CT Construction Digest Wednesday July 14, 2021
Developer secures $180M loan for downtown project
The developer behind the new life science tower being built at 101 College St. in New Haven has secured a $180 million construction loan for the project.
CBRE Group Inc., a Dallas-based commercial real estate services and investment firm, announced it arranged the financing for the development.
Construction on the 101 College St. project began in June. Massachusetts-based developer Carter Winstanley’s new 10-story tower will have roughly 500,000 square feet of laboratory, research and meeting space.
The tower, which will take about two years to build, has already attracted tenants ‒ including Yale University and bioscience company Arvinas. BioLabs of Cambridge, which manages co-working space for life science startups, will run a new Yale-backed incubator in the building.
According to CBRE, a “large commercial bank” led the origination, with significant participation from Waterbury-based Webster Bank.
Bailey Hall, a senior communications specialist with CBRE, said CBRE could not disclose the name of the large commercial bank involved in the financing.
A CBRE team comprised of Heather Brown, Robert Borden and Grace Keating arranged the financing for Winstanley Enterprises and Harrison Street, a Chicago-based investment management firm.
Borden, senior vice president with CBRE, said the new tower continues to build on New Haven’s growing life sciences cluster.
“Winstanley’s continued commitment to the city and the significant investment by a world-class institutional investor such as Harrison Street, which has substantial life sciences expertise, are testaments to the quality of the project,” Borden said in the announcement.
Winstanley said 101 College St. is an “important next step” in Winstanley Enterprises’ long-term commitment to New Haven.
Mark Burkemper, senior managing director and head of North American transactions at Harrison Street, said the firm is pleased to partner with Winstanley.
“The transaction reflects Harrison Street’s commitment to supporting the life sciences sector,” Burkemper said.
Bridgeport to begin summer-long road project
BRIDGEPORT — Bridgeport is set to embark on a multi-month roadway maintenance project.
City officials announced July 12 that the Department of Public Facilities will begin milling and paving roads throughout Bridgeport this week. The milling involves grinding and removing the outermost layer of pavement, which leaves the road rough in the meantime. Work crews then lay down new asphalt on the milled sections.
The process will start on Wednesday, July 14 in the South End, run through various neighborhoods, and end in September in the North End.
The Department of Public Facilities will be putting up “No Parking” signs throughout the city ahead of the project. The temporary rules will be enforced starting 24 hours ahead of paving, and cars may be towed.
The city will also post “Detour” signs, and officials asked that drivers who may need additional time to reach their destinations plan ahead.
In a press release, the city urged residents to drive carefully and look out for raised structures, manhole covers, and rough edges or bumps at paving limits.
“We appreciate your patience while we make these improvements,” the release read.
Pam McLoughlin
ORANGE — The new housing will be part of a major “redevelopment of an underutilized parcel,” according to a local official.
The plan to build 72 apartments, along with office space and retail in the now-tattered Firelite Shopping Center has been approved by the Town Plan & Zoning Commission.
A representative for the developer has said they are aiming to complete the project within a year.
The land where the shopping center is situated was zoned previously to be a “Village Town Center,” a place where people of the community come together, but the interpretation of that is broad.
That was a sticking point for TPZC member Kevin Cornell, who said when the regulation was adopted the intent was to make the shopping center land a “community amenity.”
“At the end of the day it’s a very nice apartment building,” Cornell said. “While this tries, I just think it falls a little short for me.”
But other commission members interpreted the community aspect more widely, including Chairman Oscar Parente and members Paul Kaplan, Judy Smith and Tom Torrenti.
Parente said the shopping center has “gotten very hard to look at.”
He said while the proposal isn’t the River Walk once envisioned, the proposal does create a sense of community in that a crosswalk would be built across Old Tavern Road to CVS and there will be bicycle racks for bike parking. He said if a busy restaurant were to become a tenant, that would enhance the community aspect.
“It’s certainly a good start to create that walkability feel,” Parente said.
Kaplan said the parcel has been “underutilized” and the area will provide an area to congregate. He also noted the apartments would add to the town’s affordable housing portfolio.
“I think it’s a wonderful redevelopment of an underutilized parcel,” Kaplan said.
The developer made changes to the original plan to address concerns of commission members, including eliminating a 3,600-square-foot freestanding building that once housed a frozen yogurt cafe. The elimination of the building in the plan allowed for more parking. The developer also increased the number of trees and shrubs.
The approved plan calls for a three-story building building with 72 apartments, office and commercial space.
Attorney Marjorie Shansky said during the monthslong public hearing speaking for developer, Robert Sachs, that the goal is to create housing diversity, including for young professionals and empty-nesters.
Sachs sought a special use permit and site plan review for the 6.6-acre parcel in a prominent spot in town at 35 Old Tavern Road and 308 Race Brook Road.
Most commercial spaces in the plaza currently are empty, including the former Nuvita frozen yogurt building. Under the plan, the newly rehabilitated building facing Race Brook Road and housing a huge liquor store would remain the same.
The proposal is for a 143,000-square-foot, three-story building — dubbed Fireside Commons — with 72 apartments, retail and office space.
Smith said the architecture was “well-done,” and that she’s happy the free-standing building — which was to be rebuilt — is out of the mix and parking increased. Smith said a full retail complex would create more traffic than the approved mixed-use project.
“Does it meet the town center regulations to a T? Not really.” Smith said, noting she “struggled with it.” But added, “I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
Torrent said of making it the perfect town center that it would be difficult without a Green present.
“You can only do so much with that site,” he said. “I’m satisfied with it.”
The residential space will have 37 two-bedroom units and 35 one-bedroom units, and the plan is to have a courtyard in back with movable outdoor furniture, a fire pit and other amenities for residential and commercial tenants to share.
The first-floor dwelling units would be in back, with the first-floor commercial/office space in front, according to the plan, and the second and third floors would be for the apartments.
The overall space, according to a landscape architect for the developer, would be rich in trees and shrubbery where there is now a “sea” of pavement.
Wallingford acquires former 3M building for new police station
The Town of Wallingford has paid $1.8 million for a 44,400-square-foot office building that’s slated to be converted into a police station.
Wallingford bought the 9.2-acre property, which was previously leased by 3M Health Information Systems, on July 8 from 100 Barnes Rd LLC, a Southington-based entity controlled by Len Rossicone and Raymond Godbout, according to public records.
The purchase was approved by Wallingford town councilors back in April.
The single-story building, built in 1978 and renovated in 1993, features a cafeteria, gym, conference facility, 10-foot ceilings with skylights, restrooms with showers, loading platform and 222 parking spaces, according to a lease listing on LoopNet.
Councilors approved a $3.3 million borrowing to fund the property purchase and to commission an architectural and engineering design study for the renovation work, according to the Record Journal.
Converting the property into a police station is estimated to cost $23 million to $24 million, Chief William Wright told town councilors in April.
Housing nonprofit aims to raze, rebuild Hartford’s MLK Apts.
The nonprofit owner of a 64-apartment complex in Hartford’s Charter Oak neighborhood is seeking approvals to demolish the nine buildings at the site and rebuild a denser multifamily development with more than double the number of units.
Sheldon Oak Central, a Hartford-based community development corporation that has developed or holds ownership stakes in a dozen multifamily properties in the city, is partnering with Simsbury's Vesta Corp. to rebuild the 52-year-old Martin Luther King Apartments at 79 Van Block Ave.
Sheldon Oak Executive Director Emily Wolfe said Monday that the project would cost an estimated $50 million. Sheldon Oak has already received $4 million in financing from the state Bond Commission, and is pursuing a $30 million loan from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, as well as tax credit financing.
The existing buildings at MLK, built in 1969, are laid out in a zig-zag pattern on 7.3 acres. Plans for the reconstructed complex, filed recently with Hartford’s Planning & Zoning Commission, show 161 apartment units. Of those, 90 would be market rate, 30 would be low for-income residents and the remainder would cater to a range of income levels in between, Wolfe said.
The proposed complex is spread across 15 proposed new buildings in a new configuration, with one large L-shaped building at the corner of Van Block Avenue and Luis Ayala Lane and inner and outer rings of smaller buildings located closer to Osten Boulevard and Stonington Street.
Wolfe said the developers hope to break ground in early 2022. She residents would be offered relocation benefits, and that any resident who wishes to return to the rebuilt MLK Apartments when construction is complete will be able to do so.
The MLK Apartments are located near Colt Gateway, Coltsville National Historical Park and Dillon Stadium.
Representatives of Sheldon Oak are scheduled to appear before the P&Z commission on Tuesday evening for a public hearing on its requested zoning change and proposed master plan.
This story has been updated to include additional information from Sheldon Oak.
Under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Ned Lamont, the state will impose a new mileage-based fee on tractor-trailer trucks using Connecticut highways beginning in January 2023.
In an effort to support the state’s struggling Special Transportation Fund, the new law will assess a per-mile tax on big rig trucks which will scale with the weight of the vehicle. On the low end, the fee will be 2.5 cents per mile for trucks weighing between 26,000 and 28,000 pounds. The fee will scale as high as 17.5 cents per mile for trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds.
State fiscal analysts expect the mileage tax to raise around $90 million a year, although revenues may be reduced somewhat due to a change approved by lawmakers that exempts some trucks transporting milk.
During a floor debate last month in the House, Rep. Sean Scanlon, a Guilford Democrat who is co-chair of the Finance Committee, said the bill asked large truck operations to chip in to finance road repair.
“We’re asking them to pay a small fraction on behalf of the wear and tear that they do so that we can make sure that our roads and bridges are not just in a state of good repair but that we actually can do the kind of investments that we need to do to improve our economy and grow our state,” Scanlon said in June.
However, on Tuesday Joe Sculley, head of the Motor Transport Association of CT, said comparable policies in other states have failed because they are difficult to enforce.
“You’re going to have out-of-state trucking companies either knowingly or unknowingly not pay it,” Sculley said. “That’s why it’s going to fail. We’re not going to get the money. The state is not going to get the tax revenue that they think they are and that’s going to cause a whole host of problems.”
The new law leaves enforcement of the fee to the Department of Revenue Services and gives the agency discretion to impose record retention policies on trucking companies as well as financial penalties for deficient payments.
Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly released as statement Tuesday saying the extra costs resulting from the fee would be passed on to consumers of every good transported by trucks in Connecticut.
“It’s no surprise that Gov. Lamont signed this damaging tax into law with little fanfare,” Kelly said.
As of Monday, Lamont had signed 210 bills passed by the legislature this year and vetoed one. His signature on the truck tax legislation comes almost three weeks after he signed the state operating budget, which includes most of the other tax and spending policies for the next two years. In an unusual move, the new highway fee was passed through a separate bill — broken out of the overall budget.
Legislative leaders agreed to pass the highway fee separately to make the budget package, which otherwise contained no significant new taxes, more palatable for Republicans. The legislature then passed the budget on a bipartisan vote and the highway bill largely on party lines.
However, not all lawmakers were willing to accept the separation of the highway fee from the rest of the budget. During a debate in the House, Rep. Mitch Bolinsky, R-Newtown, called it an “absolute sham.”
“[T]his bill, which was negotiated out of the budget so that we could actually fulfill the promise of no new taxes, makes a liar out of all of us,” Bolinsky said.