Hospitality Funding, under the business name Hotel Y Burlington, is planning a six-story, 142-room Cambria hotel, one of 10 brands owned by Choice Hotels. The company also operates Comfort Inn, Clarion, Econo Lodge and others, according to its website.
But Hospitality Funding’s chairman and CEO has Queen City ties, according to Nicole Ravlin, a spokesperson for the hotel. Scott Silver attended the University of Vermont as an undergrad, and his son lives in BTV, she said. Silver will serve as the Burlington project’s managing partner.
“Vermont is kind of his home away from home, and this is why he was interested in doing something with the community here,” Ravlin said.
More detailed plans will be unveiled at Wednesday’s Wards 1 and 8 Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting, said Scott Gustin, a principal planner with the city of Burlington. Silver and Cleary Buckley of Smith Buckley Architects are scheduled to attend and answer questions.
Silver said his firm “assumed the contract” for the property at 266 College Street last October from Montpelier lawyer Frank von Turkovich, who signed a contract to buy the historic building in 2016. City records show the property sold for $3 million; it was originally on the market for $3.75 million.
Smith Buckley Architects filed a memo with the NPA that says the hotel will retain the Y’s gabled roof structure at the corner of College and South Union streets but will demolish the building’s back portion. Designs also call for 77 underground parking spaces, a rooftop bar and restaurant and a “green/vegetated roof with kinetic art.”
The hotel will be built to sustainable design standards and will include its own stormwater retention system, the architects’ memo says.
The firm predicts the hotel will reduce traffic congestion at the intersection since guest turnover happens throughout the day “versus the highly concentrated pickup and drop off” times for the Y’s childcare program.
Meanwhile, the Burlington Y is continuing construction on its new home a block away at 298 College Street, site of the former Ethan Allen Club. The Y will continue operating at its current location until the new building is complete, likely by early 2020. Hotel construction is slated to commence that spring, the architects’ memo says.
The hotel must first pass design and development reviews, however. Those hearings are tentatively planned for later this month, Gustin said.
Jonathan Chapple-Sokol, a Wards 1 and 8 NPA steering committee member, said he hasn’t reviewed the hotel’s specific plans but anticipates the NPA meeting will host a robust discussion.
“I have an open mind about these things,” he said. “There’s a lot of interested people in the ward who come to the NPA. It may not be as exciting as others, but I think there will definitely be some good Q&A.”
The NPA will meet at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday in the UVM Medical Center’s McClure Lobby Conference Room.
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
This seems like a good use for the building, particularly because it uses the historic part and replaces the essentially useless newer part. I like the proposed roof and storm water retention ideas.
A stucco & glass rectilinear monolith built onto that beautiful old brick building with such great classic lines? That’s ugly as sin! What the hell are these people thinking? You know, besides $ $ $ $ $ $ $… This architect should restrict his work to Florida and stay out of Vermont entirely.
Let the anti-everything protests begin.
How many rooms will have to be set aside for Low Income Tourists?
I’m sure UVM students can live there in the winter/off-season. It would be a shame if UVM actually had to provide enough housing for its students. Another plus to this project is all of the transient service jobs it will create.
The firm predicts the hotel will reduce traffic congestion at the intersection since guest turnover happens throughout the day versus the highly concentrated pickup and drop off times for the Ys childcare program.
So traffic will suck all day and not just for two small windows of time?
Like the NPA involvement. Let’s see how that goes.
I’m fine with most development downtown, but the title of this story should really be “How to Lie with Architectural Renderings.” It’s interesting to see how the six-story hotel appears to be the exact same height as the 3.5 story YMCA from both north and south views. For comparison, six stories is also the height of the (awesome) new Ealge’s Landing/Champlain College building on St Paul Street.
It will also be interesting to see how tourists handle the one-way, one lane drop off zone…I doubt “reduced congestion” will be the result.
I bet this will be built and in business before that City Place breaks ground, If they can get through all the red tape of the NPA’s and City hall, I hope this project moves fast.
What is an NPA and why is it important?
Oh goody goody goody . . . more service wage jobs . . . thanks Mr. Trump . . err . . um . . Miro. You are so smart and enlightened. Mayor for life!!! So when will you knock down Memorial Auditorium to build that convention center? I know you haven’t let go of that scam yet.
Although the building in the picture looks way too puny for our vibrant and enlightened city, it should be at least 15 stories tall, just to show the world that we are the apex, the pinnacle of self-flattery and hubris. The City of Tomorrow!! But only for the Beautiful Elite and Elect. Let the poor be the galley slaves and chambermaids. They should be grateful for the crumbs they have been offered, eh?
Now let all the Neo-liberal sheep and “free market” Flat Earthers sing your praises. Bread and Circus!!!
Ah Yes, OldNorthEnder attack Miro as a problem bringing this to Burlington with low tier wages. Why don’t you put pressure on your progressive legislators to actually do something to bring businesses that can pay higher wages in the state, and maybe keep our young people here. Keeping the “idyllic” character of Burlington does nothing to attract young people or make them want to stay here. You can only keep raising taxes so long before there is no more to tax
Wow, what a great project! I love the bullishness of these investors. A welcome respite from the indications a softening real estate/investment climate illustrated by Brookfield’s (lack of) action.
These plans provide great compromise for all parties. The architect skillfully incorporates the older building into the new design, which will excite the preservationists. The 142 rooms should compete well in the marketplace and help Burlington claw back some of the business (and rooms tax revenue) we’ve lost to South Burlington.
No need for anyone drag out the permitting process; quick approval is a no-brainer.
Great.
Another hotel to eat up more vital space and to take more money out of the community, and provide more low wage service jobs for people who won’t be able to afford to live where they work. (I guess I missed the announcement that the affordable housing crisis was solved)
I suppose Kind Miro the Builder, First of His Name and Protector of The Developers will enjoy the rooftop bar as he looks out upon his realm as he and his clients continue to turn Burlington into Sim City By The Lake.
Well, it didn’t take long at all for the antis and Debbie Downers to arrive.
“Another plus to this project is all of the transient service jobs it will create.”
Good point. Better that there never be any more jobs at all if they don’t start at $60,000/year. No jobs is better than temporary jobs! No jobs is better than part time jobs! No new jobs is better than any “low paying” jobs! Too bad if you’re a person who actually WANTS a temporary or part time job — the resentful armchair economic savants of Burlington have declared that such jobs are bad and will not be allowed! Unemployment is better! Block this project and VOTE FOR NO MORE JOBS!
“traffic will suck all day”
Yeah. Traffic sucks. Better to leave a rotting old building be than do an economic development project with it.
Is is just me or does all the recent construction last few years – from the new hotels, to Pine St, to off Pine. to St. Paul st, etc all look like it was drawn from the same generic cookie cutter ‘building in a box’ set? Can’t the city try to nudge raise the bar a little architecturally?
Im not asking for ‘design police’ but….generic begets generic.
Finally. Just what we’ve always needed. A huge hotel. Why fix the roads or help the homeless when you can just make more money?
Nice picture. Where did the potholes go?
ORACLE, I agree with you. Miro much rather make more money than fix the roads or help the homeless like he promised to deal with when he made his phony election speech to get elected! He only cares about himself and his rich friends.
It was hopeful at one point to see affordable housing for the already bankrupt locals that want to reside here. Its not a surprise that they want to support tourism and colleges over the locals being here. Its not about people living here anymore its all about the people who dont and travel here. At one point burlington was a great place to be, now its completely unaffordable and we have enough hotels that people can waste all there money at. Maybe an entertainment spot and affordable housing would be more ideal. Moving south like everyone else.. this place is an absolute joke. Nobody even cares about the people who live here all year round.
…we need housing, not hotels.
Uff, can people be really that upset about taking a really dumpy (not on the outside) not-for-profit building that pays minimal taxes and replacing it with a private hotel that would generate significantly more taxes for the city of Burlington? We run a very expensive form of local government for the size of our city. We need more business tax payers to keep the pressure off the locals who pay more than two times the national average in property taxes per $1,000 of assessed value. National average is between 1.1% and 1.2% and Burlingtonians pay 2.6%. Also no one is being displaced and there’s a new, better Y on deck just up the street. People need to stop complaining about every development that comes down the pike and think about the cost of doing nothing on that same spot that’s underutilized in a city that has ambitious social/environmental/housing policy goals without the means to fund them.
https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CT/propertyta…
*We need housing, not hotels*
Everyone agrees with you that Burlington needs housing. So why dont you borrow money and build a housing development?
Oh, but if you can get a bank to back your project, be prepared for the land costs, the planning costs, the years-long permitting process, the zoning process, Act 250, the low-income set-asides and mandates, the historic preservation, the anti-development obstruction, and the construction costs, all of which will actually make your housing project economically unfeasible in housing-strapped Burlington. But if you get through all that, then be prepared also for for the lawsuits by the same handful of obstructionist Burlingtonians and their obstructionist attorney, who claim we need housing but who wont let anyone build any, and who exist to sue anybody whos gotten a permit to build anything.
My comment was more focused on how this project is being spun rather than the project itself. Yes, I’d like a project to go in that benefits more than just the developer. Burlington needs better paying jobs, more housing, etc. It would be nice to have some professionals downtown rather than the various slovenly dressed college kids manning the shops and restaurants and serving as punching bags for the police but in the absence of that project this hotel is what we have. Yes, it is better than leaving the pile of asbestos that is the old Y there but we can also do better than a hotel whose main benefit seemingly is to reduce traffic in an area that is virtually undrivable anyway because of potholes and poorly planned structures that carve out bike lanes. I’m not sure if the architect has actually been around Burlington but a hotel with a restaurant is not exactly …an experience that does not currently exist in the city,
Something needs to be done with the old Y. Somebody paid $3 million for it. Just be honest with what you are doing there.
“but we can also do better than a hotel”
“We”?
“We” do not own the property. Wanna decide what “we” should do with it? Then buy it. Then you can donate it to the city for any cause that makes you feel good. But in the meantime you do not own it. We do not own it. The city of Burlington does not own it. A private party owns it. As long as I’m complying with current zoning regulations, Burlingtonians need to stop just assuming that they get to decide what I will do with my property. I wanna paint my house pink? My business, not yours. I wanna build a hotel? My business, not yours.
You’re close. As long as you are complying with current zoning regulations (and others) then you can pretty much do whatever you want with the property. We as voters have a say in in what those regulations are and who we elect to change them for certain projects.
That’s not really my point, though. I was simply asking the developer and those involved in this project to be honest instead of pretending they were truly interested in doing what was in the best interest of Burlington by claiming they are freeing up traffic and providing “an experience that does not currently exist in the city.”
I’d settle for, “it’s my building and I will be working with the mayor to zone it so I can make as much money as possible off it without having to touch the existing structure which is grandfathered into some regulations so I don’t have to pay to bring it up to code” or something along those lines which is closer to the truth.