Oxford and Southbury officials :Damage to exceed $100 million

STEVE BIGHAM

Town officials in both Oxford and Southbury say the damage in their towns from Sunday’s massive flooding likely will exceed a combined $100 million.

The sheer magnitude of destroyed roads and bridges still was being assessed Tuesday as the floodwaters continued to recede.

Those estimated repair bills do not include damage sustained by private homeowners and businesses, whose structures in some cases were literally torn from their foundations or incurred internal flooding damage that may be beyond repair.

 Gov. Ned Lamont’s official declaration of a state of emergency is expected to pave the way for federal assistance in what is expected to be a lengthy recovery.

Lamont took the first step, seeking help for towns, on Tuesday. The governor’s office said Lamont would be seeking further disaster declarations that would open the door for individual assistance as well.

Middlebury First Selectman Edmond St John said if President Joe Biden declares the areas a national disaster area, the door opens for towns like Oxford and Southbury to seek federal monies through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

St. John said FEMA is designed to help both towns and individual homeowners, but noted that all parties are responsible for documenting their individual situations. St. John said homeowners and municipalities are required to first contact their individual insurance companies.

According to FEMA’s guidelines, an individual homeowner may only seek reimbursement for the uninsured damage to their home.

FEMA will cover structure damage, but not damage to a yard, and cleanup of fallen trees is not covered.

St. John said the federal government has created a set of criteria that need to be met in terms of “certain levels of destruction.” St. John said the process can be lengthy and he urged towns and individual homeowners to document everything, including photos and GPS coordinates, to ensure their claims are considered.

“People have been calling like crazy asking what we can do to help. All we can tell them is to document whatever damage they have and then we will see what happens,” said Betsy Rosa of the Southbury first selectman’s office.

Damage covered by a homeowner’s insurance is not eligible to be covered. Businesses can include economic injury not included in their insurance coverage.

St. John said the FEMA approval process is lengthy and said it could be several months before the agency even decides whether or not it is willing to help.

In 2018, Southbury received about $3 million in FEMA reimbursements after a tornado twisted its way through town.

The estimated cost this time around, town officials say, speaks to the amount of widespread damage caused by Sunday’s historic event.

Route 6 will be closed for a month, Woodbury say

STEVE BIGHAM

WOODBURY – The town’s flood-damaged section of Route 6 could be closed for a month, First Selectman Barbara K. Perkinson said Tuesday.

The damaged area is near Constantine’s Restaurant, 1143 Main St. South, and the closure impacts the main route between Woodbury and Southbury.

With no direct routes nearby, a longer and more complicated detour will be required. The closure has been made more difficult because Transylvania Road, a secondary accessway between Southbury and Woodbury, also is closed near the Woodlake community.

Deb Carlton, who works in the first selectman’s office, said she’s received numerous calls from people asking for alternative routes.

“You either have to go up and over Grassy Hill Road and then to Southbury and I-84 that way, or head up (Old) Ben Sherman (Hill Road) to Pomperaug High School and pick up the highway there,” Carlton said.

Sunday’s flooding also will impact Route 67 near Community House Park in Southbury, a main road toward Oxford. That will be closed for the near future, as will additional sections of Route 67 at multiple points in Oxford. The Route 67 closures have been mitigated by being able to use Community House Road in Southbury and Route 142 in Oxford as detours.

How can Connecticut prepare for a 1,000-year flood? It can't, but strategy is changing

Jordan Nathaniel Fenster

Sunday's storms have been described in many ways: a rain bomb, training storms, flash floods.

And then there is 1,000-year flood.

The devastating storm that flooded parts of Connecticut and swept away roads was far more than infrastructure could handle. Twelve-plus inches of rain fell in a short period, or three months worth of rain for the state.

But what exactly is a 1,000-year flood? No, it's not a flood that happens once only every 1,000 years, but instead a flood that has a one in 1,000 chance of happening in any given year, as the U.S. Geological Survey explained. That calculation — how often flooding events are likely to happen, is part of how flood risk maps are derived.

New infrastructure, like bridges and culverts, are constructed with 100-year storms in mind and flood maps, which can also determine whether someone is required to have flood insurance or whether construction is even allowed. 

But there is an inherent problem in the 100-year flood calculation, let alone the 1,000-year flood, according to David Kooris. Those calculations are “based on the last several decades or several years of data, and it's exclusively rear-mirror-looking.”

Kooris is now head of the state’s Municipal Redevelopment Authority but he’s previously held posts that specifically dealt with issues of climate resilience. He was, for example, director of resilience for the Department of Housing and director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development for the city of Bridgeport.

He said people “very often misunderstand” the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps, assuming it is “prospective forecasting of what people should be prepared for in the future, when that is not it at all.”

“If they were updated in 2013 that means it's based on data from like 2011 which means it's based on the information of the storms that happened in the early 2000s,” he said. “It really doesn't say anything about what the likely 1 percent storm risk is in 2020, let alone 2030.”

Response vs. forecast

Looking at the storms of the past is not the only way to calculate flood risk. “The other is using climate models to try and project what's going to happen in the future,” according to James O'Donnell, executive director of the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (known as CIRCA) at UConn.

FEMA’s mandate has always been a disaster response, and “FEMA is pretty good at that,” he said. “The investment they've made in risk reduction is limited, and it's only really begun in the last five to 10 years.”

As a result, “it's been found in the last couple of decades that the places that are getting flooded are not always in areas which FEMA has identified as flood zones,” O'Donnell said.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to plan. It just requires investment, and no small amount. “Mapping the whole country takes a long time and a lot of money and precipitation statistics seem to have changed in the last couple of decades, even if all the flood zones had been accurately mapped a decade ago.”

In Connecticut, O’Donnell and his colleagues have been using technology known as lidar, light detection and ranging, to create accurate flood forecasts in some Connecticut cities.

“For a town like Danbury or Mystic, we can extract that data and make a very, very careful assessment of what the altitudes are of buildings and roads, and then compare that to what we expect flood water levels to be,” he said. “Then we can map very precisely, within a few meters horizontally, like, which parking lots will be flooded, and which buildings will be flooded. But that takes quite a lot of manpower and the investment of very detailed models and data analysis to do that.”

Once that analysis is complete, it then takes resources to upgrade those at-risk areas. Even the properties that were submerged on Sunday may not be upgraded. FEMA pays only to repair damaged infrastructure to its pre-storm conditions. 

“They regard any changes to the elevation as an upgrade,” O’Donnell said. “Then that makes a project ineligible. The same is true with some road levels, road repairs.”

Intensity vs. frequency

Part of the problem is that it’s not just a matter of more rainfall, the basic number of inches, but a question of how many inches of rain fell over how short a period of time. “Rain bombs,” as Gov. Ned Lamont termed extreme rain events, are phenomenons O'Donnell said are getting more likely.

While weather prediction is difficult, “It's pretty clear that over the last decade or so that there are more higher rainfall-rate storms than in the previous several decades,” he said.

Climate models, O’Donnell explained, are global in scope, and “the spatial resolution of these climate models is not adequate to predict that rainfall like occurred last weekend.”

Some of those models show more rain in Connecticut. Others show less rain in Connecticut’s future. For policy change to occur, O’Donnell said it helps for all models to show similar outcomes.

“Sea level rise, for example, all models show water levels going up. That's actionable, and the state has mandated changes to regulations in light of that,” he said “We're trying to assess whether or not models now are providing actionable information for precipitation changes.”

Even if the hurdles of prediction and funding for upgrades are overcome, Kooris said it may not be feasible to plan for such high intensity rain events that occur in such a short time period. 

When Kooris was working in Bridgeport, he said much of the conversation was “around the climate modeling and the indication that we were going to be looking at increasing storm intensity rather than frequency.” 

“It might not rain as much, but when it did, it would burst of extreme rainfall,” he said. “So much of our infrastructure is just not designed, and I'm going to maybe even venture to say maybe it can't be designed, for these extremes, dry 99 percent of the time, but then sizing it for the sporadic but extreme and more common rain events,means that you're building it to a degree that may not even be feasible in a lot of places.”

Norwich commission supports closing part of Lawler Lane to accommodate development

Claire Bessette

Norwich ― A plan to close a portion of Lawler Lane to allow for future development in the new Occum Industrial Center cleared its first hurdle Tuesday with support by the city planning commission.

The land on both sides of the road is owned by the Norwich Community Development Corp. and is part of the Occum Industrial Center.

The planning commission in January approved a 12-lot commercial subdivision for the industrial park.

The City Council has scheduled a public hearing on Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. on a resolution to close that portion of the road and create two cul-de-sacs on the remaining open portions of the road.

City and NCDC officials have said there is a developer interested in the Lawler Lane land but have not identified the party or the type of proposed development.

Neighbors in the vicinity of the new 384-acre Occum Industrial Center off Interstate 395, Exit 18 have opposed the proposed development, calling it out of character with the rural residential area in Occum.

NCDC purchased the land for $3.55 million from the previous owners, whose plan for a golf resort and condominium development fell through in the mid-2000s.

NCDC has received an $11.3 million state grant to build an industrial park access road from Route 97 adjacent to the Exit 18 ramp to the lots located at the proposed discontinued Lawler Lane area. Industrial development would have no access to the residential portions of Lawler Lane on either side of the land.

NCDC President Kevin Brown said construction on the industrial access road is slated to begin next spring.

Several residents spoke during general public comment at Monday’s council meeting, expressing concerns about public safety and longer travel times to schools and local businesses with the road closure.

Susan Jacobson of 256 Lawler Lane, the closest resident, said her biggest concern was about how long it would take for emergency services to reach the homes at the disconnected far end of Lawler Lane and Scotland Road. She also said she uses Lawler Lane to go to Occum businesses and the Occum park almost every day.

Without information about the planned development, she said she does not know how it might impact her property. She said she is concerned about water runoff and the type of proposed development.

Frederick Browning of 671 Scotland Road, who represents a group of residents opposed to the Occum Industrial Center, said residents are concerned about emergency services access to Scotland Road, school bus routes and access to Taftville if Lawler Lane is closed.

Browning said closing Lawler Lane at the industrial park property would address residents’ desire to keep industrial traffic off Lawler Lane. But he repeated requests residents have made in the past to enact buffer zones of at least 150 feet between any development and residences and to restrict building height.

Jeffrey Blayman of 216 Hamilton Ave. said he understands why Lawler Lane residents are concerned about the potential development. But he said the city needs to increase the tax base, and it is understandable how major proposed development might require movement of a road.

“I would say, the Lawler Lane thing, put it to bed. Build something new,” Blayman said. “Create industry and let’s have something else to benefit all of us and our taxes here in Norwich.”

During Tuesday’s brief discussion by the Commission on the City Plan, Deanna Rhodes, director of planning and neighborhood services, said the proposed road closure has been reviewed by the police and fire departments. The planning office did not have reports from emergency services, but emergency services access would be addressed as part of any future review of a proposed development for the site.

The site development plan would need to address how emergency vehicles would access the property and potentially how they could exit the industrial park directly to the residential areas via restricted gates.

The planning commission cited the Plan of Conservation and Development’s goal of encouraging economic development and its support of the Occum Industrial Center as reasons for supporting the Lawler Lane road closure.

Kooris resigns as Port Authority board chairman, will remain member

John Penney

Old Saybrook ― David Kooris, chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority’s Board of Directors and the public face of the often-controversial State Pier reconstruction project, resigned his leadership post on Tuesday but will remain a board member.

Kooris’ announcement came at the conclusion of the board’s regularly scheduled meeting in Old Saybrook that also marked the last meeting for interim Executive Director Ulysses B. Hammond before his retirement on Friday.

Paul Whitescarver, a retired U.S. Navy submarine captain and executive director of the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region, was selected by the port authority board to succeed Kooris as chairman.

“I’m excited to take the helm of the Authority’s Board to invest in the infrastructure so crucial to the State’s blue economy,” Whitescarver said, in a news release. “I commend David Kooris for his hard work these last five years and thank him for continuing to work with us as a continuing member of our Board.”

Kooris, who in July was named executive director of the newly established Connecticut Municipal Redevelopment Authority, was alternately praised and pilloried during a five-year tenure that included an acting chairman appointment in 2019 that led to his re-appointment in 2020 by Gov. Ned Lamont.

“I put my confidence in David Kooris when I took office and the Port Authority needed a new direction,” Lamont said in a prepared statement. “He delivered what I and the public asked of him, and we owe him a debt of gratitude for his volunteer service.”

Kooris said the combination of a new job and his tenure as board leader led to his decision.

“It’s been five years and that’s enough,” he said. “The major goals I set out to accomplish have been completed, whether repositioning the authority’s policies and procedures or the work at (State Pier.) I’m not leaving the board ― at least until the end of the year, though I might stay on further.”

Kooris was lauded for his role in transforming New London’s State Pier into an offshore wind assembly terminal but was also a frequent target of project opponents and lawmakers angered over cost overruns, ethics fines and a criminal investigation.

The Danish alternative energy company Ørsted, in collaboration with Eversource Energy, already has completed its first State Pier wind turbine project, South Fork Wind, and has begun its second, the 65-turbine Revolution Wind project.

Huge overruns sent project costs spiraling from an initial estimate of $93 million to more than $300 million, and the port authority itself was under investigation for a series of questionable inside deals that Attorney General William Tong determined earlier this year were not part of a broader criminal conspiracy.

The port authority issued a news release that said Kooris “inherited an agency that had been wracked by criticism for the handling of its operations and several instances of questionable spending and ethical lapses,” but worked with the state Office of Policy and Management to overhaul internal rules.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Kooris noted the authority finished last year with a $2.1 million operating surplus while Hammond announced the last few items on the State Pier reconstruction punch list are slated to be complete next month.

The port authority has had three consecutive audits by state and independent auditors that found no problems.

Praising “bone-deep” commitment

Tuesday’s meeting turned into an extended farewell for Hammond, who was appointed interim executive director by the board in 2022. State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, presented an emotional Hammond with a General Assembly citation praising the former Connecticut College administrator for his years of public service.

A similar proclamation was presented by Norwich City Council President Pro Tempore Joseph DeLucia, who said the city was deeply appreciative of Hammond’s “bone-deep” commitment to his job and his efforts in helping secure a $1.5 million Small Harbor Improvements Projects grant for new handicap accessible fishing docks at Howard T. Brown Memorial Park.

Hammond, who at times wiped away tears while praising his staffers, said it was his “pleasure and honor” to have played a role in the State Pier transformation.

Hammond and Kooris spoke of a partnership they said was based on mutual respect and complementary personalities. Kooris conceded Hammond came on during an unsettled period for the authority.

“And I’m sure it looked a little unnerving from the outside,” Kooris said.

$4M rail project proposed on Danbury branch in Bethel, Wilton: 'Stabilize embankments'

Kendra Baker

Community members will get an opportunity later this month to learn about and provide feedback on a roughly $4 million track and slope stabilization project proposed for Bethel and Wilton sections on the Danbury branch of the Metro-North Railroad.

The state Department of Transportation will hold a virtual public information meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 29, when residents can provide comments and ask questions about the proposed improvement project.

“The purpose of the project is to stabilize the embankment slopes along the Metro-North Railroad Danbury Branch by performing track profile modifications and track drainage improvements, including proposed cross-culverts,” DOT Project Manager Gregory Funk said in a statement. 

Members of the public are encouraged to attend the virtual meeting, noting that feedback provided during it will be considered for design of the project, Funk said. Construction is expected to begin in 2026, with no right-of-way impacts anticipated during the process.

With a $4 million estimated construction cost, the project is expected to be undertaken with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state funds, according to the DOT. Plans for the project can be viewed at https://bit.ly/DOTProject0302-0023.

Draft renderings show the project would include work on a section of track along the Sympaug Pond in Bethel, as well as a stretch of track in Wilton that runs from the area of the town’s substation to about one-tenth of a mile north of the Route 7 and Pimpewaug Road intersection.

The Aug. 29 public information meeting on the project will start with a presentation by DOT and be immediately followed by a question-and-answer session. 

The meeting will take place via Zoom and will also be live-streamed on the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s YouTube channel. Registration is required for Zoom access, but no registration is required to watch the meeting through YouTube.

A recording of the meeting will also be posted immediately afterward at http://portal.ct.gov/ctdotVPIMarchive.

There will be a two-week public comment period after the Aug. 29 meeting, during which members of the public can submit comments and questions about the project to DOTProject0302-0023@ct.gov or 860-594-2020. Those who do are asked to reference “State Project No. 0302-0023” in their email or voicemails.

Further information on accessing the virtual meeting, as well as ways to provide comments and ask questions, can be found at http://portal.ct.gov/DOTDanburyTrack0302-0023.

Construction begins on new townhouse community in Bloomfield

Andrew Larson

Construction on a new 29-residence townhouse community in Bloomfield began last week. 

The community, called Abby Court, will contain seven triplex and four duplex buildings. The homes are on a 9.5-acre property at 1120 Blue Hills Ave.

The developer is Rehoboth Court LLC, an affiliate of T & M Building Co. Inc. of Torrington. The road construction contractor is Compass Enterprises of Simsbury.

The development will contain three styles of homes: a 1,971-square-foot design called the Amber; a 2,192 square-foot design called the Beryl; and a 1,985-square-foot design called the Coral.

Each residence will have three bedrooms and two and one-half baths. The Amber and Beryl each have a one-car attached garage. The Coral has a two-car attached garage.

The kitchen and living areas will be located on the main level of each residence. The kitchens will feature stainless steel appliances, stone countertops, extra-tall wood cabinets, an island area with seating, along with a walk-in pantry.

Also, there will be an upper-level loft in each residence, which can be furnished as a home office, children’s playroom or other use.

The master suite will be located on the second floor of each home. It will feature a walk-in closet and double-sink vanity.

Each home will have two guest rooms with a shared full bathroom. The second level also has a laundry closet with a side-by-side washer and dryer, and a linen closet.

Abby Court is near Interstate 91 and is less than a 15-minute drive from Bradley International Airport. 

The town celebrated a groundbreaking for the project on Aug. 7 with members of the Town Council, construction contractors and the developers. Bonnie Weiner, the widow of Abby Weiner, after whom the community is named, was also there.

Abby Weiner, who was born in Romania, survived the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps during the Holocaust and immigrated to the United States.

He was a sought-after speaker and was active in the Jewish community in West Hartford. Weiner died in 2019 at the age of 89.

Residences are expected to be available for rent next year. For more information about Abby Court, call 860-489-9229 or email townhomeleasing@mirabelct.com.

Middletown voters to decide $59 million bond referendum for new school, emergency dispatch center

Cassandra Day

MIDDLETOWN — City leaders voted earlier this week to send a $59 million, two-question bond referendum to voters in November to pay for the construction of a new 911 dispatch center and reconstruction of a 100-year-old North End neighborhood school.

Common Council members met Aug. 19 to hear presentations on both proposals: a $48.9 million renovation and expansion of Macdonough Elementary School on the existing property at 66 Spring St. and $10 million rebuild of the tiny, one-room public safety office at the Cross Street firehouse.

The latter would move to the emergency operations facility at 499 Mile Lane and co-located with the old U.S. Army Reserve Center.

Some 66 percent of the cost of building a new Macdonough would be reimbursable by the state, Middletown Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Vázquez Matos said at the outset of the meeting.

Macdonough, whose majority of students walk to school, is also an intradistrict STEM school with a waiting list.

The circa 1928 building is on its last legs, Vázquez Matos told council members. "For a century, Macdonough has stood as a beacon of learning in our community and nurtured generations of children. 

"Time, as it does with all things, has taken its toll: the crumbling bricks, the deteriorating windows, and the antiquated systems tell a story of a building that has served us well, but is now crying out for our help," Vázquez Matos said.

He went on to describe what many saw during a recent tour of the building: “outdated plumbing and electrical systems that struggle to meet modern educational needs … a heating system that barely copes with Connecticut winters,” no air conditioning, which makes learning “nearly impossible” on hot days, and an office “deep within the building” rather than at the entrance, where it could “better protect and serve our children."

The issue, the superintendent added, “isn't just what Macdonough lacks, but what it could be.”

He called Macdonough the “cornerstone of our community’s future,” and urged the council to “act now” to take advantage of the favorable state reimbursement to construct a new facility “for a fraction of the full cost.”

Michael Scott, from TSKP Studio architects of Hartford, presented the results of a feasibility study. The proposed new school could serve almost 350 students instead of the current 230, he said.

TSKP also designed Beman Middle School, which opened in 2021.

The grade school, which is “structurally sound,” even after a century, would retain its current footprint and facade and include many modern features, including a makerspace, Scott explained.

Two additions, the cafeteria and gym, built in the 1970s and 1980s, he said, haven’t fared so well, and have had “persisting and pressing problems with the roof,” which leaks.

The boiler, mechanical and electrical systems, temperature controls and other elements need to be entirely replaced, Scott said.

The structure is oriented north/south, he added, but would work best in terms of maximizing the times it is hit by the sun and cooled by the shade by orienting it east/west.

Councilman Grady Faulkner weighed in on Macdonough. "I like what I heard tonight on this one,” he said. 

Every time he has visited the primary school, Faulkner said, “it just felt like family. If we can multiply that on a couple other schools, this city is going to rock it.” 

Considering the “phenomenal” state reimbursement rate, Council President Gene Nocera said, “the time is now. … The needs are clear. To move into the future, we have to make bold decisions,” he explained.

The motion passed 11-1 with Councilman Anthony Mangiafico the only dissenter.

The feasibility study for Central Communications, which also handles calls for Portland, was paid for with ARPA funds, according to Director Wayne Bartolotta. 

With continual advancements in technology, which requires a great deal of space, and the volume of emergency calls on the rise, Bartolotta said, the city requires a larger, dedicated space to operate effectively.

It is also essential that it be a secure facility, he added.

When the 911 center was first located in the Cross Street firehouse, the director said, "everybody knew the operation of that center wasn't going to last forever.”

Its life was estimated at 20 years, he said. "We're going 25 years now. More than the cracks are starting to show.”

The new facility is projected to last as long as 50 years.

Since 2017, for police, fire and ambulance services, there has been a 32 percent increase in 911 calls and 34 percent rise in incidents, explained Bartolotta, who anticipates these figures will continue to increase.

Bartolotta said space for Central Communications is "pathetic” and the lack of room for radio, IT, telephone and other equipment is "horrendous."

He showed photographs of rooms jam-packed with mechanicals, wires and other equipment.

Councilwoman Jeanette Blackwell spoke ahead of the 911 center vote.

“The space is not conducive for the important work that needs to be done,” she said. "When you think about the trauma associated with taking those lifesaving calls 24/7, the space is in no way adequate.”

The measure was approved unanimously.

To watch the meeting video, go to facebook.com.

Work to begin again on Norwalk's 'Tyvek temple;' apartments are part of Wall Street revitalization

Katherine Lutge

NORWALK — It’s finally happening: The so-called "Tyvek temple" on Wall Street has secured financing and construction will begin again after more than a decade on hold to complete a six-story mixed-income apartment building.

“Getting the green light to begin construction after so many years of preparation is always the best time for everyone who works on a project like Wall Street Place,” said Todd D. McClutchy, president of JHM Financial Group, which is managing this redevelopment project. “We know this development will play a large part in the ongoing renaissance of Norwalk’s Wall Street district. And we truly appreciate the community’s support, the city’s guidance and the professionalism of everyone involved.”

The project was halted during the Great Recession under the former developer, POKO-IWSR Managers When POKO CEO Kenneth Olson died in 2017, further delays ensued.

The original project’s property was split between two owners, Jason Milligan and Wall Street Recap Associates. The city challenged the property’s sale to Milligan, claiming it violated a Land Disposition Agreement. That legal entanglement was settled in April 2023, leaving the path clear for both Milligan and Wall Street Recap Associates to begin development.

“After many delays outside of our control that postponed the construction of this project, I want to thank my team for their continued persistence over many years to make sure the Wall Street Place project finally got over the finish line,” Mayor Harry Rilling said. “The completion of this project will be a significant piece of the puzzle in revitalizing this historic downtown area after decades of inaction and stalling on what was once a vibrant downtown before the 1955 flood.”

Throughout the years, the large half-constructed building at 61 Wall St. wrapped with the Tyvek covering has been an eyesore in the Wall Street neighborhood.

“Today is a long time coming, but ‘The Year of Wall Street’ has finally arrived,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “I have been working on getting the Wall Street project moving, with the help of countless individuals, for almost my entire legislative career. The fits and starts have been frustrating for so many, but today we are finally seeing progress that will ultimately be transformative for the area.”

With the recent modifications to the Land Disposition Agreement between Wall Street Recap Associates and the city, financing for the 155-unit mixed-income apartment building was secured through Citi Bank and Bank of America, according to the amended LDA documents.

When the entire project is complete, there will be two apartment buildings: one at 61 Wall St. with 105 units, and one at 17 Isaacs withe 50 units. All of the apartments will be for residents making between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income. In all, there will be 155 apartment units, nearly 200 parking spaces and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.

“Wall Street Place will be a beautiful addition to a unique part of the city and will help define and improve the local economic landscape,” McClutchy said.

The timing of this project moving forward coincides with a $27 million investment by the city of Norwalk to improve the streetscapes in the Wall Street neighborhood.

“Through several smart infrastructure projects in the works thanks to state and federal funding, we are determined to increase crosswalks, sidewalks, lighting, and more to help grow our local economy, sustain our small business community, and make a lasting impact on the future of Wall Street,” Rilling said. “In the coming weeks, we will begin the first of these projects, which will transform Wall Street and East Wall Street, between Main Street and Brook Street, to make it safer for pedestrians.”