Friday, September 1, 2017
Burlington’s multiyear effort to redevelop the decrepit Moran Plant is no more.
Mayor Miro Weinberger announced Friday that the city has abandoned its negotiations with New Moran, a group of developers who were working to bring new life to the old coal-fired power plant along the city’s waterfront. Instead, the building will likely be demolished and the site remediated — at a price tag of at least $4 million and upwards of $10.7 million, according to city estimates.
At a press conference Friday afternoon in City Hall Park, Weinberger painted redevelopment as a valiant effort at a Sisyphean task. “What the New Moran team was trying to do was very hard,” he told reporters. “There’s a reason that for more than 30 years this building has remained abandoned and vacant.”
Tags: Moran Plant , New Moran , Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington waterfront , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Developers have until August 18 to respond to a request for proposals that UVM issued June 20. The land is south of Interstate 189, near the intersection of Spear and Swift streets.
The solicitation seeks a buyer "with the intention of developing housing that will be made available to the community."
The undeveloped parcels are about about 1.5 miles from the campus, near the East Woods natural area.
Tags: University of Vermont , South Burlington , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 24, 2017
The Public Utility Commission issued a four-page ruling on Monday saying the application for the project, which was filed in June after years of debate, is incomplete and missing crucial information. The project calls for two turbines capable of powering 2,000 homes.
But the commission said central information, including specific locations of the turbines and an access road, an assessment of natural resources in the area, and whether blasting will occur, is missing.
The commission said it considers the application to have never been filed, forcing the project's backer, AllEarth Renewables CEO David Blittersdorf, to begin the process again.
Tags: wind , Irasburg , Lowell , David Blittersdorf , public utility commission , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Development company Redstone bought the triangle-shaped lot and ramshackle, one-story building in the Old North End last year. The Burlington Development Review Board on July 5 green-lighted soundproofing, new siding and new storefront doors — among other changes — at the former convenience store and bottle-redemption facility once a popular spot for "canners" who would bring around carts full of returnables.
"Everything is looking good and we're hopeful that it's going to be a cool element of creativity in the Old North End where Burlington-based bands and bands from other parts of the country can lay down tracks and make great music," said Redstone managing partner Erik Hoekstra.
Tank's owners did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
According to Hoekstra, Tank is leasing the 3,200-square-foot space at 208-212 North Winooski and moving out of its space just down the road at 274 North Winooski.
The flies and sticky floors at the former redemption center will be a thing of the past.
"We are renovating and retrofitting the existing building. We are not tearing that building down, we are not starting all over," Hoekstra said. "We are working with what's there and trying to get rid of the sticky fly situation and breathe some new life into the building."
The Burlington Beverage Center closed last September after 38 years in operation. The closing forced many low-income neighborhood residents who collect returnables for income to find another redemption center — in some cases walking five miles to get there.
The zoning application indicated that up to six employees will work at the new studio, which anticipates maximum hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m, seven days a week.
The studio will help enliven an already vibrant corridor of shops, restaurants and residential buildings along the North Winooski corridor, according to the Redstone application to the DRB.
Tags: Tank Recording Studio , Burlington Beverage Center , Redstone , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 10, 2017
Not for long: After 72 years at the site — and 169 in Burlington — the facility will go quiet next year, making way for new owners who plan to transform the old manufacturing space. Blodgett Oven is moving after the company purchased a 180,000-square-foot facility in Essex from Miller Realty.
Now, Burlington business owner Russ Scully has bought the three-building, 16-acre property along the waterfront in Burlington's South End. The two parties closed the deal on June 23, according to Erica Havers, vice president and controller of Blodgett. Scully paid $14.3 million for the property, which is assessed at just over $4.1 million, according to city documents.
Scully has been tightlipped about his plans for the property, but he — along with his wife, Roxanne — already have a variety of water-related businesses in Burlington; now they also have some waterfront.
Tags: Blodgett Oven , Russ Scully , Roxanne Scully , Tom Torti , Noelle MacKay , Burlington , Miro Weinberger , Rachael Miller , Frank Cioffi , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
The agreement requires Sinex to include an additional 200 spaces of parking in the basement of the development, which includes buildings of up to 14 stories. Sinex also agreed, in phase one of the project, to not sign a master lease to provide housing for Champlain College or other university students, according to a joint press release issued by both parties.
It also stipulates that any future development of Sinex-owned property at the Burlington Town Center site would not reach more than 10 stories.
Tags: Don Sinex , Miro Weinberger , Burlington Town Center , mall , redevelopment , Image , Web Only
Monday, July 3, 2017
The future of the coveted Lakeside Avenue property, with shoreline and expansive views of the Adirondacks across the lake, has been the subject of speculation for years. Investors using the name Lakeside Ovens LLC purchased it on June 23. The group paid $14.3 million — well above the grand list value of $4.1 million.
Matt Daly, the Burlington attorney representing the buyers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Tags: Blodgett Oven , Miro Weinberger , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 16, 2017
The phase two rehabilitation will repave a 3.3-mile section between the North Beach Campground and the Winooski River, where a bridge connects Burlington's New North End to Colchester. The first phase, from the waterfront to the North Beach Campground, was completed this spring.
Cycling advocacy organization Local Motion is concerned about the work's impact on tourism and cyclist safety during the high summer season, according to executive director Jason Van Driesche — though the group supports the upgrade.
"For most people, there's no good time to do a project like this," acknowledged project manager Jon Adams-Kollitz of the Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Department. The long-term benefits are worth it, he said. "All we can do is ask for forgiveness in terms of the inconvenience."
Tags: Burlington Bike Path , Parks and Rec , Jon Adams-Kollitz , Jason Van Driesche , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 12, 2017
The Conservation Law Foundation, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, the Preservation Trust of Vermont and local activists Exit 4 Open Space spent the last two months furiously making phone calls and soliciting donors to meet the June 15 deadline that Sammis set.
Paul Bruhn, executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, dubbed it an "amazing and miraculous" effort.
The transaction will be the last nail in the coffin of Sammis' nearly decade-long effort to build a multiuse development on the land. The 172-acre tract was to host a welcome center, a rest stop, a 180-room hotel and conference center, as well as 274 homes, a fitness center, and light industrial space.
Tags: Jessie Sammis , Paul Bruhn , Ayers Brook Goat Dairy , VNRC , CLF , Preservation Trust , Image , Web Only
Monday, May 22, 2017
With the ruling, developer Don Sinex plans to move ahead with the project and begin construction in midsummer, according to spokesperson Liz Miller.
"I am pleased with this decision denying a stay; it is a good step forward for the Burlington Town Center redevelopment," Sinex said in a statement. "Rather than fight, we wish [the opponents] would join with us and the many Burlington residents who already support this project."
Tags: Don Sinex , Mayor Miro Weinberger , John Franco , Liz Miller , Judge Thomas Walsh , Burlington Town Center redevelopment , Image , Web Only