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Governor Lamont, Senate President Looney, Speaker Ritter Announce $99 Million in State Grants To Support Economic Development in Historically Underserved Communities [[link removed]]

Posted on April 6, 2023

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), and Speaker of the House Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) today announced that the State Bond Commission has approved the release of $99 million in state funding to support the second round of grants under the Community Investment Fund 2030 [[link removed]], a grant program established in 2022 [[link removed]] to support economic development in historically underserved communities across Connecticut.

The Community Investment Fund 2030 is administered by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and overseen by a 21-member board that is co-chaired by Senator Looney and Speaker Ritter. The board reviews applications and makes recommendations to the governor, who approves and forwards the applications to the State Bond Commission in his capacity as its chairperson. It is anticipated to release up to $875 million in grants a five-year period.

Eligible projects include capital improvements, such as those focused on affordable housing, brownfield remediation, infrastructure, and public facilities, as well as small business support programs that provide revolving loans, gap financing, microloans, or start-up financing. In addition to promoting economic or community development in the municipality, projects must be intentionally designed to further consistent and systematic fair, just, impartial treatment of all individuals, including those belonging to underserved and marginalized communities such, as Black, Latino, indigenous and native American persons, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; persons comprising the LGBTQ+ community; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

“The Community Investment Fund was established last year to improve the economic vibrancy of historically underserved neighborhoods,” Governor Lamont said. “Over the next several years, this program will be responsible for providing an incredible amount of opportunities for Connecticut’s cities and towns to revitalize their economic base and chart a path of equitable growth. Each of these projects supports this goal, and I am glad we’ve been able to get them approved.”

“This bonding from the Community Investment Fund builds upon the first round of funding and furthers our goal of creating lasting results for Connecticut,” Senator Looney said. “We cannot address systemic poverty and inequality without making the necessary investments in underserved communities. I would like to thank Speaker Ritter, Governor Lamont, the CIF Board, and the Bond Commission for their work in determining these grants and approving the funding. Together we are achieving substantive, tangible progress for our state.”

“With today’s approval of the second round of CIF grants, our vision to bolster infrastructure and programs to make Connecticut’s cities vibrant and healthy communities is taking another step forward,” Speaker Ritter said. “It is wonderful to see municipalities put together strong applications that have local community buy-in and can serve as a catalyst for change in these cities and towns.”

This second round of grants supports 28 projects from 20 municipalities. They include:

Project Name: “Naugatuck Industrial Park Phase III” Recipient Name: Borough of Naugatuck

Municipality: Naugatuck

Award Amount: $3,000,000

Description: CIF funding will facilitate the redevelopment of the 86-acre site formerly known as the Uniroyal Chemical/United States Rubber Company, located at 0 Elm Street, Naugatuck. Funds will be utilized for the construction of permanent and temporary access roads to prepare the site for development.

Project Name: “Northwest Boys & Girls Renovation” Recipient Name: Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford, Inc.

Municipality: Hartford

Award Amount: $1,600,000

Description: CIF will enable the renovation of 18,000 ft2 of space featuring amenities designed to provide Hartford youth with services including classroom space, makerspace/technology lab, learning center, gymnasium, art space, and indoor hydroponic garden. The project will allow the award recipient to expand its programmatic offerings and number of youths served in after-school, weekend and summer programming.

Project Name: “The Bridge on Main” Recipient Name: Career Resources, Inc.

Municipality: Bridgeport

Award Amount: $4,536,250

Description: This CIF award assists the renovation of 1085-1095 Main Street, a 42,500 ft2 building, to facilitate a suite of programs designed to help level the playing field for returning citizens and system-impacted individuals and their families. Programs will include job training, job placement, case management, referrals to support services, and onsite social enterprises. Additional spaces will be designed and available for use by tenants, local businesses, and organizations for community events.

Project Name: “Civic Block” Recipient Name: City of Bridgeport

Municipality: Bridgeport

Award Amount: $3,500,000

Description: CIF funds will aid the completion of the East End development known as Civic Block. Funds will be used to complete construction to create 35,000 ft2 of retail space, including a grocery store in a neighborhood that is currently a food desert.

Project Name: “Route 72 Corridor Improvement Proposal”

Municipality: Bristol

Award Amount: $6,850,000

Description: CIF will fund one element of the City’s Route 72 Corridor Improvement Plan, focused on pedestrian safety enhancements, traffic calming and streetscape improvements on Riverside Avenue and Park Street.

Project Name: “Hart Is Where the Home Is” Recipient Name: City of Hartford

Municipality: Hartford

Award Amount: $4,570,000

Agenda Description: CIF will fund an element of the City’s proposal to create a city-wide homeownership program through in-fill housing and rehabilitation of existing housing stock. The Round 2 grant will fund pre-development and design of homeownership units for income-eligible buyers at Mary Shepard Place in the Clay-Arsenal neighborhood.

Project Name: “Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan”

Municipality: New Haven

Award Amount: $12,100,000

Agenda Description: CIF will assist with the City of New Haven’s Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan to revitalize the waterfront district. Grant activity will focus on the revitalization of Long Wharf Park. Features in the park include public site furniture, lighting, playground, bike paths, outdoor fitness, upgraded walkways and Food Truck pavilion.

Project Name: “Community Center” Recipient Name: City of New London

Municipality: New London

Award Amount: $7,236,237

Description: CIF funds will provide the final construction costs of the new Community and Recreation Center in New London. The new facility will feature recreation activities, rooms for education and community use, and will house the City’s recreation and youth affairs departments.

Project Name: “West Side Pedestrian Safety and Connectivity”

Municipality: Stamford

Award Amount: $1,092,200

Agenda Description: CIF funding will complete design and engineering for the City’s pedestrian infrastructure plan for pedestrian safety and mobility on the side streets of the West Side neighborhood. These improvements aim to reduce speeding, add new crosswalks, increase tree coverage, improve pedestrian safety with raised crosswalks and bump outs, and enhance transit stop facilities in a neighborhood with the highest rate of pedestrian crashes in the city.

Project Name: “ClimateHaven”

Municipality: New Haven

Award Amount: $910, 744

Description: CIF funding will build-out ClimateHaven’s 16,000 ft2 climate-tech business incubator. The space will contain co-working space, convening space, and shared resources for program participants pursuing start-up businesses focused on a sustainable, renewable future.

Project Name: “Danbury Hackerspace – Innovation Studios”

Municipality: Danbury

Award Amount: $510,761

Description: CIF will fund the construction and build out of the Danbury Hackerspace location in the former Crown Plaza Hotel in Danbury. Danbury Hackerspace will operate a makerspace which includes spaces such as co-working space, wood and metal shops, 3D printing, laser cutting, and pottery studio.

Project Name: “Grace House Capital Improvements”

Municipality: Waterbury

Award Amount: $921,564

Description: CIF funding will be utilized for renovation and retention of 40 units of low to moderate income elderly housing. Renovations include roof replacement, exterior masonry work, energy efficient windows, and remodeled kitchens.

Project Name: “Boardman Residential Care Home Renovation – Planning”

Municipality: New Haven

Award Amount: $700,000

Agenda Description: CIF funding will be utilized to finalize renovation plans for the Boardman Residential Care Home, which houses 45 seniors living at or below the federal poverty level. The project will preserve existing housing stock and renovate an historic structure.

Project Name: “Family Wellness Center of the McCall Behavioral Health Network”

Municipality: Torrington

Award Amount: $1,421,250

Description: This CIF award supports the restoration and renovation of a 7,000 ft2 vacant historic property in the Torrington Historic District. The Wellness Center will allow for three current lines of service to be housed in a single location, reducing barriers of access for families. The Center’s programs will focus service provision on providing access to Spanish speaking families.

Project Name: “Meriden New Britain Berlin YMCA Childcare Expansion”

Municipality: New Britain

Award Amount: $1,700,000

Description: CIF will fund the renovation of unused racquetball courts, repurposing them to create six additional childcare classrooms within the NAEYC accredited center. This expansion will allow increased childcare capacity for 72 children.

Project Name: “Health, Safety and Efficiency Initiative: Phase 2”

Municipality: New Haven

Award Amount: $2,213,003

Description: CIF will assist in funding capital improvements to Life Haven, a homeless shelter for women and children with a capacity to serve 20 families. Facility improvements include a complete roof replacement, electrical service upgrade to support the installation of mini-split heating/cooling units, elevator replacement, and repair work to masonry on roof and water-damaged walls.

Project Name: “Re-development of 55 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Drive”

Municipality: Norwalk

Award Amount: $8,000,000

Description: CIF will fund site infrastructure to replace a 5-acre city-owned parking lot with a mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented development. The development is slated for approximately 472 units of new housing, 40,000 ft2 of commercial space, a public space including a pedestrian promenade and 25,000 ft2 public park, as well as public and commuter parking.

Project Name: “Oak Grove Apartments and Learning Center”

Municipality: Norwalk

Award Amount: $1,800,000

Description: This CIF award will facilitate the development of a 7.6-acre site into Oak Grove, a 69-unit affordable housing development. The development will also feature a 5,000 ft2 learning center, which will serve both the Oak Grove residents and the adjacent 200- unit Colonial Village apartment complex, providing afterschool programs for ages K-5th to support working parents and caregivers.

Project Name: “Business Park North”

Municipality: Norwich

Award Amount: $11,391,193

Description: CIF funding will construct an arterial roadway, pedestrian/bike lane, bus stops and stormwater management, as well as utility installation and upgrades. This work will facilitate the access to, and construction of, 12 sites hosting buildings ranging from 9,000 ft2 to 500,000 ft2 for warehouse, manufacturing, distribution, office space, and research and development uses.

Project Name: “41 – 45 Stillwater Avenue”

Municipality: Stamford

Award Amount: $2,450,000

Description: CIF will fund the construction of 39 new affordable, supportive housing units in a 4-story, 38,833 ft2 structure. The project will provide a mix of one-bedroom, two- bedroom and three-bedroom units to serve individuals and families. Ground floor office space in the building will house Pacific House headquarters and case management services for tenants.

Project Name: “Riverfront Recapture Regional Trail System”

Municipality: Windsor

Award Amount: $522,500

Description: CIF funding will complete a Riverwalk extension and build a bridge spanning Decker’s Brook, closing the gap in the trail system between Hartford and Windsor’s Riverwalks. This 825’ trail section completes a seven-mile Riverwalk system across Windsor Meadows State Park/Decker’s Brook stream. The application includes a project labor agreement to hire a work crew of previously incarcerated persons.

Project Name: “Park Hill and School Hill Water Line Extension”

Municipality: East Windsor

Award Amount: $4,000,000

Description: CIF Funding will be used to extend the public water line along Windsorville and Old Ellington Rd to provide safe and reliable drinking water to 31 residences with contaminated wells, as well as the East Windsor Housing Authority’s Park Hill complex of 84 units. The extension will also provide the necessary infrastructure for the Housing Authority to upgrade fire suppression equipment and to facilitate the development of a second phase to build 123 new affordable units of housing.

Project Name: “Town of Hamden Community Campus”

Municipality: Hamden

Award Amount: $5,400,000

Description: This CIF award will enable the re-development of the former Hamden middle school buildings that currently stand as blighted, vacant structures within an Environmental Justice Block Group. CIF grant funds will go towards demolition and abatement of the structures, and community planning activities for the creation of a Community Campus on the site.

Project Name: “Downtown for All – Streetscape” Recipient Name: Town of Manchester

Municipality: Manchester

Award Amount: $7,500,000

Description: This award will help fund a portion of the Downtown Streetscape project, making Downtown Manchester more accessible and connected for pedestrians and cyclists through streetscape redesign, road diet, cycle track and public space improvements.

Project Name: “Plymouth Transformational Plan” Recipient Name: Town of Plymouth

Municipality: Plymouth

Award Amount: $250,000

Description: CIF funding will be used to engage a community development consultant to conduct a three-part community-wide survey to create engagement and collect data towards the development of a prioritized plan for community and economic growth in the town.

Project Name: “Poquetanuck Village Traffic Calming Phase 1”

Municipality: Preston

Award Amount: $400,000

Description: CIF funding will be used by the town to complete the engineering for Phase I and II of the Poquetanuck Village Traffic Calming Master Plan, in anticipation of a LOTCIP grant towards the construction. The project will create traffic calming, pedestrian safety and aesthetic improvements in and around the historic village including sidewalks, streetlights, safety and directional signage, crosswalks and a multi-use trail connecting to various community amenities including the Tri-Town Trail and Preston Community Park.

Project Name: “South End Community Center”

Municipality: Stratford

Award Amount: $2,446,463

Description: CIF will fund the interior and exterior renovation of the South End Community Center. The improvements will result in expanded after school program capacity, additional office space for social service programming, expansion of capacity in the community food pantry, expanded capacity for daycare programming enrollment and increase the accessibility of space for seniors.

Project Name: “Purchase of 333 Homestead Avenue”

Municipality: Hartford

Award Amount: $1,500,000

Description: This CIF award will be used by Upper Albany NRZ towards the acquisition of the Salvation Army facility at 333 Homestead Avenue. The agency is exploring several potential uses for the final development including senior housing, intergenerational programming, and a farmer-fresh produce retail market.

Additional information on the Community Investment Fund 2030 is available on its website at [[link removed]].

Read on CT.gov [[link removed]]

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