The State Bond Commission approved funding for multiple economic development projects across the state during a special meeting Thursday.
The funding includes $12 million for Middletown’s riverfront revival, meant to help the city further its plans to rejuvenate 220 acres of industrial land along the Connecticut River with new parks, community spaces, restaurants, retail and multifamily development.
Middletown has already spent more than $75 million decommissioning its sewage treatment plant, buying properties and repairing a shuttered riverside restaurant building.
In addition, the State Bond Commission approved $10 million to support demolition and soil cleanup of the former Anaconda American Brass site in Waterbury, $1.2 million for Hartford’s Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association’s rehabilitation of the shuttered Aetna Diner and $1.5 million for Hartford’s Colt Gateway to obtain a low-interest loan supporting a $6.7-million conversion of commercial space in the development into 45 apartments.
Also, Hartford will receive $1.1 million to support renovating 681 Wethersfield Ave. into a year-round food truck court.
The commission further approved $4.5 million for planning grants to the The North Hartford Collaborative and a $3.75 million low interest loan for Hartford’s Sheldon Oak Central Inc.’s 155-unit, mixed-income reconstruction of the Martin Luther King affordable housing complex.
The commission approved money for several projects overseen by Capital Region Development Authority, including $1.5 million for repairs at Rentschler Field and the Connecticut Convention Center, another $5 million for repairs to its parking garages in Hartford and $2 million more for environmental monitoring and repairs to the Front Street District. In addition, CRDA is set to receive another $500,000 for improvements at the Connecticut Regional Market in Hartford.
