Stamford's Landmark Square gets OK to be 31 stories, making it the city's third-tallest building

Jared Weber

STAMFORD — The city’s skyline will have a new landmark.

The Stamford Zoning Board on has approved a proposal to build a 31-story high-rise apartment building in downtown’s Landmark Square. The residential tower will replace an existing office building built in 1977 as part of Stamford’s urban renewal era.

The new project will be the city's third-tallest building. The developer, White Plains, N.Y.-based Cappelli Organization, also developed Stamford’s tallest building, the 350-foot Park Tower Stamford — formerly known as Trump Parc Stamford. The Zoning Board approved a 423-foot residential tower for 677 Washington Blvd. in February 2021, but crews have yet to break ground on the project.

The board voted 3-2 on July 10 in favor of the proposal. Chair David Stein and members Rosanne McManus and William Morris voted for the project. Newer members Gerald Bosak Jr. and Racquel Smith-Anderson voted against the development; the two also opposed a 198-unit apartment building on Broad Street in May.

The development will have 400 apartments — 20 studios, 180 one-bedrooms, 180 two-bedrooms and 20 three-bedroom units. It does not have affordable housing on-site. The developer instead opted to contribute about $10.7 million to Stamford’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which officials said is the largest single contribution they have ever received.

“The reason that we’re focusing our attention now on fee in lieu is we’ve solved the affordable housing problem locally at 50 percent of (area median income) for one and two-bedroom units,” attorney William Hennessey, who represented the developer, told the Zoning Board. “Now, we have to focus on deeper affordability for larger units and that’s where the fee-in-lieu comes in. And that’s why it’s important.”

The building’s seventh through 31st floors will be residential. The sixth floor will be the amenity space, including an outdoor terrace, indoor pool, children’s play area, club room, fitness room, yoga room and more.

The first floor will be two-sided — on one, an apartment lobby; and the other, a retail area facing Veterans Memorial Park. The parking setup includes 420 spaces in a multi-level garage accessible from Atlantic Street.

The board’s deliberations happened during its June 26 and July 10 meetings. Hennessey and land use consultant Rick Redniss made presentations at both meetings, which also included public hearings where residents could voice their opinions to the board.

A handful of residents spoke at both meetings, offering mixed opinions on the proposal. Some voiced concerns about traffic congestion and the lack of affordable housing in the building.

Redniss said the traffic impact on downtown will be less strenuous than that of the existing building.

“Instead of having 134,000 square feet of offices where people will commute to get to, we’ll have people living downtown who can walk to work. So, the difference is dramatic,” Redniss said.

The Zoning Board deliberated conditions for approving the building during the final hour of a nearly five-and-a-half hour meeting.

The height of the building exceeds the maximum of 290 feet allowed in Downtown Stamford under the city's zoning regulations. But according to Land Use Bureau staff, the additional 30 feet of height was permissible if the developer made contributions to the streetscape and surrounding area, such as new public space, awnings, canopies and other pedestrian amenities.

Initially, the developer agreed to cover the costs of new bus stop infrastructure and bike racks in front of the building. However, McManus and Stein said they did not feel the additions were enough.

After a brief discussion, board members asked the developer to also provide $500,000 for “additional improvements within Veterans Park,” to which Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing said they agreed.

Another condition involved the setback of the building on Atlantic Street. The state has floated funding for Stamford to widen sidewalks and bike lanes on the downtown thoroughfare, but officials said they haven’t received the money.

Depending on the funding, officials conditioned two plans. If the state money arrives before the city issues a building permit, the building will be aligned with neighboring properties and feature a wider sidewalk across its entire frontage. If not, the building will be set further back on the property to maximize sidewalk space, but nearby buildings wouldn’t be as neatly aligned.

The building is the third high-rise apartment building approved on the 30-acre block — bound by Atlantic Street, Broad Street, Greyrock Place and Tresser Boulevard — in the last three years. The Broad Street building was approved in May, and an eight-story, 228-unit apartment building, green-lit in July 2021, is under construction at Broad Street and Greyrock Place.

On the other side of Veterans Park, the Zoning Board is still considering a proposal to convert the Stamford Savings Bank building into an 11-story boutique hotel. The board opened a hearing on the hotel last December, but they have not yet taken a vote.

East Hartford apartment complex planned for former movie theater site gets $7 million in state funds

Joseph Villanova

EAST HARTFORD — The town continues to be a hotbed of development, and it's fair to say folks around these parts have not seen this movie before.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday that nearly $7 million in State Bond Commission funding will be used for an apartment complex on the site of the former Showcase Cinemas. A groundbreaking is expected later this year.

Lamont said construction is tougher in Connecticut than many other states and the lending market is difficult, but the apartment complex known as Concourse Park and other projects around town mark the beginning of a major revival of East Hartford.

"You're not going to recognize this amazing city," Lamont said.

The apartment complex is one of a handful of major construction projects underway or in the planning stages in East Hartford. 

East Hartford Mayor Mike Walsh said the site of the new apartments lies close by to the new logistics centers at Rentschler Field; Silver Lane Plaza, which will see major redevelopment in the near future; and Charter Oak Mall, a site that is "hanging by a thread, waiting for this type of economic activity to occur."

At a recent meeting the State Bond Commission shifted existing funding for redevelopment of property in the area of Silver Lane and Rentschler Field, approved in June 2018, to support the apartment project. The commission also approved $6.5 million in new funding for the abatement and demolition of buildings in the Founders Plaza area.

New Britain-based Jasko Development, in partnership with West Hartford-based Zelman Real Estate, plans to build as many as 400 units as part of a market-rate, "amenity-rich" complex to be named Concourse Park. Walsh said the apartment developers must have shovels in the ground by the end of September 2023, in keeping with a development agreement for the property.

Brian Zelman, principal of Zelman Real Estate, said he expects construction will take between 18 and 24 months, with completion likely staggered building by building. He said the complex would house roughly 1,000 people once complete, spread between studio apartments and one- to three-bedroom units.

Zelman said the project would ultimately cost "north of $100 million" and rents would be less than comparable newly constructed units in surrounding areas, though he could not provide a specific figure.

"It's always a moving target," Zelman said.

The location of the planned apartments was formerly home to a multiplex Showcase Cinemas location, which closed in 2006. The site was left dilapidated for years until the town purchased the property in January 2019 for $3.3 million. Demolition of the former theater was completed in 2020, and town officials proceeded to explore private development of the parcel.

The apartment complex project itself was brought to town officials roughly two years before the scheduled groundbreaking. In September 2021, under the administration of former Mayor Marcia Leclerc, Town Council voted 6-3 along party lines to execute a sale agreement on the Showcase Cinema property.

After a number of prerequisite items, the roughly 26-acre property would be granted to Jasko Development for $1. Officials have said the sale price is part of the town's incentives to make the development successful and viable, and that it would pay dividends through the infusion of disposable income into the local economy from new residents.

A 28-year tax abatement serves as another major financial boon for the developer, fixing the developer's annual payment for each unit with an annual increase over the life of the agreement.

The town's Planning and Zoning Commission approved plans for the project in September 2022, originally at 470 units. Walsh said changes in the lending market required a more flexible target, and changes were made to the agreement in May 2023 to allow the developers to build anywhere between 300 and 400 units.

Walsh said the infrastructure of the project is a "fixed cost" of development, and the developers could pause after the first wave of units to see whether the market would support an expansion.

Lamont said housing is an important issue on many fronts, including economic growth.

"We're never going to get this state growing again without housing," Lamont said.

Michael Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, said the developments in East Hartford are coming together "slowly and methodically.

"When I saw this site three years ago, it was evident to me that someone needed to step up," Freimuth said.

House Majority Leader Jason Rojas said the importance of new market-rate units is expanding the market to promote competition and bring costs down, in addition to addressing housing shortages across price points.

"We need more housing of all kinds," Rojas said.

Rojas said the apartment project will bring foot traffic back to the Silver Lane corridor, originally pushed out by the Buckland Hills mall, and the extra disposable income will help bring amenities back.

"These are the kinds of projects that need to happen and this will be a great example of how these projects happen," Rojas said.

State Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, said that the model of Concourse Park's development, a collaboration between private developers and municipal and state governments, should be replicated in other towns across the state.

"All good things start from this town," Anwar said.

Bridgeport temporarily revokes zoning permit for Testo's apartments, but developer starts demolition

Brian Lockhart

BRIDGEPORT — Hours after municipal demolition permits were issued for the property, the city's zoning chief Monday advised the developer and contractor behind a 177-unit apartment complex planned for the former Testo's restaurant of "serious questions and reservations" with the plan approval his department issued in March 2022.

As a result, wrote Zoning Administrator Paul Boucher in a letter Monday night, he temporarily revoked that months-old authorization, which for weeks now has been scrutinized by the municipal law department for potential but so far unspecified improprieties. Boucher stated he had "new information" that caused him to question whether the 2022 approval was based on "complete and accurate information."

"You are hereby advised that to the extent that you elect to proceed with demolition of this site ... you will being doing so at your own financial risk and peril," Boucher wrote. "Until this matter is resolved, it may be in your best interests to maintain the status quo with regards to existing structures on the site."

But on Tuesday workers had begun tearing down two of the homes on the Madison Avenue site anyway.

Contractor John Guedes, who designed the apartments and whose local Primrose company is building them for out-of-town owner Amit Lakhotia, continued to maintain in an interview Tuesday morning that "everything was done by the book."

"It's all nonsense," Guedes said. "It's politically motivated. I don't know what to tell you."

Testo's owners Ralph Giacobbe and his uncle Mario Testa, Bridgeport's longtime Democratic chairman and close ally of Mayor Joe Ganim, closed the establishment on New Year's Eve and it was officially purchased by Lakhotia in April. The sale had been announced last November.

In the spring fencing with a sign advertising the coming apartments was erected at the site, worrying some neighbors who had assumed that any development of that size — four stories with underground parking — proposed for their one-and-two family residential area would require a public hearing before the zoning commission and a vote of that mayoral and City Council-appointed body.

On May 2 Hearst Connecticut Media reported that, according to the mayor's office, because the apartment plans were submitted in December 2021 to the zoning department by Testa and Giacobbe before new, more-restrictive municipal zoning regulations took effect Jan 1, 2022, they were properly reviewed under the previous design guidelines and approved without a public hearing and zoning commission action.

Some neighbors, activists and council members cried foul and demanded City Hall stop the development, or at least force a public hearing. A few days later Ganim, who is seeking re-election, took the unusual step of announcing that he agreed with their concerns and would have the law department review the situation.

The approval for the Testo's project was issued under veteran zoning department head Dennis Buckley, who retired last July. Boucher, another long time staffer there, was then put in charge.

Last week head municipal lawyer Mark Anastasi said that his office's opinion, being drafted with consultation with outside counsel, would be released this week. It was previously supposed to come out at the end of June.

Guedes, who has built or is building several projects in Bridgeport and Shelton and been acting as a spokesperson for Lakhotia, has all along argued that the law department would not come up with anything to stop the apartments from being erected. He and the private land use attorney, Raymond Rizio, who filed for the zoning authorization in December 2021, have also pointed to the fact that on May 17 the building department issued a permit to construct the foundation for the development.

"It's a confirmation that everything was done correctly," Rizio said in an interview Monday morning.

Rizio declined to comment on Boucher’s letter.

Then later Monday the building department issued three demolition permits, one for Testo's, two for a pair of neighboring houses. Around 7 p.m., just a couple hours after Hearst reported that Guedes could go ahead with razing those structures and intended to start that work Tuesday, Boucher emailed his letter to the contractor, Lakhotia, Rizio's law office and Bridgeport's law department.

City Councilwoman Jeanette Herron, who represents the neighborhood and has been opposing the apartment complex, said Tuesday that when she learned about the demolition authorization she reached out to the Ganim administration.

"I called very upset saying, 'How are we letting the demolition permit go?'" she said. "I was told they can't stop a demolition permit. I am glad zoning did do this letter." 

Early Tuesday afternoon Ganim's office issued a press release that the mayor, who often promotes Bridgeport as a development-friendly city and has previously touted some of Guedes' downtown housing projects, continues to "stand with the residents of this neighborhood" and is "in full support" of Boucher's action.

"Temporary revocation of the zoning approval is the most appropriate course of action while we await a final legal opinion," Ganim said. Representatives from his office and the economic development department had previously met privately with Lakhotia and Guedes to unsuccessfully try and reduce the project's size. Guedes has argued the $3.5 million Lakhotia paid for Testo's was tied to his being able to build 177 units.

“Ultimately the project was bought from them (Giacobbe and Testa) as a fully approved project," Guedes said Tuesday.

"The buildings are being demolished," Guedes reiterated. "Anyone can decide to knock down their buildings. All utilities were disconnected. Everything was done."

Former state Rep. Christopher Caruso is a North End resident and has been one of the most vocal opponents of the lack of a public hearing for the 177-unit apartment building.

Though a frequent critic of fellow Democrat Ganim, Caruso on Tuesday was pleased with Boucher's effort to intervene and delay the project.

"At this point it's definitely a positive step," Caruso said. "But we don't know what the legal opinion's going to say. We've got to wait to see."

Caruso also took issue with what he said was Guedes' "brazen, defiant attitude."

"I've known John for many, many years," Caruso said. "I just think he should tone it down a bit. He doesn't live in that neighborhood. Have some understanding of what people are going through (there)."

Though a possible election-year win for Ganim, who is seeking a third consecutive four-year term and facing three Democratic rivals for the job, the Testo's affair could set a precedent and scare away potential developers who will now be wary of the reliability of Bridgeport's permitting processes, particularly if their proposals are politically controversial.

And if the 177-apartments are somehow stopped, the current zoning regulations that took effect in January 2022 would still allow a sizeable project there that may not be any more pleasing to neighbors — a three story building with first floor commercial space, two levels of housing and no on-site parking requirements.

"We want something," Herron said. "But we don't want an eyesore in a one and two-family residential area."

$29 million approved toward improvements to West Haven's Surfside Apartments

Brian Zahn

WEST HAVEN — Following claims of years of neglect at the city housing authority's Surfside Apartments, residents soon could see some improvements.

Board members for Savin Rock Communities voted unanimously to borrow up to $29.3 million to make upgrades to Surfside, a 254-unit public housing property designated obsolete in early 2020 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to authority Executive Director John Counter,

"I've got goose bumps about this," Counter said after Tuesday's vote. "I am so excited, we’re going to flip every one of those units."

According to the approved resolution, the board of directors approved Counter to obtain an amount “not to exceed $29,296,000" in a mortgage loan from Lument Real Estate Capital. 

Counter said in March that plans to borrow in order to renovate Surfside Apartments would be the first phase of a multiphase plan to update the West Haven housing authority's housing stock.

Counter has said when he was hired to the executive director role in 2014 that Surfside had been neglected for years. He told the Register in 2021 that the true cost of updating the building was "cost-prohibitive" without first being approved for grants and loans that were delayed by a bureaucratic logjam caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although Counter had said 24-hour maintenance service is available to Surfside residents, the repairs that must be made to the building are beyond patchwork. On Tuesday, he said the borrowing will support upgrades to the roofing, boiler system and fencing, among other things.

“The building is going to look gorgeous from the street," he said.

When Counter was hired as director of Savin Rock Communities, the West Haven Housing Authority was embroiled in controversy over a bribery and conspiracy scandal. Former West Haven Housing Authority Director Michael Siwek pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for contracts in 2016 over a five-year period beginning in 2007. In 2021, residents complained of security and safety concerns following an alleged sexual assault of a resident of the building, an incident that led to a lawsuit earlier this year. 

CTDOT Maintains Through Streets for Stonington Viaduct Replacement

Cate Hewitt

STONINGTON — In an unexpected move, the state Department of Transportation told town officials on Monday that it plans to fully replace the 83-year-old Alpha Street viaduct while preserving the through streets running below it. 

The new plan, dubbed “option five,” came after the department offered several repair options, including a $25.5 million bridge replacement that would have closed off Cutler Street and parts of Main and Matthews streets, First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough told CT Examiner. 

“I have to say I feel like they have gone above and beyond what our expectations have been. … Option five – it’s just a concept, they don’t have anything drawn – is a full replacement like option four was, but all within the same footprint, essentially,” she said. “The big thing is not closing off any roads – that was obviously our biggest concern.”

The 625-foot bridge, known as the Frank Turek viaduct, traverses Amtrak tracks and has provided the only vehicular access to Stonington Borough since 1940. From 1858 to 1940, the borough was accessible via a railroad crossing that became the site of multiple injuries and fatalities, independent historian Bob Suppicich explained in his 2011 presentation about the viaduct at the Stonington Historical Society. 

The project requires raising the bridge 4 feet to meet the required clearance over the Amtrak line, and the bridge width will also be increased, Chesebrough said.  

To compensate for adding height to the viaduct, Alpha Street on the Stonington end of the bridge will also be slightly raised to provide a more gradual angle of approach, which Chesebrough said would help address flooding issues in that area. 

On the borough side, she said “they don’t think there’s much they can do to help on that because it’s so tight and the properties are right there. … But again, it was all very conceptual.”

The cost of “option five” has yet to be determined, but the town’s budget is capped at $1.2 million, Chesebrough said. Federal funds will supply 80 percent of the total, with the remainder paid by the state, according to a June 6 DOT presentation.

Alternative repair options were significantly cheaper and would have taken no land or buildings, but the 2022 Rehabilitation Study Report by consulting firm CHA Companies, of East Hartford, noted that repairing the bridge would extend its longevity by just 50 years and cost more to maintain.

“The replacement alternative offered significant cost savings for taxpayers through a much lower life cycle cost, with 75 years of reduced maintenance effort,” DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan told CT Examiner. 

The DOT designs a 75-year lifespan for most new bridges and 100 years for major bridges, according to a department report. 

Stonington Borough Fire Chief Jeff Hoadley also suggested working with Amtrak to allow an at-grade crossing for emergencies during construction of the new bridge, Chesebrough said. 

Morgan said Amtrak is a stakeholder that will be involved in the project. 

“CTDOT will provide Amtrak the opportunity to comment on milestone design submittals. We will be looking for railroad protective services as needed to enter the property for pre-construction activities. During construction phase, we would also coordinate any required track outages, and obtain railroad protective services, such as flaggers, for accessing their property,” he said. 

The project schedule includes a public information session in the summer of 2024, preliminary designs in fall of 2024, and a “semi-final” design by 2025.“

We anticipate design completion in late summer of 2026 and construction start in spring of 2027,” Morgan said.  

Demolition continues in South Meriden to make way for housing

MERIDEN — Construction to build 24 riverside apartment units in three buildings is underway on Main Street in South Meriden.

Local developer LaRosa Construction is behind the project.

Doing business as Rincon Holdings LLC, the company won Planning Commission approval for the project by a 4-1 vote back in January.

The apartments will occupy 14,390 square feet along with associated utilities, parking and stormwater management infrastructure on 3.41 acres adjacent to the Quinnipiac River.

The units would be two-bedroom market rate apartments, said Planning Commission member Elain Cariati just prior to project approval in January.

LaRosa had prior approvals from the Zoning Board of Appeals to change the use in the Neighborhood Commercial Development District and on the number of units. The city's Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission had approved the stormwater detention plan and other flood controls, and the Design Review Board OK'd the project with some architectural and landscaping changes.

"When it came to Planning (Commission) our only job was to approve the site plan," Cariati said.

An existing commercial building at 33 Main St. was demolished for the project.

Planning Commission member Chad Cardillo voted against the project after raising objections over the density allowed in the Neighborhood Commercial Development District Zone.

During some of the public hearings on the project, neighbors expressed concerns about traffic backups at Hanover and Main streets.

"Even with a traffic study, it doesn't change people's perceptions over how long they're waiting," Cardillo said at the time. "I had some questions about the density of residential property that can be built in those zones. The language can be vague. I didn't feel comfortable. And people are concerned about building near the river."

Cardillo and others were pleased LaRosa eliminated three bedroom units and is only building two-building apartments.

"Every time we look at housing all of us think about the impact to city services," Cardillo said.

Per the FEMA mapping, a large area of the site is in the 100 year floodplain. Engineering asked for more information regarding the floodplain limits and it was determined the buildings will be out of the 100 year floodplain, according to staff reports.

City Councilor Bob WilIiams, who represents South Meriden, is familiar with the proposal and his only issue is overflow parking impeding local businesses, whose customers park on Main Street.

"Other than that, I don't have any concerns," Williams said. "The Larosa family have been great stewards in their city projects.

Everything they've done is to a high standard."

City Councilor Bob Williams, who represents South Meriden, previously told the Record-Journal the development is the first new residential building in that area of South Meriden since work was completed on Diamond Hill Road.

"I don't believe there has been any housing inventory built," Williams said. "This is the first I recall over several decades."

R.I. offshore wind farm moves closer to reality

Greg Smith

Revolution Wind, a planned offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island that will use State Pier in New London as its staging and assembly hub, moved closer to federal approval on Monday.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management announced it had completed a final environmental review of the proposed wind farm, which would have up to 100 wind turbines capable of generating up to 880 megawatts to power more than 300,000 homes.

The proposed wind farm, about 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, would supply electricity to both Connecticut and Rhode Island. Electricity would travel from the wind turbines via cables connected onshore to a substation at Quonset Point in Rhode Island.

The environmental impact study is the last hurdle before BOEM issues a decision this summer on whether to “approve, approve with modification, or disapprove” the project. The study analyzes the impact of wind farms on everything from marine life to the commercial fishing industry and is supposed to address any concerns raised during a comment period.

“BOEM used the feedback we received from Tribal Nations, industry, ocean users, communities, and stakeholders to help inform our decisions throughout the environmental review process and ensure that we are addressing potential impacts,” BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein said in a statement on Monday. “This milestone represents another important step forward in building a new clean energy economy here in the United States.”

Revolution Wind is a joint venture between Danish offshore wind company Ørsted and Eversource, the same team that has invested more than $77 million in the reconstruction of State Pier in New London and millions more in an offshore wind construction hub at the Port of Providence and an operations hub at Quonset Point in North Kingstown, R.I.

The partners have plans for two other farms, Sunrise Wind and South Fork Wind. South Fork is a smaller scale wind farm now under construction off the coast of Long Island. Eversource recently announced it was withdrawing from the offshore wind business to concentrate on electricity distribution.

Julia Bovey, the director of external affairs for Offshore Wind, Eversource, called the release of the environmental study a “major milestone” and thanked the Biden Administration for its continued commitment to “the critical renewable energy infrastructure necessary to achieve our clean energy goals.”

“This essential project is already benefiting local communities, establishing a new, homegrown supply chain, and creating job opportunities for workers in the industries of tomorrow, today,” she said in a statement. “We look forward to helping Connecticut and Rhode Island grow their green economies, as we work towards a carbon-free future that we can all be proud of.”

The Biden administration has a goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. That would power about 10 million homes.

State Pier, on the Thames River in New London, remains under construction but has already received a shipment of offshore wind parts for the South Fork Wind project being constructed off the coast of Long Island.

Construction costs at State Pier have steadily risen since the project was first conceived. The cost topped the $309 million mark recently. The Connecticut Port Authority secured $30 million more from the state last month and $23.7 million from Ørsted and Eversource to allow it to complete the project by the end of the year. Obstacles, in the form of higher-than-expected rock elevation in places where piles are being driven at the pier, have driven up costs.

The Connecticut Port Authority, at a special meeting on Tuesday, quickly allocated the new funds approved at the June 30 Bond Commission meeting.

“I’m sure I speak for everybody. No more. This is it,” said Port Authority Board member John Johnson, after the approval of a revised contract with construction manager Kiewit Infrastructure Co.

Port Authority Board Chairman David Kooris, at Tuesday’s meeting, acknowledged “no additional funding is available,” outside of the more than $6 million in contingency funds.