The farmers market signed a letter of intent with New Moran, the nonprofit hoping to refurbish the industrial edifice, to lease offices and storage space for equipment.
Moran would also host the winter farmers market and some year-round vendors, while the summer market would continue to take place at City Hall Park, according to Tad Cooke, a principal with New Moran.
Spencer Welton, president of the farmers market steering committee, said New Moran’s plans are “ideal for the layout of our vendors.”
“There remain many issues and details to work out, but this project does seem like a great fit for the winter market,” Welton said in an email.
The bill, H.424, contains language that makes public markets an allowable use in the northern waterfront. The bill, which is largely related to Act 250, is awaiting the governor’s signature.
A legislative fix was needed because much of Burlington’s waterfront is filled land and therefore subject to the public trust doctrine.
The doctrine holds that filled land built on what used to be public waterways must be developed for public use. Public use on the Burlington waterfront was originally limited to railroads, wharfing and storage, but starting in the 1990s Burlington and its residents began petitioning the Legislature to allow other public uses.
In 1997, the Legislature approved public markets as an acceptable use for the portion of the waterfront from Maple to Main streets for a project that ultimately never came to fruition.
Because a public market in that section of the waterfront required explicit authorization from the Legislature, lawyers for the city advised New Moran to seek similar authorization for the section of filled waterfront land from Main to Lake streets. That is what the provision in H.424 does.
New Moran and city officials are meeting regularly to iron out a set of terms under which the nonprofit would be allowed to move forward with its project. The city dissolved a previous agreement with New Moran last year out of concerns that its unwieldy proposal was too ambitious and lacked commitments from tenants.
In January, the New Moran team presented a scaled back proposal for the redevelopment at less than half the cost — $15.4 million instead of $33.7 million — that included letters of intent from two anchor tenants.
The owners of Higher Ground and the Burlington Farmers Market are expected to occupy the first two floors. Higher Ground is expected to operate a community events space there.
The third floor, which was originally slated to be a co-working space, will initially remain empty, but the construction will allow New Moran to expand into the top floor with minimal additional work, Cooke has said.
Once a set of terms is established, the city will begin negotiating a development agreement for the project, which will require City Council approval. Cooke said he expects the terms to be reached this month, and once they have a signed development agreement, his team can start “fundraising in earnest” and drawing up detailed design plans.
Cooke said that depending on how long it takes to reach a development agreement with the city, he is hopeful construction will begin in 2018.
