A $200 million plan to rebuild Burlington Town Center — the Queen City’s aging mall — is forcing Vermont’s largest city to envision its future. The construction of two 14-story towers would require changes to the 105-foot height limit now in place downtown. At 150 feet, they’d significantly alter Burlington’s low-rise skyline — and rank as the tallest buildings in Vermont. With 300 units of housing, they’d also begin to relieve the city’s housing shortage.
Both the city council and planning commission would have to sign off on the proposal from developer Don Sinex. In advance of that, reactions were mixed: Some thought it was terrible idea; others called it progress.
“I think well done, it would enhance the character of Burlington,” said Peter Owens, director of Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office. “Poorly done, it would be a disaster.”
UPDATE: Sinex hasn’t formally submitted his mall redo plan to the Burlington Development Review Board — instead, he subjected it to a public planning process.
There’s been relatively little discussion about tower height in those meetings so far, but some city residents have expressed their concerns through other means, said Jane Knodell, the Progressive president of the Burlington City Council who also serves on the mall Development Agreement Public Advisory Committee.
The goal is for the towers to fit in with the architecture and feel of the city, while allowing for several hundred units of new housing in Burlington’s dense, walkable downtown, Sinex said. Knodell said she’d support the height increase if the public benefits of the project meet her goals for better street connectivity, affordable housing and a revitalized retail experience.
Some aspects of the proposal have changed already. The new parking garage will be above ground, not underground, due to cost, Sinex said. But it will be on the interior of the project, hidden from view. The most up-to-date design for the project will be presented at 5:30 p.m. January 5 in the mall’s lower level. The public is invited to look at posters and weigh in.
City voters will have their say via a future ballot question about tax-increment financing for mall infrastructure. “In practice it will be almost like a vote up or down on the whole project,” Knodell said.
But plans for a March vote have been dropped, and it’s unclear whether the question will go on the November 2016 ballot.
Sinex predicts it will take most of next year to get through the permitting process. If approved, he hopes to build the project in 2017 and replace the mall with a more modern, mixed-use development.
This article appears in Dec 30, 2015 – Jan 5, 2016.
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“Money” Miro Weinberger will make it happen. All those needed janitors and parking lot attendants will also help bring good paying jobs to the city. File now to circumvent the livable wage responsibilities.
I like the idea of progress, but as I have posted before, the city needs to wrap its head around the fact that if you’re going to increase the population you MUST increase the school budgets considerably. Both middle schools are busting at the seems and the school board is still cutting programs and staff. The high school is in dire need of repairs much more so than the mall, that’s for sure. Yet no one seems to bat an eye at the growing municipal budgets, but shout at the tops of their lungs if the school budget rises. Quality schools = quality community. You can not sacrifice one and expect the other to occur.
Looks like an ambitious project. How long would it take to build and how would local merchants be compensated for the lack of business or downsizing of crowds during the construction process. People could just start avoiding down town and who own the out skirts instead. Middlebury is facing a similar problem with the planned construction of the train tunnel down town.
Vermont’s school budgets have already been increased to be the highest in the nation. Where is all the money going if they’re letting the infrastructure fall apart? I strongly disagree with increasing school budgets as we have already increased them far beyond inflation over the past two decades. If we increase the student population by twenty percent, we will still be paying more per student than the US average. It’s a great economic indicator that we need more housing but I don’t think the buildings should be quite that tall, 10 or 12 stories seems perfectly reasonable. $70,000 average salary for teachers seems like very fair compensation, in ten years they’ll probably be close to $100,000, asking for more when the average taxpayer makes far less doesn’t seem very reasonable.
The proposed towers are totally out of scale with the rest of Burlington. They would also block our beautiful view from the lake of steeples and University of Vermont, this project is all about the hubris of the developer and would destroy the feel of Burlington. IN my opinion developers are a nasty lot, “build it and I will run!” Their greed would destroy our beautiful City, and State. The name is also not applicable to Burlington. “Devonwood” for heavens sake. Truly, they build this and move on to some other gullible place. If the project does go through, there are some elements that would be nice, it should only be if the horrible “Towers” are significantly reduced in size. Please don’t let someone elses delusions of grandeur get us carried away. Please use some common sense in making any decision. Thank You.
Where are those 70 grand jobs? I have been working part time and serving tables just to get by as a teacher. The schools hired you as a part time and pays $10 bucks an hour because of the budget. No master, education, or experience matters. Please Penelope. Let me know where to submitt the job application!
Juanmgu:
The average salary for a South Burlington teachers is about $74k, which is the highest teachers pay in the state. The average salary for all Vermonters is $40,203, according to census data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nevertheless, S.B. teacher start pay is in the high 40’s
People, Burlington teachers, I don’t know why we should drag South Burlington into this which has similar numbers, do not average $74K. Look at the master agreement which is online. The only ones making $70+ are those with extensive credit hours beyond a BA (usually at there own cost) and 13+ years of experience. There is simply no way an entire faculty meets this criteria so that the average pay is the top end. The school system needs reform but of course there is no money to be made in that. Miro is much more interested in developing areas and making money. Lastly, if you are truly concerned that teachers make so much more than you, then there’s your problem. Jobs in Vermont pay dirt which is why it is such a struggle for all except those with money to live here.
Instead of making assumption after assumption, why don’t you all attend the meeting, ask questions, learn the reality of the project, the real pros and cons, then you’ll have an informed opinion.
First, the increases in the school budget have far outpaced increases in the municipal budget. Second, the residents of Burlington are really at their taxable limit. You can’t continue to try to get more money out of the same people. So if you want more money, for either the schools or city, the only real way to do that is with an increase to the tax base (grand list). That is what this project does. It dramatically increases the grand list. So if you want more tax revenue, without increasing taxes this is the way to do it and the argument that you have to increase the school budget to build the mall is illogical. If you don’t want the development, that’s understandable, but if you want more money for schools and city, than you need this project (or an alternative project) to pay the bill.