The project is designed to create an aesthetically pleasing public space along the Derby-Shelton Bridge and provide an attractive gateway that is pedestrian and bicycle friendly to the downtown areas, according to Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments Executive Director Rick Dunne.

“This is a special bridge with tremendous historical significance,” said state Rep. Jason Perillo, Deputy House Republican Leader.

“As Shelton’s downtown sees continued private investment, improvements like this make these and future projects more attractive to investors, residents and visitors,” Perillo added. “This will become a new and beautiful gateway to Shelton over the Housatonic.”

Initial funding to get the project started was obtained through the efforts of Perillo and fellow state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria along with former state Reps. Themis Klarides and Linda Gentile.

“Without their efforts, it is doubtful the project would be built,” Mark Nielsen, NVCOG director of planning, said.

The project design was performed by AECOM under contract with NVCOG. Details include the replacement of bridge parapet walls, the removal of existing lighting and replacement with period-style light, colored LED “up-lighting” that will accent the archways and parapets from below the bridge, a second travel lane for traffic heading to Derby, new pavement and curbing, and the shifting of the travel lanes to accommodate wider sidewalks on the south side of the bridge and a cycle track.

The project marks the second major element of a three-part plan developed by the NVCOG to improve traffic flow and pedestrian experience connecting Derby and Shelton, Dunne said.

The final phase, Dunne added, is a complete reconstruction of Main and lower Elizabeth streets in Derby, which will be advertised for bid by July 2021. The Main Street project is expected to be completed in 2024.

The Derby-Shelton Bridge project will also offer connectivity with the existing Housatonic Riverwalk trail network in Shelton and the Naugatuck River Greenway in Derby. The project limits will extend from the Bridge Street intersection with Main Street in Derby to the west end of the Derby-Shelton Bridge and along the southeast ramp to Canal Street.

“We’re excited with the announcement of state’s contract award for this project,” Nielsen said. “Multiple public workshops were held in 2020 to ensure residents and stakeholders had an opportunity to provide input into the design. Several changes were made to plans because of comments we received, and the final result will benefit the Valley with an improved gateway into both cities.”

$10M, 122-room extended-stay hotel slated for Newington

Sean Teehan  ewington's Planning and Zoning Commission last week greenlit a $10 million proposal to build a four-story, 122-room extended-stay hotel on Cedar Street, near Central Connecticut State University.

The proposed hotel at 712 Cedar St. would be adjacent to Starbucks and the former National Welding site, and just across Route 9 from CCSU. It's also on the CTfastrak bus line.

The Commission last Wednesday approved a site plan for Gold Coast Properties CT 1, LLC, a limited liability corporation with a registered address in Miami. 

The developer of the project is Manchester-based Hayes-Kaufman Developers, which requested a 10-year, 40% tax abatement from the town, according to town council meeting minutes. The abatement is key to the project securing financing, meeting minutes said. 

The planning and zoning approval enables sitework to begin to prepare for laying foundation and the building, which would need further permitting from the town.

"They're more or less approved to start site construction," Newington Town Planner Renata Bertotti said Tuesday morning, noting they can start doing things like treating the ground to prevent erosion.

The project would create up to 250 construction jobs and 15 permanent jobs, meeting minutes said. 

On Tuesday, Bertotti said she thinks the location is primed for a hotel, considering business travelers would be on an easy commute via public transportation to Hartford, and that the site is close to CCSU.

"It is located near the bus station, and it's near [CCSU], so there probably will be parents who use that hotel," Bertotto. 

Raytheon markets 300 acres near Rentschler Field as potential logistics hub

Matt Pilon  300-acre plot of land adjacent to Rentschler Field and Pratt & Whitney’s East Hartford headquarters is on the market as a potential logistics hub space.

CBRE announced Tuesday that Pratt parent Raytheon Technologies Corp. has retained it to advise on selling the land, which consists mainly of a former airfield as well as outdoor retailer Cabela’s ground lease interest.

There’s no asking price listed.

It’s the same site where a developer previously pursued construction of a $105 million, 70-store shopping outlet center for about five years before abandoning the project in 2018.

CBRE is billing the property as the largest and most convenient development site available between New York and Boston, able to accommodate 2.3 million square feet.

In the age of COVID-19, ownership this time around appears to have settled on marketing the property for distribution purposes, rather than for retail, which has taken a major hit during the pandemic. CBRE is calling “the Logistics Center @ Rentschler Field.”

The distribution and warehouse market has been a bright spot during the pandemic, led by Amazon’s development in Windsor.

“We are excited about this opportunity and believe there will be significant interest from both developers and end users due to the site’s excellent central Connecticut location, immediate highway accessibility and access to a densely populated labor pool,” John McCormick and Chris Metcalfe of CBRE’s Hartford office said in a statement. “The site’s unique history as a former airfield will add an additional layer of character and attractiveness to the site.”

Despite pandemic, Seymour tearoom expands to Oxford

Michael Fornabaio  OXFORD — A quarry on the side of Route 67 has grown in five years into the Quarry Walk, a combined residential and retail development that is still welcoming tenants.

Among the most recent is the second location for Tea With Tracy, who opened a tearoom in Seymour’s Bank Street antiques district in 2011 and held a ribbon-cutting for their Quarry Walk shop on Friday, when the co-owners drew praise for following through in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were scared to death, and we’re still scared to death,” co-owner Tracy Tenpenny said during the ceremony, “but we’re hopeful. We want to have our parties again.”

The new space gives her and her husband, Joel, room to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and to host bigger events. They signed the lease three years ago in a different world: The pandemic has forced some changes but also allowed some time to work.

“This is heroic on the part of entrepreneurs like Tracy and Joel to step up and say we’re going to do it, this is our dream, we’re going to pursue it and now’s the time,” said Bill Purcell, president of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s amazing how this has developed in the past five years.”

Development started with Newtown Savings Bank out front, the likes of Market32 and Dollar Tree, a Five Guys restaurant and a Goodwill Center.

Two more rows of shops and dining establishments are moving in around a green on the northern side of the complex, with Griffin Physicians’ medical building between them at one end of the green. Apartments are under construction behind them with occupancy planned for this year.

“This is such a great location,” State Rep. David Labriola said. “Quarry Walk has become the heart of Oxford, and Tea With Tracy is going to become the heartbeat of Oxford.”

Tracy Tenpenny said Joel wanted to run a restaurant, and she wanted a tearoom. When they opened in Seymour in 2011, “I thought I won,” she joked, but Joel got a bit of a win with the new place. Evan Mansfield, who cooks with Joel Tenpenny in the kitchen, was instrumental in getting the second location finished over the summer, she said.

It’s reminiscent of the Seymour tearoom, manager Patty Cirillo said — the paint matches, for instance. But decorative touches make it a different setting.

“Joel and I had a vision for almost a bygone-era kind of thing,” Tracy Tenpenny said, “the linen, the crystal, the kind of dimmer lights.”

Oxford First Selectman George Temple liked it: “I look around, and this is really a classy, elegant place,”

When the residences open, the vision for a walkable mini-village will have come to fruition.

“People who’re right here, not looking to go anywhere: Everything’s here, cleaners, hair salons. We have the restaurants, also the ice cream place,” Tracy Tenpenny said.

“So many possibilities can happen. Branching into the dinners now, it helps with the night life that this community is trying to build. We’re happy to be a part of it.”

Cirillo said requests for events like showers and weddings are starting to come in, and that loyal Seymour customers have been excited for the chance.

Pandemic restrictions remain in place to limit them for now, but they’re open and serving in two locations.

“Maybe the most important point, thank them for their courage,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said during the ceremony. “In the middle of a pandemic and the deepest economic crisis in our lifetime, they are stepping forward to open a new location: That’s guts. That’s fortitude and courage.

“It’s also great service and product. People love it. They have great folks working for them, and that’s the other point that I would make. In this moment of crisis, we need to put people back to work, and that’s what they’re doing.”

Wall Street, public construction firms eager for Biden's infrastructure push

Joe Bousquin  

• Major Wall Street firms and publicly traded construction companies are eagerly awaiting President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better infrastructure plan, which he said he will detail in his first State of the Union address scheduled for Feb. 23.  
• Expectations for a multitrillion dollar initiative have already sent public construction companies’ stocks higher, as institutional investors and contractors that perform civil work signal their bullishness on the issue.  
• Major institutional investor Blackstone, the world’s largest manager of alternative assets, said on its recent earnings call it raised $14 billion for a fund tailored to invest in infrastructure, with deal activity accelerating in both the U.S. and Europe. “We could see more dollars into infrastructure, an area [in which] we haven't underwritten a lot of corporate activity or government activity,” said Jon Gray, the firm’s chief operating officer, during the call. “That could change with a big push by the government.”

The trend is developing as professional and individual investors alike game which publicly traded construction companies are likely to snare a windfall from Biden’s infrastructure push. While the plan is forthcoming, the president pegged it at as much as $2 trillion in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.

Construction companies, and their investors, have taken notice of that number.

"While the new administration is just getting started, we expect that bill to support the repair and expansion of existing highway and bridge systems," said David Constable, Fluor's CEO, during the company's strategy day presentation last week. "Fluor is well positioned to take part in this U.S. stimulus initiative."

The combined push from companies and investors has resulted in articles on stock-picking sites such as Seeking Alpha. One article listed Jacobs as a potential winner and another detailed Tutor Perini’s advantages, while noting that since the early 2000s, infrastructure spending has been markedly higher under Democratic administrations.

Tutor Perini, AECOM and Jacobs saw significant stock spikes Jan. 6, the day the presidential election results were certified and the results of the Georgia Senate race were called, giving Democrats control of Congress:

While former President Donald Trump, a real estate developer, had ambitions for a large-scale infrastructure spending bill, his efforts were largely hamstrung by Congress balking at the cost. Biden will similarly have hurdles to get approval of his plan, but with the House and Senate controlled by Democrats, even narrowly, business leaders think he has a better chance of success.

“For the first time in a long time, I feel really confident that this administration will definitely get the infrastructure spending going,” said Deborah Geideman, head of global international relations at Jacobs, during a virtual conference last week. “We also need to have some private-public partnerships and look at how to leverage that government funding.”

But the possibility of that happening can't come soon enough. Construction trade groups have noted that the industry is likely to suffer from weakening demand unless Congress and the Biden administration enact new recovery measures, including backfilling local construction budgets and passing new infrastructure funding.

“The near-term outlook for nonresidential construction is not especially optimistic,” Associated Builders and Contractors Chief Economist Anirban Basu said last week.

The Associated General Contractors of America said the new federal investments are needed to sustain construction employment levels in many parts of the country until private sector demand recovers.
 
“Even as they work out details on the latest coronavirus relief plan, Congress and the Biden administration need to start work on measures to rebuild the economy and recover lost jobs,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer, in a news release. “One of the most effective ways to help the newly unemployed will be to rebuild aging infrastructure and maintain state and local construction budgets.”

Biggest losers, winners of construction jobs by state

Joe Bousquin  

• Since the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic first emerged in the United States, Texas has lost more construction jobs (35,600) than other state, followed by New York (30,900), Florida (17,500) and New Jersey (16,700), according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
• Seasonally adjusted construction employment in December was lower than in February 2020 in 34 states, according to the analysis, with Vermont experiencing the largest percentage of jobs lost at 23%, or 3,400 positions.
• Fifteen states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs from February to December. Virginia added the most jobs (10,800), followed by Utah (7,000) and Alabama (6,100), which also had the highest percentage gain (6.4%).“While most states recorded construction employment gains in December, the pickup is likely to be temporary for many,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Participants in our association’s recent Hiring and Business Outlook Survey expect the dollar volume of most project types available to bid on to decline in 2021.”

  Indeed, in the group’s outlook survey of 1,300 contractors, respondents expected growth only for non-hospital healthcare such as clinics, testing and screening facilities and medical laboratories; warehouses; and water and sewer projects.

  AGC officials said demand for construction will continue to suffer until the coronavirus is under control and urged federal officials to enact measures to help stem additional job losses in the sector. These new measures should include new federal investments in infrastructure, backfilling depleted state and local construction budgets, and moving quickly to forgive Paycheck Protection Program loans issued last year.

  “Contractors are eager to save as many jobs as possible during the next several months on the expectation demand will return once the coronavirus comes under control,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Washington officials can help save countless construction careers by acting now to stabilize demand.”

• In its annual release on union membership, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of wage and salary construction workers with union membership declined from a little more than 1 million in 2019 to 993,000 in 2020, but the percentage increased slightly from 12.6% to 12.7%. The number of those represented by unions, including those under project labor agreements, was about 1.1 million in 2019 (13.6% of total workers) but decreased to just over 1 million in 2020. 
• As part of the report, the BLS also published data on union and nonunion construction wages and their year-over-year changes (see table below). Nonunion median weekly wages in 2019 were $868, almost 29% less than than the average union and union-affiliated wage but increased to $920 in 2020, almost 28% of their union and union-affiliated counterparts.
• Overall, there were fewer total wage and salary union members nationwide in 2020 when compared to 2019 — a decline of 2.2% to 14.3 million — but because of disproportionately larger coronavirus-related layoffs among nonunion workers, the percentage of workers in unions increased slightly by 0.5% to 10.8%. Self-employed workers were excluded from the report.

Union membership in all industries has decreased during the past decade from highs of 14.9% of workers in 2011 to 14.1% for union membership in 2013. However, that could change if President Joe Biden's administration follows through on its promise to create union jobs as part of a proposed $2 trillion infrastructure and energy plan. In addition, while he has not yet been confirmed, Biden has nominated Marty Walsh, former construction union leader and current mayor of Boston, for the position of Labor Secretary.

Bolstering the BLS's findings on nonunion wages versus those with union membership or affiliation, at least in the Chicago metro area, was a January report from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Collective bargaining agreements, according to the group, were instrumental in securing a typical union journeyworker wages commensurate with those of urban Illinois workers with bachelor's degrees, about $77,300.

The authors of the report also found that the $7.5 billion in wages as a result of CBAs contributed significantly to the local economy, about $2.2 billion in total activity. The study also found that the workers covered by CBAs enjoyed an 11% increase in wages, outpacing the 6% rate of inflation.