Burlington-based developer Redstone has a contract to buy one of the most prominent historic buildings in downtown Winooski.
The company plans to buy the distinctive 19th-century red-brick Winooski Block building atop the city’s roundabout, home to Scout & Co. and other businesses. Redstone also has a contract to buy two smaller residential properties a few doors down at 33 and 41 East Allen Street.
The acquisitions would add to the company’s growing real estate portfolio in downtown Winooski.
Redstone recently announced plans for an entertainment venue called the Strand, which would be built across Main Street from the Winooski Block building. On Tuesday, the Winooski City Council came out in support of that proposal.
The council also voted Tuesday to allow Redstone to pursue downtown tax credits for the Winooski Block, which needs work. The company plans to preserve the structure and to keep the current mix of commercial tenants on the first floor and 26 apartments on the upper floors.
Its exterior was renovated in 1981 but the interior needs some attention, according to Bill Niquette, senior associate at Redstone, who spoke at the meeting Tuesday. “There are a lot of things to fix,” he said.
Redstone is buying the building from Bill Niquette’s distant cousin, Russ Niquette. Bill Niquette declined to disclose Redstone’s offer for the buildings.
In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the council gave support for a development agreement with Redstone on the Strand project. The vote gives Mayor Seth Leonard authority to sign the final agreement after city lawyers review it.
The Strand, named after a movie theater that burned down on the block in the 1950s, would be at 66 Main Street. The $20 million project would house a 1,500-person performance hall, offices, restaurants and possibly a brew pub.
The shuttered drive-through bank now on the site would be demolished.
Under the agreement, Redstone would be allowed to realign sections of West Allen and Main streets. A plaza along West Allen would include sculpted curving benches, new trees and space for outdoor restaurant seating.
The Strand would be built adjacent to Winooski City Hall, which is at 27 West Allen.
The council unanimously agreed to apply for a state sales tax credit for Redstone and the Strand project. The credit could return an estimated $350,000 to Redstone, money that would be used to build wider sidewalks and terraces.
Parking remains an issue. The Strand will have no on-site parking, and during concerts will rely heavily on the city’s 920-space parking garage on Winooski Falls Way. Many of those spaces are leased during the day. But most of them are open for public use at night, and the agreement pushes the city to keep it that way.
At least 550 parking spaces in the lot must remain open for public use from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. during weekdays or at any time on weekends, under the terms of the agreement.
The project has already won approval from the city development review board. Leonard said he reached out to immediate neighbors and found many of them approve of the Strand proposal.
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This is a disaster-in-the-making for Winooski. Traffic and parking are already major problems, with the intersection of Main Street, West Allen Street, and the traffic rotary being particularly problematic. Yet, this is precisely where “the Strand” is going to be located. Having one company (Redstone) control so much property in downtown Winooski might also bring problems of its own, and anyone who has ever dealt with Redstone can tell you why. (related thought: does the Winooski City government just bend over for every single developer that waves some money at it?). Finally, I understand now why Decarreau is resigning when she is and what she meant in her recent interview about dealing with developers. The handwriting was on the wall. The people who live in and around this soon-to-be disaster area need to rise up and demand absolute assurance that the quality of life of residents here will not be negatively impacted by the never-ending greed of our local politicos and their developer buddies.
Redstone has been a good developer in Winooski. Their point man in Winooski is a native Winooskite.and a very creative problem solver. This project can and will work. Finding creative solutions to new development is the new Winooski-way.
Another boondoggle waiting to happen. When will the city council members start thinking about the residents of these cities and towns? They want to build build build, yet are clueless to the amount of traffic this adds. The residents are going to have to place no parking signs near their houses, as where do you think these people are going to park? They are going to start parking in neighborhoods. Always seems to be the same developers. No regards to the residents of these towns. Who cares if he is from Winooski, sounds like he is only about making more money with no regard to his neighbors.