CT Construction Digest Wednesday October 16, 2024
Work on $100 million luxury apartment complex Springside Middletown reaches halfway mark
MIDDLETOWN — Springside Middletown, a $100 million, 486-unit luxury apartment and townhouse community situated on a 48-acre site, is just about at the halfway point of construction.
The campus is located at 494 Newfield St. / Route 3, near Middletown High School.
As part of the Discover Middletown Program, a real estate tax agreement between Newfield Residential Partners and the city, new tenants will be given $250 Downtown Business District gift certificates, totaling nearly $58,000, during this first phase of the project, Landmark Investment Project Liaison Alan Marshall II said Tuesday.
By the project’s completion, he added, $100,000 in gift cards will be purchased.
The project is being developed by Newfield Residential Partners, a joint venture of PB Ventures and Harbor Group International.
Springside is estimated to have about a $55 million economic impact on the city, and generate about $1.5 billion over the life of the project, Marshall said.
The project also includes an economically disadvantaged business set aside for minority contractors, Marshall said.
Stakeholders, community members and local dignitaries gathered for a tour Tuesday afternoon to herald Discover Middletown, which is intended to support the local economy, promote local businesses, and enhance the economic vitality of Middletown, according to officials.
So far, four buildings and two townhouses have secured certificates of occupancy, Newfield Residential Partners Developer Bob Dale said.
Rents start at about $2,000 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,700 for two bedrooms, and $3,000 for three bedrooms, he noted.
Eleanor Bain, a city native, is one of the first four residents at Springside.
“It’s like New York City in Middletown, Connecticut,” said Bain, who especially likes the building security.
Bain, a widow, recently sold her home in North Carolina and returned to Middletown.
“It does not feel like an apartment here. It’s a home,” Leasing and Property Manager Ashley Szabo said.
Middletown Ministerial Alliance liaison Debra Hopkins, a lifelong resident, said collaboration between all those involved was “phenomenal. I’ve lived through the redevelopment of downtown Middletown and I’ve seen the ups and downs of Main Street."
At the beginning of the pandemic, Marshall explained, he was thinking of a way to support small businesses and came up with the idea of gift cards, which will “put more money into the city.”
The campus includes co-working spaces, private offices, conference rooms, a fitness facility, swimming pool with splash pad and sun deck, pickleball courts and nature trails.
Already, Dale said, the complex is attracting tenants from the Hartford, New Haven and New London areas.
“Middletown is an attractive place for young people all the way up to empty nesters,” he said.
Construction starts on Dixwell project in New Haven, bringing a food hall, day care, housing
NEW HAVEN — Dixwell Avenue carries a long history of Black life in New Haven through boom and bust, including having raised civil rights hero Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, a mix of local, state and federal dignitaries and residents met to honor the past of New Haven's "Black Main Street," but also to celebrate its future promise.
For about five years, officials with ConnCORP, a subsidiary of the nonprofit ConnCAT, have planned the $200 million development of a new Dixwell Plaza called the ConnCAT Place on Dixwell to replace the existing faded shopping plaza, Elks Club building and Stetson branch library. After the demolition of those buildings last year, officials launched the start of the first of two phases of construction Tuesday.
Erik Clemons, CEO of ConnCORP, said at some point when discussing the project, architect Peter Cook raised a metaphor that stuck with him: the project must be like a quilt, combining the voices and perspectives of the residents. Clemons said that, although each of the Dixwell neighborhood's residents are different, they are "bound by the same hope for the community."
A number of officials connected to the project, including New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, commended Clemons on his attentiveness to the community's needs during the development process, making sure to incorporate elements that are important to them such as access to fresh food, job training and child care.
The first phase of the project, which began Tuesday, will deliver a workforce training center, a child mental health and family clinic, a daycare facility, a grocery store, a food hall for local restaurants, a 65,000-square-foot outdoor plaza and 186-unit apartment tower.
The second phase is expected to bring a 350-seat performing arts center, a 60,000 square-foot office building and up to 15 townhomes.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz noted that the project promises "a community within a community." The state has contributed $10 million to the project's costs as well as a $6 million grant for remediation. She said the housing component is also critical to the state as it faces issues around shortages.
Elicker said the project was "a long time coming" and supplements the work that has already been done, including a new Q House across the street that broke ground under Elicker's mayoral predecessor Toni Harp.
"Dixwell is on the up and up," he said.
Several of more than a dozen speakers at Tuesday's ceremony noted the history and perception of the Dixwell Avenue thoroughfare.
The Rev. Kelcy Steele said after a benediction that those gathered at the groundbreaking were there to "change the narrative," while U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the project is "a triumph of vision."
State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney said the revitalization of Dixwell is connected to the revitalization of numerous city neighborhoods, but is a "critical centerpiece" of that vision.
Carlton Highsmith, chairman of ConnCORP's board, said the significance is due to the community's "resiliency," "tenacity" and "resourcefulness" having weathered decades of social and economic change.
"It's important to recognize the legacy of those that proceeded us, but it's more important to focus on the children who live here," he said, who are deserving of the "beauty" and "dignity" of the upcoming ConnCAT Place on Dixwell project.
Connecticut Siting Council reopens rejected Somers solar facility petition following revisions
SOMERS — The Connecticut Siting Council will reconsider a petition for a previously rejected solar facility on South Road following a series of design revisions.
Bridgeport-based Santa Fuel Inc. submitted its first petition for the Somers project in January, detailing a 22.1-acre development at 159 South Road originally designed to generate 3.85 megawatts of electricity.
The Siting Council has jurisdiction over solar facilities that would generate 1 megawatt or more of energy, though developers can ask the council to oversee approval of smaller facilities.
While initially supportive of the proposal, town officials grew concerned with potential environmental impacts and noise generation of the facility. In March, the Siting Council denied the petition, citing "a substantial adverse environmental effect associated with the construction, maintenance, and operation" of the solar panels and associated equipment.
In September, an attorney representing Santa Fuel Inc. submitted a motion to reopen and modify the decision on the petition due to changed conditions, including a revised site plan and description of the project and its modifications.
Santa Fuel Inc. stated in its six-page motion, dated Sept. 12, that the proposed facility has been reduced in size, now designed to generate roughly 3.575 megawatts of electricity using 21.6 acres of land, and shifted overall to the north with other changes to its layout and design.
At a meeting Thursday afternoon, the Siting Council voted unanimously to accept the motion and to hold a hearing on the revised petition.
Siting Council member Brian Golembiewski said Thursday that, in particular, the new design addresses concerns about noise impacts and buffers along the borders of residential properties.
"It appears the project has been significantly improved for the better," Golembiewski said.
Siting Council member Khristine Hall said Thursday that another hearing should be held on the petition due to both the modifications and the fact that two of the council's current members, herself included, were not around during the petition's previous hearing.
"Not only for my benefit, but for the town and others who think this is a matter they should no longer be worried about," Hall said.
As of Monday afternoon, no schedule has been approved or published for the reopened petition, but the Siting Council could set a date for the hearing at its next regular meeting on Oct. 24.
Santa Fuel Inc. wrote in its motion that the new design reflects the elimination of 442 panels from the southwestern portion of the array, relocation and extension of the proposed row of evergreen trees between the array and a residential property at 187 South Road, changes to site access, and overall shifting of equipment away from the eastern and southern property lines.
Other changes listed by the company include sound barrier walls adjacent to the facility's inverters, intended to reduce noise levels at the eastern property line, and a reduction in clearing necessary for the construction of the facility.
The company noted the Siting Council's concerns with water quality impacts that the proposal could generate, and responded with modifications to stormwater management and a revised drainage report.
Following completion of Goodwin University’s 2021 purchase of the financially struggling University of Bridgeport, Goodwin President Mark Scheinberg predicted the combined organizations would be profitable by year two.
He was a bit off. In fact, the not-for-profit colleges posted a combined operating surplus in each of the last two full years since the deal was completed, including a $17.8 million operating profit in 2023, up nearly 30% from a year earlier, according to audited financial statements.
The University of Bridgeport has also reversed a steady decline in enrollment.
Those are a few signs the $32 million deal, which some characterized as risky when it was completed in May 2021, has paid off, Scheinberg said in a recent interview.
With both institutions on more stable financial ground, the colleges in July tapped the bond market for a combined $47.1 million.
Some proceeds are being used to refinance debt Goodwin took on to complete its UB acquisition. KeyBank and Liberty Bank helped finance the purchase, while the state Department of Economic and Community Development provided a $7.5 million low-interest loan, which remains active and current, according to DECD.
Goodwin will also invest $10 million in new programs and infrastructure upgrades at both campuses, with a focus on addressing the state’s key workforce shortages in manufacturing and nursing.
Eddie Meyer, Goodwin’s vice president for finance and chief financial officer, said the decision to move forward with the bond offerings this summer was driven by the lower interest rate environment, and the opportunity to grow program offerings.
“We determined it was a great time to not only just save money across the board on our interest rate exposure,” but also start tackling some projects with the bond funding, Meyer said.
Social pact
The bonds were issued by the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority — a quasi-public state agency that provides access to tax-free financing for nonprofit colleges, hospitals and other organizations — on behalf of Goodwin and UB. They were designated as so-called “social bonds,” which are issued to organizations that promise to achieve positive social outcomes and/or address a social issue.
Both schools have historically served underrepresented and relatively low-income student populations, and the new programs are focused on job training in in-demand careers.
In Bridgeport, funding will be used to make improvements to School of Engineering labs, adding capabilities related to artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, green technology, biomedical engineering and 3D printing. There will also be renovations to an existing 8,000-square-foot building on campus that will be converted into a new welcome and admissions center. Upgrades will be made to sports science and nursing program spaces, parking areas and athletic fields.
Goodwin’s campus will add a simulation lab for its nursing program. Capital improvement and deferred maintenance projects like roofing and HVAC upgrades will be tackled on both campuses.
Next spring, UB will also debut its first associate nursing degree program. Goodwin’s nursing school, which has graduated more than 4,000 students in the last 20 years, recently added a licensed practical nursing program to its offerings, Scheinberg said.
Program growth
Scheinberg said the UB deal was unique because a smaller institution (Goodwin), which traditionally issued certificates and associate degrees, acquired a larger four-year college that offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
Goodwin, which converted from a college to a university in 2020, offers degrees and certificates in fields ranging from nursing and computer technology to health sciences, education and manufacturing.
UB, which continues to operate as an independent institution with its own board of trustees, has been known for its programs in engineering, education and business.
Moving forward, the colleges’ combined resources will allow for more degree and training offerings at both campuses, said University of Bridgeport President Danielle Wilken.
Even before the new bond funding, the colleges made post-merger changes to their offerings, making a larger push into manufacturing.
UB now hosts Goodwin programs through its Steans Advanced Manufacturing Center, which opened in 2023 and offers a welding program, with an eye toward helping General Dynamics Electric Boat fill the thousands of new jobs the company is creating as it ramps up submarine production, Scheinberg said.
There’s also a new manufacturing engineering technology program, and UB will be opening its manufacturing programs at master’s and doctoral levels in East Hartford, which is home to jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, university officials said.
Goodwin and UB in October are launching a second mobile manufacturing laboratory that can be set up at businesses to train workers on-site.
“We’re designing programs that can go right to the businesses, set up in the parking lot and train workers in a specific skill,” Scheinberg said.
Goodwin is also building a new technical high school on its East Hartford campus that will break ground this fall. It will be designed to give students training in emerging technologies and professions.
Goodwin and UB officials, Scheinberg said, have been contacted by other schools and accreditation agencies that want to learn about the acquisition strategy, since it was unique in higher education.
“They’re looking at us to see what’s working, but also the pitfalls, and we’re making a road map,” he said. “No one knows how to do this, and it’s often not clear what the strategies are when taking over entities. Do you buy the assets, take control of the board? These are questions that private corporations deal with all the time, but it’s rare in higher education.”
Enrollment trends
The acquisition has also allowed UB to expand its sports programs. It has added men’s and women’s track and diving, men’s lacrosse and wrestling.
Offering new academic and athletic programs is a key part of the strategy to growing enrollment, Wilken said, particularly undergraduate and international students.
UB’s enrollment grew nearly 21% from 2021 to 2023 to 3,486 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
Conversely, Goodwin’s enrollment declined 8.2% between 2021 and 2023, which Scheinberg attributed to a robust jobs market that offers more opportunities for working adults, who make up about 90% of Goodwin’s student population.
Goodwin’s enrollment tends to increase during economic downturns, Scheinberg said, because that’s when people look for new skills. The inflationary environment and changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid application process also impacted enrollment, he added.
But overall, officials from both schools said they are happy with how the deal has turned out so far.
“Higher education is really moving in the direction of ‘how do you create these synergies,’” Wilken said. “We are able to leverage each other’s strengths and brand and niches in the market, but also retain our identities.”