Monday, March 8, 2021
The parcel, which is listed on Trulia for $3.3 million, includes sweeping views of the Adirondacks, access to two lake beaches, and an interest in 27 acres of neighboring agricultural land.
The former hayfield is one of four long-term residential leases that the Shelburne Farms nonprofit, created in 1984, sold the following year to raise money for restoration work and programs on its now 1,400-acre property. The buyers in 1985 paid more than the appraised value for three of the leaseholds as a way of helping the new nonprofit, said Alec Webb, a fourth-generation member of the family that established Shelburne Farms and the president of the nonprofit.
The lot is now owned by a Lintilhac family trust, according to Shelburne town records.
Shelburne Farms in recent years borrowed money from other conservation groups to purchase two other leaseholds in that area, known as Windmill Hill.
Tags: Shelburne Farms , real estate , Web Only , Image
Friday, March 5, 2021
Burlington-based attorney John Franco is representing four residents — Steve Goodkind, Michael Long, Lynn Martin and Barbara McGrew — in the pending appeal. He says the 422 parking spaces planned for the project aren’t enough to support 426 residential units, let alone vehicles from shoppers and downtown workers.
“I call it the ‘more cows than people’ problem,” Franco said, referring to the saying that Vermont’s bovines outnumber its humans. “That’s why we’re appealing. This will be a disaster for the downtown.”
Once the developers have the permit in hand, Franco said, he’ll file an appeal in Vermont Environmental Court.
The news comes as CityPlace developers last week finally settled a legal challenge brought by the city last fall. They aim to start construction late this summer or early fall, but the appeal could derail those plans, said Dave Farrington, one of the project partners.
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , Dave Farrington , John Franco , Burlington , development , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Councilors had delayed a vote on the settlement last week because it didn’t guarantee union labor to build the downtown project. While the final agreement doesn’t deliver on that front, it does promise to pay workers the prevailing wage, an hourly rate set by the state for various trades.
The wage for construction workers in the Burlington area, for example, is $18.45 an hour. According to the Vermont AFL-CIO, the prevailing wage could boost workers’ earnings by up to 42.5 percent.
"Approval of this resolution, from my perspective, is a big win," Councilor Chip Mason (D-Ward 5) said before the vote. "I see it as a path forward for the pit that I and all of us have looked at for the last four years."
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , CityPlace , Burlington City Council , Don Sinex , Dave Farrington , Al Senecal , Scott Ireland , lawsuit , litigation , Web Only , Image
Friday, February 5, 2021
The City of Burlington and the developers of the CityPlace Burlington project have reached a settlement that they say will allow construction on the long-stalled project to finally move forward.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said the agreement protects the city's investment in the downtown project, which has been tangled in litigation and construction delays for years.
It also achieves Weinberger's primary goal of reconnecting St. Paul and Pine streets to the city grid at no cost to taxpayers.
"No matter what happens now with the project that the developer is pursuing, the city will get our streets," Weinberger said. "The developer's success ultimately will mean hundreds of new homes, jobs and activity in the heart of our city, which in turn will be a success for all of Burlington."
The city council is expected to review the agreement Monday night and could vote on approving the deal on February 16.
The agreement resolves the lawsuit filed by the city last summer, which alleged the project owners had violated a development agreement that promised construction would continue "without interruption" after the Burlington Town Center mall was torn down in 2017.
Tags: Burlington , CityPlace Burlington , Don Sinex , Dave Farrington , Al Senecal , Scott Ireland , TIF , tax increment financing , Web Only , Image
Monday, October 19, 2020
Plans submitted by the developers — a new partnership that includes Don Sinex and local businessmen Scott Ireland, Dave Farrington and Al Senecal — call for even more housing than those championed by former majority owner Brookfield Asset Management.
Drawings submitted to the Wards 2 & 3 Neighborhood Planning Assembly show more than 420 units of housing, including at least 84 affordable units. Previous plans had 357 apartments. The project would also include 45,000 square feet of ground-level retail shops, a rooftop restaurant and observation deck, 422 parking spots and a community meeting space. Renderings show a 10-story tall south tower and a north tower of nine floors.
The developers also say they intend to make good on their promise to reconnect Pine and St. Paul streets. The city had planned to use $21.8 million in tax increment financing dollars to pay for those and other street improvements, but project delays had put that funding in jeopardy. Glassberg told councilors, however, that the state legislature extended the borrowing deadline for another year.
Tags: CityPlace Burlington , Burlington City Council , development , Board of Health , coronavirus , Stephanie Seguino , police , Burlington Police Department , Burlington Police Commission , Web Only , Image
Thursday, September 10, 2020
The City of Burlington is taking the developers of the long-stalled CityPlace Burlington project to court.
In a lawsuit filed in Vermont Superior Court earlier this week, the city alleges that mall developers Don Sinex and Brookfield Asset Management violated a development agreement by failing to build the project on an agreed timeline. The city announced the lawsuit in a press release on Thursday.
The filing says developers had promised to continue construction on the new project "without interruption" once the former Burlington Town Center mall was torn down. The city says construction began when the mall was demolished in 2017, while the developers have argued that construction never started.
"Anyone who has looked at the construction site in the last two years knows that’s absurd," Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement. "We’re not going to let them get away with it."
Tags: Burlington , Mayor Miro Weinberger , CityPlace Burlington , Brookfield Asset Management , Don Sinex , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
The city's Development Review Board unanimously voted Tuesday evening to approve Burton Snowboards' application to bring Higher Ground to an unused warehouse on its Queen City Park Road campus. Board member Geoff Hand recused himself from deliberations.
Higher Ground is envisioned as the centerpiece of Burton's planned entertainment hub, which includes a food court and factory tours. Talent Skatepark opened there earlier this year.
The project has been a source of debate for months. Burton and Higher Ground executives say the venue will be compatible with the South End arts scene, but many neighbors have argued it will bring noise and traffic to the residential area. They organized the opposition group Citizens for Responsible Zoning and have hired lawyers and sound experts to fight the project.
The DRB approved the permit with neighbors' concerns in mind, tacking on nearly 20 conditions that Burton must meet to be in compliance. One requires Burton to hire traffic control personnel to redirect post-concert crowds from the nearby Queen City Park neighborhood. The company had agreed to hire flaggers if traffic volumes proved unmanageable after the first 10 events.
Tags: Burlington , Higher Ground , Burton Snowboards , traffic , Burton Hub , DRB , Development Review Board , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Burlington city councilors gave Mayor Miro Weinberger their blessing early Tuesday to sue CityPlace developers Don Sinex and Brookfield Asset Management if negotiations over the long-stalled project sputter out.
The council voted 10-1 to “pursue all legal remedies” should talks with Sinex and Brookfield fail. The vote, taken just after midnight Tuesday, authorized the city to make all "necessary budget allocations to accomplish these ends." Councilor Ali Dieng (I-Ward 7) cast the lone no vote; Councilor Franklin Paulino (D-North District) was absent.
"The city is really wanting to take strong action against Sinex to make him live up to his promises," Council President Max Tracy (P-Ward 2) told Seven Days later Tuesday morning. "It's looking increasingly likely that we will pursue legal action," he added.
Tags: CityPlace , Burlington , Burlington City Council , Don Sinex , Brookfield , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
“For 30 years, the Burlington community has been dreaming and imagining great uses of this unique ... structure,” Mayor Miro Weinberger told an assembled crowd of dozens at Water Works Park, which adjoins the Moran property. “Today, we have found a way to achieve many of the city’s long-held goals for this site.”
Crews have already begun stripping the five-story building’s interior and were busy in the background during Wednesday’s event. Workers will gradually strip the entire brick-encased building, leaving just the steel framework standing amid what will eventually be a city park.
The ceremony included no actual groundbreaking, though gleaming shovels leaned against a nearby chainlink fence surrounding the old coal-fired power plant. Instead, the city gave attendees old bricks from the building, adorned with a label designed by Burlington City Arts commemorating the event.
Tags: Moran Plant , Burlington , redevelopment , FRAME , park , waterfront , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
City officials will break ground Wednesday afternoon on a “deconstruction” project for the old coal-fired power plant on the Burlington waterfront. The long-awaited redevelopment will remove the outer brick layer of the building and leave the interior steel framework, the centerpiece of a new city park on a waterfront that was once devoted to industry.
Known as the FRAME design, which stands for “Fearless Relook at Moran Electric,” the first phase of the project is expected to take a year to complete, Mayor Miro Weinberger told Seven Days on Tuesday. It’ll “transform what has been up until now an eyesore into an iconic landmark,” he said of the long-vacant building.
“The Moran FRAME concept is unique, it’s authentic to Burlington, and I think it’s quite exciting,” Weinberger said. “This new structure is going to be an enormous piece of public art” that includes public access to the area.
“The framework creates the real potential for those uses to expand and grow over the years,” he added.
Tags: Burlington , Moran plant , redevelopment , park , waterfront , FRAME , Miro Weinberger , mayor , Web Only , Image