The Burlington City Council in Vermont approved an amended development agreement on Nov. 1 for CityPlace Burlington, allowing construction on the long-stalled project to begin.
"We've been working towards this moment for a long time," said David Farrington, one of the project partners.
For years, the future of "the pit," as locals have nicknamed it, has been uncertain. In 2014, former owner Don Sinex pitched redeveloping the old Burlington Town Center mall into 14-story towers. Sinex had the mall demolished in 2017, but the site stayed empty, with little movement since.
Seven Days, an independent weekly news source in Burlington, reported Nov. 1 that the CityPlace project is now helmed by three local businesspeople: Farrington of Shelburne's Farrington Construction, Al Senecal of Omega Electric Construction in South Burlington, and Scott Ireland of S.D. Ireland Construction, from Williston.
In recent months, the trio made notable progress on the development with CityPlace Burlington announcing in September a partnership with Champlain Housing Trust, which will construct affordable housing on the site as well as the city council's final approval of the project.
Ambitious Plans Being Realized
Phase One of the developers' plans for the site includes a total of two towers about 10 stories each that would hold some 430 total units of housing, including 85 affordable apartments, 45,000 sq. ft. of ground level retail space, 420 parking spaces, and a rooftop restaurant and observation deck.
The first step in the construction effort, according to Farrington, is to start laying the foundation for the south tower, which faces Bank Street. Building would then continue clockwise around the plot, he told Seven Days, adding that the project should "go vertical" by June or July of 2023, with the building job, including a north tower, completed by November 2025.
"All I can say is, it's about time," he said.
"This is a unique and great opportunity to build affordable housing in downtown Burlington," Michael Monte, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust, told the Burlington City Council at an October meeting.
To move forward with the ambitious construction timeline, though, the city had to approve changes to the agreement that was negotiated with Sinex, the prior owner, in early 2021. The earlier agreement was based on a different financing timetable and did not account for the current partnership with Champlain Housing Trust.
The new agreement allows the CityPlace partners to begin, even though they have yet to secure funding for the entire project, which will be built in phases. The amendment also acknowledges Champlain Housing Trust's involvement and accommodates the legislature's statewide extension of the tax-increment financing bond deadline, which is now set for next spring.
Even before the agreement passed, CityPlace's developers applied for a building permit to lay the foundation for the structure, at an estimated cost of $12 million.
The team behind the project spoke at the Nov. 1 meeting about the uncertainties ahead, warning that there could be future amendments to the agreement. The developers reiterated, though, that city taxpayers will be better off with the decision to move forward with construction.
"This is clearly a major step towards our longstanding goals for our downtown," said Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger.
CityPlace Deal to Help Pay for Other Projects
Burlington city officials had long demanded that the CityPlace project include restoration of the portions of Pine and St. Paul streets that were severed when the mall was built in the 1960s.
The new agreement says the builders will construct the streets and the city will reimburse them with $21.8 million in tax increment financing dollars, a funding plan that voters approved in November 2016. The debt would be repaid with the additional tax revenue generated by the project itself.
In addition, the deal reached in October allows the city to carry out some public improvement projects around Pine and St. Paul streets if it can obtain grant funding for the work.
Among the proposed efforts is a council-approved route for the Railyard Enterprise Project, which, after it is built in the next several years, will connect Pine and Battery streets. The new avenue would run from Pine Street near Kilburn Street, then cut through property owned by Vermont Rail System, Curtis Lumber, and the Independent Block before joining Battery at Maple Street.
First proposed in 2021, the project would provide motorists with a more direct route to downtown Burlington and the Lake Champlain waterfront. Additionally, it could reduce traffic in the area by as much as 59 percent, according to a study in August 2020 by the consulting firm Resource Systems Group.
Described by its backers as the least expensive of three options the council considered, the route is also expected to ease an influx of traffic the city anticipates will come through the Pine Street corridor once the Champlain Parkway is built. Construction on the latter roadway has already begun, though its completion is still years away, Seven Days reported.
With a green light from the city council, the proposed Railyard Enterprise route will undergo an environmental assessment by the Federal Highway Administration, with denial or approval likely announced in early 2023.
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