CT Construction Digest Wednesday December 15, 2021
Demolition begins to make way for 40 more affordable units in New Canaan
Grace Duffield
NEW CANAAN — The town is expected to add 40 more affordable housing units to its inventory after demolition has started on the old Canaan Parish complex this week.
In place of the old Canaan Parish will be a second multifamily building offering affordable housing units, known as the South building, to parallel the North building that was erected in September. It expected to be completed “around the end of October 2022,” said Scott Hobbs, chairman of the New Canaan Housing Authority on Monday. He added that he hopes the foundation work will begin in January.
Tenants from the old buildings moved into the new 60-unit North building this fall, which is one of two that will replace the 10 structures at Canaan Parish on 186 Lakeview Ave. The new building will have a total of 100 units up from the 60 that Canaan Parish offered. The affordable housing stock in town generally have also been increasing. Nearby Millport Apartments increased from 40 units during WWII to now house 113 units.
The new Canaan Parish buildings will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Hobbs said that the buildings will have management offices and a tenant common space.
At prior public meetings where building plans were disclosed, proponents of the project said that additional outdoor space was needed as the only place children were afforded space to play was in the parking lot.
Hobbs said that “supply chain disruptions are still very common and we can expect to have spot delays.” The North building was completed one month later than expected due to supply chain delays. AP Construction, the contracted company, “has worked hard to order as much as possible as early as possible to try to minimize impact,” Hobbs said.
The new building will also offer “designated affordable units under Connecticut rules” as opposed to the federally funded Section 8 housing that the first building offered, the Housing Authority chairman said.
Tenants of the 60 prior Canaan Parish units are set to receive vouchers to be used for rent towards their new units through Section 8, the federal government's program that assists low-income families, the elderly and the disabled to obtain safe and sanitary housing, according to Hobbs.
Through the federal program, tenants pay “one-third of their income for housing, then the federal government pays the difference between this amount and market rents,” Hobbs explained. “These were transferred to the new project and will remain with the North building.”
The vouchers are funded by the federal Housing and Urban Development and are administered in the state by over 40 public housing agencies.
In the South building, renters will pay “one-third of a percentage of median area income,” which is “roughly (all of) Fairfield County,” towards rent, Hobbs said. “For this project, we set the rents at 60 percent of median area income. The state helps fund these sorts of projects through tax credit sales for around four percent of the project costs.”
The overall project is being financed through a Federal Housing Administration mortgage, Hobbs explained. “It does come with some bureaucratic strings attached, which we comply with.”
As construction progresses, AP Construction “will work on site elements with the intent of finishing as much as possible as early as possible,” Hobbs said.
Danbury paved more than 21 miles of road this year
DANBURY — The city paved more than 21 miles of road this construction season.
“It’s been a pretty remarkable year,” Antonio Iadarola, the city’s public works director and engineer, told City Council last week. “I think this is probably the most amount of paving that is probably ever been done in the city of Danbury.”
The city spent just under $7 million on paving, with the city implenting a paving restoration program this year, he said. About 13 miles of road were milled or reclaimed, while about 7.42 miles were treated with cape sealing, he said. Over a mile of in-house paving was completed, he said.
Cape sealing is a way “to protect our roads and try to extend the longevity of our road,” Iadarola said.
“Usually we get another 10 years out of road once we do that,” he said.
In the spring, Iadarola had predicted the city would pave 12.3 miles of roadway, starting with Long Ridge Road, a pothole-ridden street off Mountainville Road that leads to Redding. That road is considered scenic, so it required an extensive approval process to pave, despite residents begging for the work to be completed.
Last year, City Council approved $18.5 million for road improvements, including paving, as part of a larger borrowing package.
After hazmat spill at Candlewood Lake Elementary site, Brookfield won’t shoulder cost or delays
BROOKFIELD — After a hazardous materials spill at the Candlewood Lake Elementary School construction site last Friday, the town does not anticipate any construction delays or clean-up costs associated with the accident.
A subcontractor’s pump truck, which was pumping concrete into the construction site, experienced a malfunction with one of its hoses that caused about 15 gallons of hydraulic fluid to leak out in the far northwest corner of the school construction site.
The subcontractor has already notified its insurance company and had put a deposit down for the environmental clean-up company, according to Brookfield Fire Chief Andrew Ellis.
“On the scale of things it was a very minor incident,” said Ellis, adding that this was a common type of accident at construction sites. “Hydraulic fluid is not a super hazardous, dangerous chemical. It’s just bad for the environment.”
As such, the focus has been on making sure local bodies of water and drainage systems are not affected by the spill. Will Healey, spokesperson for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the local fire department had been placing absorptive materials around a drainage system on site, and that there is no suspected impact to the drainage system, bodies of water, or drinking water sources.
Overall, DEEP deemed the environmental impact minimal, with no health-related hazards on-site. The department also noted that the contractor has been using a vacuum to remove and dispose of contaminated soil and material. About 20 tons of material have already been removed, Ellis reported, and he expects another 20 to be removed before the job is done.
DEEP was on site within 45 minutes after being notified of the incident on Friday.
Ellis reported that Moran Environmental Recovery was called in to work with the fire department late Friday night and on through the weekend.
“We were there ‘til probably 10 o’clock at night, Friday,” Ellis said.
Because the affected area is isolated in the back corner of the construction site, Ellis said regular construction has been able to continue while clean-up continues.
First Selectman Tara Carr, who began her term last week, was at the site early Monday to get a debrief on the situation and meet with involved parties. At that time, the vacuums were still hard at work in the muddy pits to clear the area of contaminated material.
“It’s really been such a collaborative effort,” Carr said. “We thank our lucky stars, safety has been paramount.”
Southington leaders say tax break vital to downtown development
Jesse Buchanan
SOUTHINGTON — Town officials say a tax break passed this week is the only way to encourage developers to build on the long-idle Ideal Forging site downtown.
The Greenway Commons project has been planned for more than a decade and calls for nearly 250 apartments and condominiums as well as retail space on Center Street.
The former factory site is contaminated with lead, oil and PCBs. A development company looking to buy it from the current owners said environmental cleanup will cost between $10 million and $13 million.
The number shocked some town officials who’d expected remediation to cost a few million dollars. Mike DelSanto, a town councilor and former Planning and Zoning Commission chairman, said he was “blown away” to hear that there was still oil collecting underground from an oil tank that has yet to be located.
“We never dreamed that the number would be that high,” DelSanto said of environmental work.
With such a high cost to a developer just get to clean up the property, DelSanto said the tax break was critical for activity there.
Tax abatement
Meridian Development Partners owns the former Ideal Forging site. The company is looking to sell the property to GR Realty, a Branford development company. Michael Massimino of GR Realty spoke to the council Monday about the project and requested inclusion in a tax abatement program.
The council unanimously agreed to the creation of a tax abatement for contaminated properties on Monday and also agreed to let Massimino apply for that abatement.
The abatement allows a developer reduced taxes after making improvements to a property.
The two main Greenway Commons properties are 217 and 167 Center St., property totaling nearly 14 acres. In 2019, Meridian Development paid more than $28,000 in taxes on the land.
If Massimino buys the property and develops it, he’ll continue paying taxes as if the property didn’t have buildings on it for 10 years or until the value of the abatement exceeds his cleanup costs.
Lou Perillo, the town’s economic development coordinator, said the abatement allows the town to keep its tax income the same while also encouraging development. If the land is cleaned and developed, the town will enjoy higher taxes at the end of the abatement period.
The value of the abatement will depend on how much the developed property is worth.
Massimino can apply for the tax break once he’s put up buildings. In addition to the $10 million to $13 million in cleanup costs, he’ll also inherit a $3 million state loan that Meridian used for initial cleanup.
Perillo said the costs are high to a developer and that the tax break is “without a doubt” the only way builders would consider the project.
“The numbers are just mind-boggling when you think about it,” Perillo said. “It sheds light on why it took so long to get a developer.”
Massimino told the council he’s been looking into the project for about a year. Calls to his company were not returned Tuesday.
Retail and residential
DelSanto and other town officials want a development downtown to include as much retail and commercial space as possible. As planning commission chairman, DelSanto had rejected proposals for a residential-only development at Greenway Commons.
“We’re hoping that this applicant is going to still move foward with at least some retail or commercial instead of all residential,” DelSanto said. “That remains to be seen.”
Town officials have said the retail component is important for the economic health of the downtown area.
Massimino said his company has an agreement to close on the property in April or sooner.
A proposal for six projects that would support offshore wind power in New London and Bridgeport is one of 60 finalists for the U.S. Economic Development Administration's $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
The EDA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Secretary Gina Raimondo announced the finalists Monday.
The lead organization for the set of six projects, called the Offshore Wind Industry Cluster, is the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region, or seCTer.
Each of the finalists is a coalition of partners, and the OWIC was among 60 finalists selected from a pool of 529 applicants, according to a news release from the EDA. Each finalist is getting about $500,000 to further develop the project and compete for Phase 2 of the challenge.
The second phase will award 20 to 30 coalitions between $25 million and $100 million each, with each coalition implementing between three and eight projects that support a certain sector. The deadline for this phase is March 15. The EDA said even if finalists don't get Phase 2 funding, the $500,000 will help them find new partners and funding sources.
SeCTer wrote in its application, "When combined with existing strengths in defense-based advanced manufacturing, available industrial land, nationally recognized equitable workforce development, and top research and higher education facilities, the OWIC will catalyze and diversify the region's economy to establish southern New England as the leading global center of Blue Economy."
The project would be centered in southeastern Connecticut, with a "spoke" in Bridgeport, and opportunities to collaborate with Rhode Island and Massachusetts in Phase 2.
The application noted that southeastern Connecticut "is heavily dependent on hospitality which was devastated by the pandemic," and that an average annual wage for hospitality in the region is $31,008 while an average manufacturing job pays $106,743. The goal of the proposal is to create programming "to move as many marginalized residents as possible from low wage jobs to manufacturing careers."
The proposal is for five coalition members to work on six projects.
The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology would host forums and survey offshore wind developers to identify gaps in the regional supply chain, information CCAT would use to encourage companies to expand operations to make additional parts.
The Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments' project is to determine "feasible sites for the Thames River Offshore Epicenter, a collection of industrial sites along the shoreline and the Thames River." Phase 2 would involve requesting funds for environmental studies.
The third project is the Norwich Community Development Corporation's work on a second business park in the city.
The fourth project is for the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board to replicate its Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative, developed to meet the workforce needs of Electric Boat and its suppliers for ramped up submarine production, as the Offshore Wind Pipeline Initiative.
The last two projects are from the University of Connecticut. One is a proposed 48,000-square-foot Blue Tech Research and Development Center at UConn Avery Point, and the other is to co-locate a business incubator within the R&D center.
This all comes amid the $235 million redevelopment of State Pier in New London, which seCTer said is expected to create 400 construction jobs and 80 to 120 post-construction jobs.
"The green economy is upon us, and we really need to do something about it, and I'm just excited for Connecticut to be a part of it," said seCTer Executive Director Paul Whitescarver, who started his role in October, just a few weeks before seCTer submitted its application. Whitescarver is a retired Navy captain and former commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base in Groton.
He said some of the projects for Phase 1 are three years long while others are shorter.
"This is big news for eastern Connecticut's emerging wind energy manufacturing sector," Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said in a news release from seCTer. "Congress voted to invest in America's workforce and supply chain at a level we haven't seen in generations."
Courtney said the selection as a finalist reflects collaboration over the past few years on undersea logistics and investments in offshore wind capability, and that he "will continue to do all I can to support their application."
The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is part of a set of EDA programs that will distribute $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding.
Raimondo said in a news release that the challenge "aims to supercharge local economies and increase American competitiveness around the globe." Alejandra Y. Castillo, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, said coalitions include government, nonprofits, academia and others.
Castillo, who was in Connecticut less than two weeks ago for the Connecticut Economic Development Summit, said these projects "will help revitalize local economies and tackle our biggest challenges related to climate change, manufacturing, supply chains and more."
Finalists are spread across 45 states and Puerto Rico, and the OWIC is the only one of the four proposals submitted from Connecticut to become a finalist. The EDA noted that 12 finalists across the country are in coal communities.
Hartford City Council advances Hilton Hotel conversion plan as union workers balk at deal
Hartford’s City Council on Monday advanced plans for converting portions of the downtown Hilton Hotel into apartments to one of its committees as unionized hotel workers pushed back against the proposal.
“If the Council approves the plan as it currently stands then most of us will lose our jobs forever,” Kim Davis, a Hartford resident and 30-year employee at the hotel, told council members.
Randy Salvatore – developer of the ongoing “Downtown North” project – has partnered with the owners of the financially struggling hotel in a plan to convert more than half of the rooms into apartments. The Waterford Group, which owns the struggling hotel, plans to renovate the remaining rooms.
The deal depends on the City Council signing off on a restructuring of a land lease for the hotel grounds and millions of additional city and state assistance. The City Council would have to sign off on the terms of the deal.
Proponents of the deal say it is the only thing that will keep the hotel from failing, leaving the city devoid of hotel capacity needed to support the Connecticut Convention Center and XL Center. They also warn a failed hotel would fall into city hands, becoming a drain on city finances.
Salvatore says it would also be a black eye for a city that had been seeing growing development momentum. He worries about the impact on his nearby project, recently redubbed “North Crossing,” which aims to create about 1,000 apartments, along with a grocery store and new retail spaces near Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Members of the Local 217 -- UNITE HERE union have lobbied members of the council to slow down the approval process to ensure hotel workers are considered. The hotel once employed 150, but is down to 98 workers amid the pandemic, with another 32 on a recall list as jobs become available, according to the union.
“This deal requires about $11 million in public money,” said Ian Dunn, communications director for the union. “It is antithetical to commit that amount of public money and to put out city residents from jobs and risk their homes.”
The council, on Monday, agreed to forward the proposal to its Operations, Management, Budget & Government Accountability Committee and set a Dec. 20 public hearing.
Torrington council to hear request for more funds to finish school project
BRUNO MATARAZZO JR.
TORRINGTON — Escalating building material costs and an influx of students to the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic likely will mean a second referendum for the Torrington Middle/High School building project.
The City Council on Monday will hear a request from the school project building committee to begin the process of setting a referendum for an additional $20 million needed for the project, originally slated to cost $159.5 million.
The added money likely will continue to be reimbursed by the state at 85%, but that will need approval by the General Assembly in 2022.
The new project cost is $179.5 million and the additional funding will need voters’ approval, with at least 15% of city electors required to cast a ballot in a standalone referendum, according to the city charter.
“We all feel optimistic about it,” Mayor Elinor C. Carbone said. “Of course, we have to respect the process, and wait for all those various levels of approvals and reviews.”
Building committee officials and state Rep. Michelle L. Cook, D-Torrington, stressed the project will still cost less than when residents first approved it in November 2020. That’s because the state’s reimbursement increased from 62% to 85% following approval from the General Assembly earlier this year.
On November 2020, voters walked into the polls expecting taxpayers’ obligation to be $60.6 million for the $159.5 million project. After the announcement this past summer of the increased reimbursement, the taxpayers’ burden dropped to $23.9 million.
If voters approve the additional $20 million, city taxpayers will be on the hook for $26.9 million.
“Even though we’re spending an extra $20 million, it’s still significantly less than what it would have been to pay out had we not gotten the increase in reimbursement that I was able to pull off,” Cook said.
Ed Arum, co-chairman of the building committee, said an increase in student enrollment ramped up its projections for the building.
Torrington saw a number of new residents from the New York area during the pandemic and city schools felt the impact immediately. On the first day of school this year, high school enrollment jumped 10% to 980 students. In grades 7-12, 137 more students enrolled.
The state’s space standards for new schools is 172.7 square feet per student for an additional 23,661 square feet needed. At a cost of $525 per square foot, the total is $12.4 million, Arum noted.
In addition, building costs are increasing dramatically because of inflation and supply-chain issues.
David Cravanzola, construction manager for O&G Industries, told the building committee last month the cost of steel has risen 120% and aluminum framing 70% during a national supply shortage.
Board of Education Chairwoman Fiona Cappabianca said she’s hopeful “the community will see with the increased reimbursement from the state that the revised plan costs much less to taxpayers than the original referendum.”
“With the increased student enrollment and escalating material costs we want to retain our commitment to the taxpayers to keep seventh and eighth grade separate from high school, and ensure a building that corners have not been cut or subpar materials (used) that create future problems,” Cappabianca said. “In addition, it is imperative we have a building that our students fit in and offers the pathway space that will benefit Torrington for generations to come.”