Presenting at a Burlington City Council meeting, executives from Brookfield Asset Management pledged to start construction next year.
Gone are the soaring 14-story structures originally proposed. In their place are two towers. One, on the Cherry Street side of the property, would rise 10 stories and hold 280 to 300 apartments — the same as the original proposal. Twenty percent would be “affordable,” as required by Burlington’s inclusionary zoning ordinance.
A 175-room hotel of similar height would occupy the Bank Street side of the downtown parcel. Retail space would fill the first floor of each building, and levels of parking would fit between — and below — the structures.
The new plans would also incorporate the former Macy’s building, which would house retail, commercial and office space. The remnants of the Burlington Town Center mall, which opens onto Church Street and extends west, would remain intact.
“This represents a step in the right direction toward fixing a part of the downtown that has long been problematic, but we certainly [have] a long way to go,” he added.
The update was the most substantial in months and came after Weinberger demanded the developer provide some insight into the long-delayed project. Back in 2016, minority project partner Don Sinex said CityPlace would be open by January 2019. He demolished the former mall in 2017, but little has happened at the site since. Small businesses on Church Street have lamented the loss of foot traffic after the mall and parking garage were torn down.
But there are still a handful of unknowns, namely parking. There will be “adequate” spaces, but Brookfield is still firming up a total number, said Aanen Olsen, the company’s vice president of development. Apartment rental rates are also undecided.
Olsen wouldn’t say how much the project will cost or how long construction will take; the prior proposal carried an estimated price tag of about $225 million.
He did tell councilors that he’s “confident” the project will create enough revenue to cover nearly $22 million in tax-increment financing debt. Voters approved the TIF bond in November 2016 to help pay to reconnect St. Paul and Pine streets, which were cut off when the urban renewal mall went up in the 1970s.
Councilor Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) thanked Brookfield for the update but said the developer has much to do to restore public trust. Listening to residents is “crucial,” Tracy said.
“I hope that it’s not just something that is just a perfunctory step … which is very much what it felt like in the last case, and that there is real input that’s taken,” he continued.
Councilor Karen Paul (D-Ward 6) opined that Brookfield has listened to the public by reducing the project’s height. She said the city needs to move forward, not backward. Councilor Chip Mason (D-Ward 5) said the update was “encouraging” and asked what could hold up the project.
Olsen said the next hurdles are permitting, signing leases and ongoing litigation with project opponents. But John Franco, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in U.S. District Court, said he’s optimistic that the parties can move forward.
“It’s very much what we had expressed we wanted two years ago,” Franco said, referring to the building height. “This [proposal] doesn’t have half the warts the old one has.”
The girls earned national media attention — and a yellow card penalty — for sporting the custom jerseys during a home game on October 19.
Each councilor, plus the mayor and some city staff, sported the jerseys during the meeting. After reading the resolution, City Councilor Joan Shannon (D-South District) suggested her colleagues stand in solidarity with the team’s fight for pay equality.
“We, too, have rules in this council chamber about excessive celebration, and I think it’s time we all take a yellow card,” she said to applause.
The girls will play at CVU in the playoff semifinals on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Click here to see other CityPlace renderings.
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What you’ve laid out tonight represents the potential of achieving all the major goals the city laid out as we sat down to this process years ago, Mayor Miro Weinberger said
Did he say this while on his knees? What jobs does this project create? A hotel? Do we need more room attendant jobs in the city? It seems there are more than enough $12-$14/hour jobs to support the students.
Brookfield listened to the public in reducing the height? They couldn’t afford the original project. They don’t care about the public. Weinberger already promised them pretty much everything the wanted so they don’t need the public’s approval.
I suppose the rest of the unknowns can just be figured out as they build. No problem. Let’s give them permission to pour the foundation. We don’t need any more information.
Mayor Egg-on-his-Face Miro had to sound tough with Brookfield but he will gladly accept anything they offer. Ten stories is still too arrogant, too greedy , and too far out of scale with Burlington but that won’t stop the Neo-liberals running this city from trying to rush it through.
The term “affordable” is nebulous at best, “affordable” for whom? Brookfield, most likely.
I can guess that Brookfield’s financial managers can see the bottom dropping out of the economy in the next year or two and don’t want to be stuck with this project, or will sell it beforehand. Real Estate developers are some of the lowest of the low, just look at City Hall or the White House.
One of the key benefits of the original design was that the UVM Medical Center was going to lease a large amount of office space which would bring many people downtown and have positive anxcilarary benefits for downtown merchants. The Center has been waiting patiently during the complicated, and confused process. I do not see this office space in the new design, unless I am missing something. Please speak with the Hospital to see how this affects their plans. Will they go back to planning a campus in South Burlington? It is hard to see them partnering with Burlington again after this kerfluffle.
This is not a scaled down project but a scaled out project. Same number of apts or possibly more. Office space is the same just spread out instead of spread up. I would suggest that people go to city council meetings instead of getting all your info from news outlets. There was so much more then was reported here.
UVM med center still coming to this project.
I was hoping for a ten story Bounce House. That would have brought in the tourists.
Larger or smaller, the architecture remains butt-ugly, completely lacking in character (admittedly a subjective opinion). Do we really want another squared-off blocky structure to further detract from what is one of the queen citys chief attributes? Its always cheaper to build blocks with no redeeming architectural merit, and thats clearly the driving factor here. Sigh.
Well, it’s better than the Sinex building. I will have to see Pine St reconnected to believe it – very interesting twists in that. It would take real talent to make this all look good – we’re used to nice old buildings, and the new ones look pre-fab, with odd color chunks of identical pattern. If they can make this look Good, that would be a big help.
I’d just like to add that as far as the non-millionaires, and the non young-professionals (making over $100,000 a year), which is to say the folks who make $20,000 or $30,000 a year – affordable apartments would be LESS than $1000 a month. About 30% of total income, I believe the guidelines say. 20% of 300 apartments means about 60 Affordable apartments. This project was originally sold as a boon to the city, providing Affordable Housing. Let’s see that happen. And I hope they’re not clustered around an air shaft, as in the original design. Okay then! They finally came up with a rough design. Looking forward to the details, and the construction years!
LMAO
As always, design standards must be of upmost importance. This project must be designed well and with the best architectural idiom of our time.
20% of 300 apartments “affordable” does this mean subsidized or below market value? Burlington rents are inflated.
Adding to the housing stock could stabilize rents but not if the new unit rents are set above market prices. They didn’t mention what rents would be;surely the have a pro-forma on projected rent collection.
Reenie,
They’ve been saying that it should be 30% of the average income of the area. Some people are millionaires. The average income (when this project was proposed a few years back) was $60,000 a year. That’s $5000 a month in gross earnings. I’m not sure that represents the people who need affordable housing.
I do know people who make a lot of money, but most folks looking for Affordable places are people who make closer to $20,000 a year. This is gross earnings of $1,666 a month. To use the basic theory of paying a third of income on rent (so your budget will work) that’s $550 for rent.
People qualifying for affordable housing are not making $60,000. The developers say that below-market-rate would be about $1000 a month. You can see where this is going – until they get real about the prices, they will not be what most would call Affordable. I do wonder how much the other apartments will go for?
Better plan… what a waste of four years Sinex and Mr Mayor… love the soft shoe away from your wholesale support of the original plan Mayor and Councilor Paul… it was your lack of due diligence that has brought us to this point… you should be voted out…
And why does Burlington need another hotel?? We already have 3 overpriced hotels when the ones in the surrounding areas are a lot cheaper…
I agree, Mr. Gigrape,
Who would bring another hotel here? Why should people go there instead of the others? How often are all the hotels fully booked? This is a good question. How many jobs are created that depend on the increased tourist traffic (or UVM parental traffic), that will evaporate if the increase doesn’t happen, or happens just a few times a year?
In a review of the top 50 College Towns in the US, we were #23. Burlington has 42,000 people, 14,000 of whom are students. “While Vermont may be small, Burlington’s metro area holds a full third of the state’s total population.”
But, Wiki lists VT population as 626,000, and a third of that is 206,000. But we’re only a fifth of that figure…so maybe they mean Chittenden County, which is closer (162,000).
There is only so much development we need in this area, no matter how many developers locate here.
@Gigrape52@gmail.com
Why do we need another hotel! Could it be because the other hotels in Burl are full.
Just because you don’t use something doesn’t mean it isn’t needed.
I don’t think Mr. Cinex will ever go bankrupt. I’ve been a wise and long-term investor. I didn’t even plan the project with all the time. We also sold the luxury condominium of our own name in New York for two billion won. We’ve also put a big house in Vermont on a two-billion-dollar list.The reason why the opening of the mall is delayed is that there is no payment for the construction. I paid to go up to the 14th floor. But when it will be completed, neither Mr. Synex nor the Mayor nor Brookfield knows. It becomes increasingly clear whether it is completed or not. All that Burlington citizen has to do is pay it back. At this point, Mr. Cinex is curious about who and why did Burlington Mall have to go to court unconditionally? Convenience of citizens? Regional development or achievement? If you want to be the owner of a shopping mall, you have to take responsibility The construction will resume at Brookfield next year. I think it’s best for me to leave Vermont for another state, Mr. Synex. Will you leave for another country when Vermont Mansion is sold and the surrounding area is cleared?