Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1536873
14 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 30, 2025 State Sen. Joan V. Hartley (D-Waterbury) at a 20-acre brownfield site in Waterbury that once hosted a manufacturing complex for Anaconda American Brass. Hartley backed legislation that tweaked prevailing wage rules that apply to private brownfields redevelopment supported by state funding. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER 'Major Step Forward' Lawmakers ease prevailing wage requirements on state-backed private development projects to be paid not just on state-supported clean-up efforts, but also overall construction, increasing development costs by roughly 20%. That, developers and others have said, has undermined the benefits of state grants meant to spur economic growth and affordable housing. Brownfields funding is particularly important because it incentivizes developers to redevelop sites that would likely otherwise lay dormant. Lawmakers partially addressed the issue this past legislative session. The recently adopted two-year, $55.8 billion state budget includes a provision that limits the prevailing wage requirement to only a portion of a private development supported by DECD brownfield grants. State Sen. Joan V. Hartley (D-Wa- terbury), co-chair of the legislature's Commerce Committee, said she was a proponent of tweaking the prevailing wage requirement. She noted it was a priority for the state's Brownfields Working Group, which includes private-sector representatives. The change comes as the state continues to increase funding for cleaning environmental pollution on industrial sites, so that they can be developed for new uses, particularly affordable housing. The two-year budget adopted by lawmakers in June increases annual funding for brownfield cleanups from $35 million to $40 million. The update to prevailing wage requirements will help the state leverage those brownfield dollars to their fullest potential, Hartley said. DECD Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese said the law change means towns, developers, economic development agencies and nonprofits that apply for brownfield grants can be By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com S tate officials have tentatively approved $8 million for environ- mental cleanup at an aging river- front commercial site in Westport, where a developer plans to build a boutique hotel, luxury condos, restau- rants, retail space and a marina. But, until recently, development firm White Roan wasn't certain it wanted the state brownfield funding for the roughly $400 million "Hamlet at Saugatuck" project. That's because a prevailing wage requirement attached to Depart- ment of Economic and Community Development (DECD) grants would have added up to $40 million in expenses to the development, said Rodrigo Real, a founding principal with White Roan. Now, a recently adopted change in state law prom- ises to loosen those strings for the Westport project, and multiple other major developments in Connecticut. "We were very glad they decided to propose this solution," said Real, who plans to launch construction of Hamlet at Saugatuck in the second half of this year, pending land-use board approval. "I think it's a win-win for the state. It will clarify something that had been a gray area and had kept a lot of shovels out of the ground." The law Prevailing wage laws date back to the federal Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, which requires workers on public projects to be paid wages equal to those that "prevail" in their local area. Connecticut eventually adopted its own prevailing wage requirements for public projects. Today, the Connecticut Department of Labor (DOL) sets prevailing wage rates based on union standards, with pay varying by trade and location. For instance, in 2024, plumbers and pipe fitters working on projects in Westport earned at least $49.58 per hour, while roofers made at least $43, according to the DOL. More recently, a provision quietly added to the state budget in 2017 required private projects receiving at least $1 million in grants from the DECD to pay prevailing wages for labor tied to the developments. The state DOL is responsible for deter- mining when and how the rule applies. Developers, land-use attorneys and economic development advocates have complained that, in recent years, the mandate has been applied more broadly — requiring prevailing wage Rodrigo Real 2022 $40M $25M $10M $35M $20M $5M $30M $15M $0 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 STATE FUNDING Source: Dept. of Economic and Community Development CONNECTICUT STATE FUNDING FOR BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT