Stratford approves tax break for brewery expansion, anticipates 300 jobs

Ethan Fry

STRATFORD — The Town Council has unanimously approved a partial tax abatement for a Lordship industrial property being redeveloped for a local craft brewer.

Construction has begun on a 368,000-square-foot building at 495 Lordship Blvd. where Athletic Brewing Company plans to have up to 100 new employees, company officials have told the town.

Officials from Athletic said they wanted to have the facility up and running by early next year.

Representatives of the property’s owner, Boston-based GFI Partners, have said the site could bring a total of 200 to 300 jobs when fully developed.

The building — but not the land itself — will be exempt from property taxes during construction.

Once building is complete, property taxes would total about $573,000 a year under the current mill rate.

A three-year deal approved during the council’s monthly meeting Monday calls for 70 percent of the property taxes to be forgiven the first year after the building is complete, followed by 50 and 30 percent in years two and three, respectively.

The roughly 19-acre property between Honeyspot Road and Long Beach Boulevard — the former location of a chemical plant owned by Mobil Oil Corp. — has been was vacant for years.

A brief discussion of the tax deal during Monday’s meeting showed a broad consensus of support.

Ken Poisson, R-6, said the deal will bring welcome economic activity to the town.

“If their projections are correct, between 200 and 300 jobs. I’ll take it,” Council Chairman Chris Pia, R-1, said.

“Thank you, GFI, for investing in our community,” Greg Cann, D-5, said after reviewing the details of the deal.

Bill O’Brien, R-9, said the recent work at the site is great to see.

“Even with the abatement, we’ll be getting more in taxes now than when it was just sitting there empty,” he said, lauding the work of Economic Development Director Mary Dean and the late J. Bruce Alessie, a former special projects coordinator for the town who helped Two Roads Brewing Co. set up in Stratford. “They should be recognized for the great work they’ve done.”

In a statement Tuesday, Mayor Laura Hoydick agreed.

“I am very proud of the hard work we have done on the economic development front over the past several years, and projects like this reflect our positive progress, particularly in the midst of the pandemic,” she said. “I thank the Council for their support of this abatement arrangement which will quickly provide positive returns for the taxpayers of Stratford.”

Danbury officials hopeful new school will address overcrowding while avoiding debt burden

Julia Perkins

DANBURY — The plan to build a $99 million career academy for the middle and high school would have a relatively small impact on the city’s projected debt service over the next decade.

“You see a fairly consistent pattern here, that we have it fairly well under control,” David St. Hilaire, the city’s finance director, said at a City Council workshop on Monday.

The city’s debt service — the amount of cash required to pay back the principal and interest on a loan in a given time — is projected to peak in fiscal year 2027, whether Danbury borrows for the proposed academy or not, he said.

His projections show the city’s debt service would be $22 million that year with the academy, compared to $21.7 million without it.

“It’s just a little bit higher in that year, but then it stays a little bit higher for a few years after,” St. Hilaire said.

That’s a good deal, said Vinny DiGilio, City Council president. Danbury would get a new school with a creative teaching model, for little financial impact, he said.

“A lot of places would enjoy being able to invest $100 million and not have it change their day-to-day cash flow,” he said. “That’s pretty profound.”

The academy is meant to help address the growing school enrollment and provide students with opportunities to study various career fields and pursue internships.

“We’re really at the precipice of a wonderful opportunity for Danbury,” Superintendent Sal Pascarella said. “When this comes to fruition, you’ll have a lighthouse school district nationally.”

The academy would raise the city’s tax rate by less than one mill over the next 10 years, compared to the impact from Danbury’s existing debt service. The outstanding balance on the city’s debt would be about $117 million in 2027 with the academy, compared to almost $104 million without it.

Danbury does not expect to need to cover the $99 million alone. It’s racing to meet the state’s deadline for a grant that would cover 80 percent of the academy’s cost. Plus, $2.4 million of city costs would be covered by money City Council approved last year for school projects.

The city is required by law to submit its application by Oct. 1, but the state has asked for a draft by Sept. 1, so that any necessary tweaks can be made.

This would be the first time the state would reimburse a municipality for a school project that uses the “design-build” method, but Danbury’s project may become a model for other towns and cities.

“The hope is that at some point other communities are going to be able to utilize this format of doing school construction,” said Antonio Iadarola, the city’s public works director and engineer.

State and city officials meet every other week to discuss the project, with the state last week giving the city the OK to seek an architect.

“That was a huge thing to get out of the way,” Iadarola said at a Steering Committee meeting on Monday.

The academy would be built within three “pods” of the Summit, a mixed-use development in the 1.2 million-square-foot former Union Carbide world headquarters on the city’s west side.

Developers have said they are on board with the project and plan to reduce the number of apartments they would build to make room for the school.

Next week, the Planning Commission will review the Summit’s revised plans, as well as a zoninig regulation change that would allow a public, secondary school to be built there. The Zoning Commission will review these matters the following week, with a public hearing planned for May 11, said Sharon Calitro, city planner.

The Summit has promised to pay an annual fee that started at $550,000 to offset the costs of any additional students from the apartments.

The proposed reduced number of apartments shouldn’t affect that fee, said Mark Boughton, the former mayor who is heading the Steering Committee behind the project.

“We’re really going to hold the line on that,” he said.

Phasing in the academy

Council members questioned how the school district plans to afford to staff the building.

The district already needs to hire seven- to- eight additional teachers annually at the high school due to enrollment growth and will look for staff who have certifications in specialized areas the academy would focus on, Pascarella said. Those employees could then work at the academy when it opens.

But the district should expect high salary costs, he said.

“When you get degrees in robotics, engineering and physics, you don't get first-year teachers,” he said. “They’re much more expensive.”

Administrators have researched the labor market to see what skills are needed in the community and state and eventually plan to have six academies within the school.

These academies would focus on professional health services; information, cybersecurity and technology; scientific innovation and medicine; global enterprise and economics; art, engineering and design; and communications and design.

The district is looking at opening the middle school portion first, then one academy and then a second academy, Pascarella said. Up first would be the scientific innovation and medicine one, as well as global enterprise and economics.

“I just wish I could go there,” Pascarella said.

Students would still graduate with a diploma from Danbury High School and have access to the theater, fields and clubs at the main school.

“We could never replicate those things with this school,” Pascarella said.

Auditors: UConn Hartford campus construction cost $30M more than budgeted

Keith M. Phaneuf

Nearly $30 million in construction cost overruns on the University of Connecticut’s Hartford campus topped a list of contracting issues that sparked criticism Tuesday from the state auditors’ office.

UConn’s new downtown Hartford campus, located in the former Hartford Times building, opened in August 2017 at a cost of $116.7 million, 34% greater than the project budget, Auditor John C. Geragosian wrote. 

Construction and renovations combined originally were priced at $87 million, and a guaranteed maximum price eventually was set at nearly $98 million. But after the university adjusted the contract 24 times, involving 283 construction-related changes, the price tag ballooned, according to the legislature’s fiscal watchdog agency, the audit reports.

“The University of Connecticut should establish the scope and costs of construction projects to ensure that their actual costs are reasonable and consistent with a properly developed original budget,” Geragosian wrote. 

But the university cautioned the auditors in its written response to the report that for a “large, multi-faceted project,” it’s customary to begin with “preliminary, benchmark estimates.”

“The relocation of any campus, and as in the case of the Hartford Campus Relocation project, was unprecedented, and the development of the scope of this multi-faceted project was extraordinary,” university officials added. “We believe the comparison of a preliminary benchmark estimate for the design and construction of one piece of the project to the final fully-developed cost of that individual piece is too simplistic.”

The Front Street-area campus served more than 3,000 students in its first year of operations.

Besides the renovation of the Hartford Times building, the project, developed by the Greenwich-based HB Nitkin Group, also included the purchase of an additional building, renovations to accommodate the School of Social Work, a partnership with an interior renovations to the Hartford Public Library, and the leasing and expansion of a new bookstore and café.

But the auditors’ concerns about UConn’s construction spending went beyond the downtown Hartford project.

The audit, which covered three fiscal years running from July 2015 through June 2018, found two construction project and two design contracts — priced between $4 million and $26.6 million — that were not competitively bid.

State policy generally requires bids on contracts valued at more than $500,000. 

But UConn officials said the requirement can be waived if the work goes to firms already involved in construction work for the university, and if the new projects are “interdependent and intermingled” with other work already underway.

The auditors’ office, which has no authority to impose fines and only can comment on state agency decisions, disagreed.

“The university did not comply with the general statute,” Geragosian wrote. “The lack of solicitation for services could result in higher costs.”

UPS inks major lease for new construction in Windsor’s NE Tradeport

Matt Pilon

One of several remaining undeveloped plots of land in the New England Tradeport in Windsor appears headed for new construction, following a fresh lease with shipping giant UPS.

UPS and NE Tradeport landlord INDUS Realty Trust (formerly Griffin Industrial Realty) signed the lease at 110 Tradeport Dr. in March, according to land records.

UPS has reserved 156,000 square feet of space in the planned new building, which will total 254,000 square feet. Windsor planning officials approved the site plans in 2019. The lease is for seven years, with options for five-year extensions. 

UPS already has a presence at the adjacent 330 Stone Road, where it leased approximately 64,000 square feet in 2018.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether UPS intends to relocate the Stone Road operations to the 110 Tradeport site or whether it will have a presence at both properties. Neither UPS nor INDUS responded requests for comment Tuesday morning.

According to a Nov. 2020 INDUS investor presentation, the 15-acre 110 Tradeport property is one of two parcels of land the company is targeting for development in the tradeport, where it’s built numerous large warehouses over the years, all within a short drive of Bradley International Airport. 

The second is 105 International Dr., a 60-acre property where INDUS envisions building a 248,000-square-foot building.

Farmington neighbors dig in as developer promotes massive apartment complex near  UConn Health Center

Don Stacom

Using descriptions ranging from “excessive” to “a monster,” a group of Farmington residents on Monday called on the town to reject the proposal for 146 apartments near the UConn Health Center.

“It’s the size of a football field,” homeowner Richard Fichman told the plan and zoning commission. “Imagine a football field 46-foot-high building being put right behind your homes.”

But developer Geoffrey Sager countered that Connecticut and the town have worked for years to attract major health sciences employers to that area, and his project would benefit them and their workers.

“We planned for this day 20 years ago,” Sager said, recalling how the state transportation and environmental protection agencies worked with the town to build out a stretch of Route 4 near I-84′s Exit 39.

The American Red Cross, the Carrier Corp., Otis Elevator and Stanley Black & Decker all have major facilities in the area, and the UConn Health Center and Jackson Laboratory are within a couple of minutes’ drive.

But Fichman and hundreds of residents have spent months arguing that the project envisioned by Sager’s Metro Realty Group is simply too large to belong in a residential area. He and two neighbors have backyards abutting open space, and he said they bought with the trust that residential zoning would keep it undeveloped.

“We moved to Farmington a few years ago for that small-town charm and appeal. This seems to be the absolute worst place to put a building like this — this thing is a monster,” said Michael Kuhn, an Olcott Way homeowner.

“Why should the zoning be changed to meet Metro’s needs?” asked Kimberly Zeytoonjian, whose home on Prattling Pond Road would be among the closest to the apartment complex. “If it passes, what’s to stop other zones from being changed in our lovely town? We’re talking about changing the environment in Farmington.”

The land off Quarry Road where Sager would build is zoned as residential, even though the UConn Health Center and its 11-story hospital tower are just across Route 4.

The plan and zoning commission had already held an all-night hearing on the plan, and Monday night’s session went on for more than four and a half hours with no resolution. It will be resumed April 26.

Metro Realty is eyeing land behind the Hartford Health Care Medical Group’s office at 406 Farmington Ave. says building there would provide modern, convenient, walkable housing for medical and technology workers in and around UConn Health.

Fichman and others challenged that, saying a walk in even good weather would be 30 minutes and include a steep hill. Sager maintained that since most tenants would be in their 30s, the real time would be closer to 10 minutes and the hill wouldn’t be an issue. He said they could use the existing UConn Health circulator bus at night or in bad weather.

Residents raised concerns about higher traffic along with potential groundwater contamination from blasting near the former landfill on the property. Sager presented traffic and hydrology experts who said their tests and projections determined there’s no reason for concern.

 Cornwall Bridge project shelved

Ruth Epstein

CORNWALL — A proposed plan for reconfiguring the area around the intersection of Route 7 and Route 4 in Cornwall Bridge appears to have hit a roadblock.

During a public forum Monday, First Selectman Gordon M. Ridgway said the plan, devised by consulting firm Fitzgerald & Halliday and considered a “quick build,” is now being put on the shelf. He said the town will focus on a more conventional long-term vision for the area.

Richard Bramley, owner of Cornwall Package Store, said the plan to close off one of his driveways could create a bottleneck if traffic backed up.

“I’m glad to hear that plan may be headed for the shelf,” he said. “It’s a good place for it. It creates more issues than it solves.”

Richard M. Lynn Jr., executive director of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments and a Cornwall resident, said one of COG’s responsibilities is regional transportation planning. The quick-build method is new and aims for temporary improvements. The plan’s goal was to enhance safety and slow down traffic, but the state Department of Transportation didn’t favor temporary crosswalks, among other suggestions in the plan.

Not many townspeople appeared to approve of the plan either. It called for eliminating some of the driveways into commercial establishments. Residents also were concerned there were no measures to slow southbound traffic or help prevent motorists from ignoring the stop sign on eastbound Route 4.

During public comment, resident Susan Edholm said she frequently walks in that area and knows how to navigate the crosswalks safely, but resident John Zeiser said not everyone is capable of being careful to avoid traffic in crosswalks, including children and those in wheelchairs.

“They are not just for us,” he said.

Hector Prud’homme suggested people look at DOT’s 2016 road safety audit, which had some useful recommendations.

“It was based on facts, not wishes and hopes,” he said, urging the town to seek federal infrastructure funds that have been making the national headlines.

Joanne P. Wojtusiak, who lives in the area and said she narrowly avoided two accidents by motorists who blew through the Route 4 stop sign, warned against taking government funds for projects.

“If you do take the money,” she said, “you have no control.”

Several references were made to Tim Prentice’s proposal a few years ago to remove a leg of the roadway on the eastern side of the Green and place commercial buildings in the Green. Ridgway said that area is owned by the state and state officials likely would be reluctant to give it up.

Harold McMillan, owner of Housatonic River Outfitters fishing and hunting shop, said he doesn’t think putting buildings on the Green is suitable. As for the consultants’ proposal, “I don’t see any improvements from what they’re planning,” he said. “I’d be happy if they paved the roads and painted the lines.”

Terry Burke, an avid cyclist, talked about the bike route that has been approved along Route 7 stretching from Norwalk to the Canadian border. He said the worst section is between Cornwall Bridge and Kent, where potholes and lack of shoulders can make for dangerous riding.

Ridgway said all of the public comments will be taken into consideration and discussions will continue.