[B]URLINGTON — An overflow crowd packed into a vacant retail space in the Town Center Mall earlier this week to hear the latest from developer Don Sinex and city officials on plans for a more than $200 million renovation of the mall property.
Sinex, who purchased the mall two years ago, said he’s spent the past year-and-a-half trying to move the project forward even as the mall continues to lose tenants — most recently Williams Sonoma, which will close its doors later this month.
At times Sinex has expressed frustration with the pace of progress, telling the crowd lightheartedly Tuesday that getting a project approved in Vermont can be an “intricate” and time-consuming affair.
“Nobody likes to lose a tenant, and trust me tenants don’t leave a place because they’re making lots and lots of money,” Sinex said of Williams Sonoma. The national kitchenware retailer wanted to leave earlier, but he convinced them to stay another year.
When that year came and went without progress, he said there was nothing more he could do to keep them at the mall.
The project will be built in phases and Sinex and city officials said they would work carefully to allow the Church Street facing retail stores to continue operating through much of the construction.
Sinex said he believes it will take at least another year to complete the planning and get the necessary approvals his company, Devonwood Investors, LLC, needs for the project. He said he hopes to start construction in 2017 and have “a living breathing retail garage thing with office space coming in October of ‘18.”
Mayor Miro Weinberger called that timeline “ambitious” but not “out of the ballpark.”
“It is a big complicated project that has a million pieces that need to be sorted out. Time needs to be taken to get the right outcome,” he said.
Sinex hopes to take advantage of a 2014 law that allows projects in downtown areas to avoid the state’s Act 250 environmental review process. Still, he will need the zoning changes approved, approval from the City Council and the Development Review Board as well as tax breaks approved by city voters.
The redevelopment would bring a mix of housing, office and retail space, increase the amount of parking and amenities like a new cinema and observation deck atop one two towers that would bookend the block.
Those towers, a planned 10 stories on Cherry Street and a planned 14 stories on Bank Street, would be the tallest in the city and require the approval of zoning changes, one of many greenlights the project will need from state and local officials.
City officials are keen on the project because it will bring badly needed housing downtown and restore traffic to St. Paul Street. The planned indoor arcade along Pine Street would restore the city’s grid and “connectivity” north to south through the city — a longstanding goal of Burlington planners.
“What more ideal sustainable development site can you have than at the heart of the largest city in Vermont adjacent to our brand new $3 million transit center — a really exciting opportunity for a car-free lifestyle,” said Peter Owens, director of the Community Economic Development Office.
The transit station, located on St. Paul street between Cherry and Pearl streets, is currently under construction.
Weinberger said that currently the Town Center mall property is outdated, underutilized and offers little in terms of civic space for the public. “We clearly could be getting much more in terms of vibrancy from those two blocks” Weinberger said, adding that “there aren’t many opportunities like this.”
Residents who attended this week’s presentation were largely supportive of the project, but some expressed anxiety about whether planned affordable housing would remain affordable in perpetuity, how the city would avoid the project only being partially completed and whether it might open the door to more vertical expansion.
Building up is something that makes some residents wary, but city officials say that, if done properly, adding density can reduce sprawl and make downtown more vibrant.
The zoning change for the Town Center project is likely to cover several blocks and won’t be tailored specifically to Senix’s property, said David White, director of Planning and Zoning. Other proposals to take advantage of the planned zoning change will be considered on their merits, White said.
In terms of the Town Center housing, Sinex plans to build 274 units, of which 20 percent of 55 units will be affordable, meaning someone making 60 percent of the median income in Burlington, or roughly $25,000, could afford to live in them. There will also be more upscale market rate units for purchase and rent.
The next step for Sinex and city officials is to reach a memorandum of understanding that will set the framework for an eventual development agreement between Devonwood and the City of Burlington.
“When we finally get to signing the papers to ink this deal, we want to make sure the city’s interests are protected, that this is a project will be built and the we don’t unnecessarily expose the city to risk,” Owens said.
The agreement will stipulate the level of public money to be invested in the project, through Tax Increment Financing (TIF), the scope of public amenities as well as what’s expected of Sinex.
Tax Increment Financing is a tool that encourages private investment in public infrastructure by giving developers future property tax revenue as cash up front to pay for the public amenities. In this case the public infrastructure is restoring traffic to St. Paul Street, building a glassed in arcade along Pine Street and rehabbing Cherry and Bank streets.
Weinberger said it’s also possible TIF dollars could go toward the planned observation deck that would sit atop the taller of the two towers, depending on whether the city is guaranteed “enduring” public access to the lookout.
City voters will have the final say on whether the TIF funding is approved.
The increased property tax revenue is also appealing to the city. Currently, Sinex pays $711,000 in property tax on what he owns downtown, which includes the mall, LL Bean and garage space.
Sinex said he estimates the redevelopment would add $4.5 million in annual property taxes. Weinberger said that estimate is likely to get scrutiny from city officials, and his administration plans to come out with its own projection in the coming months.
