Burlington, Vermont’s mayor called a special meeting of the city council Tuesday evening to authorize an updated agreement with the developers of a long-delayed project in the downtown. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley was there as the council approved the deal.
The Burlington Town Center Mall opened in the center of the city’s downtown in 1976. But by the 2000’s it was underperforming economically and the city’s planning master plan prioritized redeveloping the property. In 2017 the city entered into an agreement with a developer, which demolished the property in 2018. Since then, developers have changed and no construction has occurred on the site.
This May, three local developers formed CityPlace Partners. They acquired the property and control of the project.
Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger called the special meeting to approve an Amended and Restated Development Agreement to authorize changes.
City Place Partner Dave Harrington said they have been working over the past six months to settle lawsuits and file permits in order to reach a point that they can begin construction.
“A lot of the changes in the development agreement were just kind of clarifying stuff that in the previous one said you need to do this and this and that. We’ve done this, this and that. There’s just been a ton of energy and enthusiasm to getting to this point tonight that reflects the revised project and the revised partners. And we’re raring to go and excited to get going on this project.”
Mayor Weinberger said the city has been long working toward an agreement that will lead to the construction of City Place.
“This is clearly a major step towards one of our long-standing goals for our downtown. Secondly this is a project that has faced challenges in recent years, and I want to be clear with the council and the public, we could face challenges still in the future. This is a key milestone but it is not the finish line. Third critical point is the revised development agreement before you is crafted in such a way that even if we do face future challenges the city, city taxpayers, are well protected.”
Weinberger said with approval, construction could begin almost immediately.
“The update to the agreement will allow CityPlace Partners to move forward and build what they are calling the podium of the project. It is the concrete foundation to the three buildings and the parking garage. The agreement, once started, commits them to finishing that podium. The three separate buildings that get built on top of the podium should be thought of in some sense as projects on themselves and they are still working to finalize all the details for construction of those buildings. They are very confident that they are going to be moving forward with those three buildings.”
City councilors had held executive sessions during their last two regular meetings to discuss the CityPlace agreements.
South District Democrat Joan Shannon moved to adopt the resolution, noting that the revised agreement takes the city back to a plan that most residents support.
“We’re actually moving forward with something I think our community is far more comfortable with than the original project plan. A lot of people were not comfortable with the original height of this proposed project. A lot of people wanted more housing and more affordable housing. And we heard quite a lot about wanting local developers involved in this project and lo and behold local developers have stepped forward to create the project that really represents our community vision.”
Councilors approved the resolution on a 9 aye and 1 absent vote.
The city also has an opportunity to apply for several federal grants that would provide resources for public improvements to sidewalks and streetscapes adjacent to the project.
