Don Sinex and his partners at Rouse Properties expect to close on the purchase of the Macy’s building at 67 Cherry Street in the next two or three weeks, Sinex said via email Tuesday. He would not disclose plans for the property, which is assessed at $11.1 million.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said the purchase is good news. The deal means that the site will not sit vacant for an extended period, and that a team that has already proven its commitment to Burlington with the mall makeover plan will reimagine its future, Weinberger said via email Monday.
“There is potential here, with public input, to further transform an unappealing and underutilized section of the downtown into a vibrant, mixed-use, and more accessible neighborhood,” Weinberger stated.
Macy’s is Burlington’s only downtown department store. Last week, the struggling national retailer announced that the local store would be among 100 Macy’s stores to be shut down this year.
Demolition on the outdated mall began last month and will transform the property, adding 270 apartments and condos, smaller store spaces and offices. Two 14-story buildings are planned.
The construction project at the roughly five-acre mall property is the largest in downtown Burlington’s history, according to the Burlington Community & Economic Development Office.
The city has issued a request for proposals calling for a consultant who could help neighboring businesses remain viable during the construction. The deadline for responses is February 2.
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Drive the price down by shutting off traffic to it and then scoop it up with Weinberger’s blessing. Stay tuned.
I was heartbroken to recently find out that the State I Love and called home for many years, is abandoning it’s grassroots vibe in order to commercialize and strip away a beautiful skyline. I can’t imagine the sight of a 14 story building smack-dab in the middle of downtown could possibly allow for unobstructed sunset views from the rest of town. Hundreds of homes and countless people living up the hill will have the sun go down behind the tallest temple of commercialism to invade the Green Mountain State. Where is the community on this? After they build this, will we adorn the highways with billboards? Who in Vermont actually wants to go look at the box stores in Williston stacked on top of one another (with overpriced condos on top, I’m guessing very few of us would affordably rent) in downtown Burlington, rather than a panoramic view of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains…
Dang, this guy’s making some serious $$$ in our town. I wonder who’s getting his table scraps?
@Mt.Philo. Exactly!! Sinex created the circumstances by which Macy’s could not survive. And then he picks up a deal. And I know people will point to the “retail apocalypse”. Macy’s may have been on the chopping block. But Sinex wielded the axe. This deal was made months ago.
And now he has a property that can act as a money making buffer; rising just high enough so as not to disturb the high priced views of the towers he’s selling.
Weinberger is so far up Sinex’s butt, he tastes what Sinex eats for breakfast
I am glad Miro is paying lip service to the small local operators who will have a tough go of it these next three to four years.
Let the architectural sanitization and gentrification continue. “Vibrant”?!? Banal and boring more like it.
How convenient. This just worked out well for everyone named Weinberger or Sinex.
This is great news. Congratulations and a big THANK YOU to Don Sinex from the people of Burlington!
Though this parcel is in the new DMUC overlay we should nonetheless be a bit more bearish on the expectation of large-scale redevelopment and new 14 story apartment towers. Many more headwinds exist today than when Sinex started the mall project three and a half years ago.
1. Interest Rates- The Fed will begin liquidating securities it has accumulated over Bernanke-era quantitative easing (QE) programs. Additionally, the Board of Governors projects at least two more rate hikes to the Fed Funds Rate in 2018. These factors will put continued upwards pressure on interest rates. No one benefits more from low interest rates (and harmed by high interest rates) than private real estate developers like Devonwood and Rouse, who unlike publicly-traded REITs (who largely raise funds in equity markets), rely on credit markets to fund their ventures. These credit markets will become MUCH more expensive than 3-4 years ago.
2. GOP Tax Bill/LIHTC- The GOP bill didn’t affect low income housing tax credits (LIHTC), a tax credit housing developers can sell to banks when they create low-income housing. However, the tax bill did slash the corporate income tax rate to 21% which significantly erodes the value of the tax credits. Selling LIHTC credits can help cover the costs of Inclusionary Zoning; now IZ may become an even costlier mandate.
3. Increases to statewide education fund property tax rates (anticipated at 7%+ for non-residential in FY19) and slight softening in commercial real estate market are not incentivizing any investment.
I hope I am wrong, of course….
Paco DeFrancis
BTV GOP
Unless you’re lost for Xmas ideas and you’re a day away from the fat jolly guy squeezing through the chimney, please tell me the last time you decided to take a stroll through Macy’s? How about we allow that space to be developed into something useful and walk the extra 500 yards to the developing waterfront to enjoy the sunset…
Breathe it will all be okay,
You people are super dramatic. Also, can someone explain how the mayor is financially benefiting from a private developer building a building? Yeah, thought so.
You people are super dramatic. Also, can someone explain how the mayor is financially benefiting from a private developer building a building? Yeah, thought so.
Take a look at the list of developers who have donated to the mayor’s campaign. When you do, remember how much more money the mayor has raised than any of his opponents.
What is the Sinex group getting? What kinds of tax breaks, etc.? Follow the money.
Meanwhile, 65-100 people are out of a job, losing on average let’s say, $18,000 per year. That’s now $1.8 MILLION taken out of the local economy. Sixty five to one hundred FAMILIES now scrambling to figure out how they will pay rent, groceries and more.
Burlington used to be a great little city if you didn’t have a lot of money… now it’s a great little city if you have a lot of money…
It’s awful for those employees who are now without a job because of the store closing. I have a few neighbors that work there. Still, Macy’s is dealing with this problem all over the country. It’s not the City’s fault that people prefer buying things online.
I hope they tear it down and build 7-8 floors of workforce housing, with first floor locally owned retail. Would be really cool if the Champlain Housing Trust and Cathedral Square were involved in the same way they are for Cambrian Rise.
It’s also a shame that no matter if the project is good for working and middle class people or not, the CLC and Rights and Democracy will try to say that this is some scheme to sell Burlington and take away our parking.
@ Arrants:
“What is the Sinex group getting? What kinds of tax breaks, etc.? Follow the money.”
Instead of making veiled accusations in the form of questions, why don’t you do the research and answer those questions so the rest of us can see if your accusations are baseless?