That approval paves the way for Champlain College to begin construction on the $36 million Eagle’s Landing project that stretches from King to Maple streets along St. Paul Street.
Councilors finalized the sale of the Brown’s Court parking lot for the $1.1 million price agreed to in 2013.
The project was delayed for years after Champlain College purchased the former Eagle’s Club and reached a preliminary agreement to buy the Brown’s Court parking lot from the city. Neighbors’ concerns about the project design led to revisions, and the company Champlain had hired to build and manage the project dropped out.
Now Champlain College plans to build and manage the project itself and has the permits and financing in place. With the sale of Brown’s Court, the college plans to begin construction in December. It plans to have students living there by the fall of 2018.
“You’ll start seeing activity out there in the next week or so, contractors evaluating the site, determining what soils will move first,” said David Provost, senior vice president for institutional advancement and finance.
The new six-story building will have 104 apartments with living space for 314 students. School officials are adamant that these are apartments, not dormitories, because they will offer full kitchens and private bathrooms.
The first floor will have retail shops, and the building will have a covered parking garage with 66 spaces. Twenty-five of those spaces will be open to the public at all times, and 40 will be available nights, weekends and holidays.
Part of the agreement for the sale of Brown’s Court involves an annual payment for services to the city of $260,000. Champlain College has agreed to the payment because of the additional burden on city services the building will create.
As a nonprofit, Champlain pays property tax only on the value of property at the time it is acquired, excluding any later improvements.
“We understand that the city has an additional burden by us building a six-story building in downtown,” Provost said of the payment.
Champlain will be paying close to what its full property tax burden would be for Eagle’s Landing if the college weren’t a nonprofit, Provost said.
The $260,000 annual payment is separate from the $120,000 that Champlain pays the city for general city services. Currently, Mayor Miro Weinberger is trying to negotiate an increase in that payment as well as a similar payment made by the University of Vermont.
Negotiations between Champlain and the city on the separate payment are ongoing, Provost said.
Eagle’s Landing will advance the college’s commitment, codified in its 2007 master plan, to provide 1,200 additional student beds, which would bring its housing capacity to nearly 90 percent of its 2,200 students. The plan included 600 beds on its campus along South Willard Street and 600 beds off campus.
Since the plan’s adoption, Champlain has built housing for 400 students on its campus. As an interim measure, the college is also leasing student housing at Spinner Place in Winooski, which can hold up to 274 students, Provost said.
Champlain is also in negotiations to lease as many as 80 apartments in a proposed mixed-use redevelopment of the Town Center Mall downtown. That project cleared a major hurdle when voters approved a zoning change and is expected to enter the permit process in December.
