Burlington’s mayor and the developer of an old electric generating facility on the city’s waterfront have agreed to cancel a development agreement. But the New Moran Inc. is being given a final chance to present a feasible project even as the mayor begins to assess other potential developers or destruction of the building.
The Moran Plant is an old coal-fired electric generating plant at the north end of Burlington’s waterfront that was decommissioned in 1986. The city has been redeveloping the north end of the waterfront and the building is adjacent to a refurbished bike path and new skate park.
For decades there have been occasional and unsuccessful proposals to redevelop the building. In August 2014 the Weinberger administration signed an MOU with a group called New Moran Inc., which detailed a $20 million redevelopment vision. The plan included a mixed space venue with public markets, a large event space and an observation deck on top of the 87-foot tall building.
But the plans may not come to fruition. Mayor Miro Weinberger stood in front of the former utility building Thursday morning to explain why the agreement between the city and developers has been dissolved. “Over the last couple years the New Moran Inc. team has done impressive work creating an exciting, compelling vision. At times, particularly over the course of the spring, they were really quite close to putting together a financially viable project. Today’s release of this Mutual Consent Agreement is an acknowledgement that the team has also encountered setbacks, the timelines of the original MOU have not been met. While I am very supportive of making significant public investments, I do not support the city taking open-ended risk of an entrepreneurial effort like this.”
A new Mutual Consent Agreement, according to the mayor, has given New Moran Inc. a grace period until November during which his administration will review other options. “First of all New Moran has a final window between now and November 11th to create a viable project. It signals that the city is going to start the considerable work that we would need to do to actually take down the building if we need to. It makes it clear that the city will explore whether there are other parties who are better positioned to actually achieve the vision that went to the voters on a prompt timetable. And all of these actions will put us on a trajectory to make a final decision about the future of the building in late 2016 or early 2017.”
North District Independent City Councilor David Hartnett stood to the side listening as Mayor Weinberger outlined the situation. While he understands why the developers are being granted a grace period, he believes it’s time for closure after decades of attempting to redevelop the building. “The city, the city council and the administration have been more than patient with Team Moran and all of the other developers that have looked at this and I’m at the point where we’ve spent a lot of time and resources and I think it’s time for it to come down.”
The city has reserved about $6 million in Tax Increment Financing Funds that can only be used for economic development purposes for the project and will continue to hold them in reserve through the November deadline and the city council’s final decision regarding the building at the end of the year.
