Project.

Hess said the funds will come from the Tax Incremental Financing District, which is about $18 million. Last month, town officials completed the bonding for the TIF District, he added.

The proposed development calls new roads and the division of the property into about nine separate building lots for industrial sites. Borough officials want to start the construction for the road network in this current calendar year and are hopeful to finish one of the roads by this time next year, Hess said.

“We have selected O&G and we’re all very comfortable with O&G from past projects including the Naugatuck High School project,” Hess said. “They’ve actually chosen Joe Vetro to be the project manager who was the project manager for the high school and we’re very comfortable with Joe.”

Burgess Robert A. Neth agreed with Vetro being the project manager.

“I think we’re in good hands with Joe Vetro,” Neth said. “He’s the ace, a fantastic individual who’s extremely competent.”

Civil 1, an engineering firm in Woodbury, will design the roads while O&G is the construction manager and will oversee the building of the roads, Hess said.

“This is a complicated project, not so much because the roads are hard to build but because we have to comply with the soil management plan that’s mandated by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency),” Hess said. “There are some nuances.”

Uniroyal paid for and had environmental remediation on the site for the first two phases of the project.

The borough was successful to obtain a $3 million Community Investment Fund 2020 grant which will be used to advance Phase III of the Naugatuck Industrial Park project, specifically the construction of permanent and temporary access roads into the property.

CT gives $800K transportation grants for Manchester sidewalk, South Windsor trail

Joseph Villanova

Manchester and South Windsor are two of the 17 towns that will receive transportation grants from the state of Connecticut.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced last week $11.7 million in state grants to 17 towns and cities across Connecticut for projects designed to improve transportation safety and accessibility, under the Community Connectivity Grant Program.

Manchester officials plan to install additional sidewalks in the area of Keeney Street with the $800,000 they received through the program. The project would extend the existing sidewalk along Keeney Street on both sides of the road, between the Garden Grove Road/Nutmeg Drive intersection and the Bush Hill Road intersection.

John DiBiasi, Manchester's assistant town engineer, said the money covers installation of the sidewalks and new ramps designed for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, alongside ancillary work including restoration of lawns and traffic control.

Town staff have identified Keeney Street as a priority area for sidewalk connectivity, in order to provide safe pedestrian walkways from Keeney Elementary School to nearby neighborhoods. The sidewalk would also connect directly to the Charter Oak Greenway, 

DiBiasi said town staff would perform design work for the project over the winter, targeting construction in the summer or fall of 2024.

South Windsor will use its $800,000 to fund part of its Crosstown Trail project, a 6.2-mile multi-use trail that will help pedestrians and bicyclists travel safely around town.

The project includes installing a 10-foot-wide, handicap-accessible paved walkway along the Eversource power lines corridor that will connect neighborhoods to the town center, schools, parks, and businesses.

Molly Keays, director of South Windsor Parks and Recreation, said it is easy for pedestrians and cyclists to travel within neighborhoods, but the lack of sidewalks and bike lanes on major roads make it difficult to travel outside of them.

Keays said the full trail will also connect to the Charter Oak Greenway, the East Coast Greenway, and the to-be-established Central Connecticut Loop Trail, providing connectivity to areas outside of South Windsor.

Keays said the town received $1.2 million last month from the State Bond Commission for "Phase 1A" of the Crosstown Trail, and the $800,000 from the Community Connectivity Grant Program will cover "phase 1B." She said the first phase represents the "central portion" of the town-wide trail, and will connect Wapping Park, Priest Farm, and Nevers Park by bridging together existing trails.

Keays said South Windsor has three years to use the funds it has received thus far, and Phase 1A is expected to begin construction in the summer of 2024. She said the second and third phases of the project are still under development and currently do not have a final estimate for their timelines or costs, but town officials are looking into funding sources to complete the trail.

Shelton's Daybreak Ridge condo expansion likely to be rejected

Brian Gioiele

SHELTON — The sun appears to be setting on developers' hopes to expand the Daybreak Ridge condominium development off River Road. 

The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voiced its opposition to approving a Planned Development District for the site in order to allow construction of an additional 28 units. 

The commission has asked staff to prepare an unfavorable resolution on the application. Once complete, the commission will vote on the resolution at a later date. 

“I do not see this adding anything to the community,” said commission Chair Virginia Harger. 

Daybreak Ridge, LLC, is presently constructing 36 condominiums — dubbed Daybreak Ridge — at 84 River Road. The developers have since filed an application seeking to change the zoning of the 12.39-acre parcel to a Planned Development District in an effort to nearly double the size of the project.   

The commission, at its August meeting, was to simply vote to accept and set up a public hearing on the application. That action is considered a formality, but even that vote met reluctance.  After the reading of the legal notice on the plan and a short discussion, Commissioner Elaine Matto made the motion, but no other commissioners seconded it.  

Commissioners were told they must hear this application though.  

The project then faced opposition from neighboring residents, who raised concerns about excess blasting, increased traffic and the detrimental impacts of the growing density on site. 

The commission initially granted a special exception for the project, allowing for 34 condo units in 2019. In September of 2021, after initial excavation and regrading of the site, the developer found that more usable space was created and returned to P&Z successfully seeking approval of an additional two units — bringing the total to 36, which was the maximum eligible number originally sought.  

At the time of the approval in 2019, zoning consultant Anthony Panico said he received “good cooperation” from the developers, who agreed to several alterations to try and satisfy commissioners' concerns, especially the proximity of units to the rock face. 

Attorney Dominick Thomas, representing the developers, has stated that his client can expand into the vacant upper area and get 28 more units with a PDD. In all, the developer is hoping to construct 64 condominium units, with the additional 28 located in four buildings at the rear of the property. Two buildings would each have eight condo units, the other two would have six units each.   

In processing the request as required by statute, the commissioners often noted the property’s constraints, specifically the steep slopes, the rock, the watercourse and wetlands and negative impacts on neighbors.