[B]ARRE — The mayor of Barre is planning the redevelopment of a city block that would include housing, retail space, a grocery store and a hotel and conference center.
The project could cost between $25 million and $30 million, according to records obtained for this story. The project would be financed with tax credits (New Market, Downtown and Tax Increment Financing), federal grants and possibly EB-5 immigrant investor funding.
Thom Lauzon, the mayor, owns the parcel that would be the site of the hotel and conference center, which he says could be run by a national hotel franchise.
Lauzon summed up the reason he pursued the project for a year. “You had the opportunity to change an area of town that people have complained about for a decade,” he said.
The mayor hired a Boston architect to design the project and has obtained options on two of the properties.
In an executive session last week, Lauzon described the project to the Barre City Council and more than 20 members of the public, including representatives of the Barre Partnership and five state officials, including two commissioners. There was no public presentation; the information was only disclosed in a private session with members of the public.
Questions were raised about whether the mayor was breaking the state open meeting law for the hour and a half long session, in which he gave a slideshow presentation about the development.
City Councilor Sue Higby, in an email to mayor before the June 12 meeting, said that because the meeting included a “broad net” of people it should be warned as a public meeting.
“I would not want to see the redevelopment project jeopardized because our state’s open meetings procedures were not followed,” Higby wrote.
At the meeting, Lauzon insisted the executive session was perfectly legal because the presentation was focused on the intricacies of real estate deals that are still in the works. The mayor told attendees that no one could take notes or talk about what was said at the meeting. Members of the press were asked to leave.
“There were hypothetical numbers discussed,” Lauzon said. “People were speaking more candidly in executive session.”
Lauzon said after the private session with councilors and stakeholders, he is ready for the project to be discussed citywide.
In an interview, Higby, who voted against the session, said while she supports the proposal in concept because it would be “great for the city,” she is “pro-transparency, perhaps with a squirt of Windex to make things clear when there are public dollars involved.”
“I felt confident he could have separated out a portion for the public and the portion for executive session,” Higby said.
Higby also said she believed Lauzon should have recused himself from the meeting because of the conflict of interest related to his ownership of the Homer Fitts Block. She said she is concerned about overlapping interests that are obscured by the various companies Lauzon and others may be using to pursue the project.
VTDigger has since obtained records that broadly outline the scope of the project.
Under Lauzon’s plan, the Worthen Block on North Main Street would be converted to 30 high end apartments for “young professionals.” An adjacent historic building, the old senior center, would be retained. He envisions “quality housing” that is well maintained for employees of large companies in the area, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont or National Life Group.
His own property, the former Homer Fitts Block, would be razed for the construction of a five-story hotel and conference center as part of a possible franchise arrangement with Fairfield Marriott or Holiday Inn Express. A three- or four-story structured parking garage would be part of the complex.
Lauzon says if he sold the property to the city or a development group he would ask for no more than $540,000 and would donate $100,000 of the sales price to the city. If that deal is approved by the City Council, he says he would take a $20,000 loss on the property.
No one has yet been approved for a franchise. The licensing fee for a national hotel chain would be between $25,000 and $50,000.
Lauzon says he made inquiries with the two chains. “There’s nothing — when they look at Barre, Berlin and Montpelier, assuming someone had the horsepower — about the demographic area that would preclude them from accepting an application,” he said.
Lauzon holds options on the Worthen Block and a property owned by Steve Lewinstein and Jeff Jacobs. The mayor paid $1,000 for each option.
A grocery store would occupy another property on the block owned by city attorney Oliver Twombly. Downtown Rentals, which faces Summer Street, would be razed, and a 15,000 square foot grocery store complex would be constructed on the site, records show. Lauzon offered $1.25 million for the property but was turned down, according to a document obtained by VTDigger. The mayor said there was nothing in writing about any deal related to the Twombly parcel.
“No offers have been made,” Lauzon said and declined to comment further on the Downtown Rentals property.
Lauzon did not allow representatives from the local co-op, Granite City Grocery, to attend the executive session last week. He says he has talked with Mike Cuomo, who runs markets in Johnson and Waterbury, about occupying the grocery store space.
The fitup for the grocery store would cost $2.5 million to $4 million, he said in an interview. The mayor said he believed it would be difficult for the co-op to finance the debt.
Lauzon says the proposal is designed in such a way that it can be broken up into separate projects.
The mayor, who describes himself as a developer, has worked on the project for more than a year and developed the concept through two limited liability companies — Park Place LLC and Metro Development, a company he owns with his wife, Karen. Metro Development owns the Homer Fitts building.
The block has had empty storefronts on North Main Street for years. Lauzon sees the redevelopment as a way to revitalize an important section of downtown Barre.
Now, Lauzon says the proposal is in the City Council’s hands. He said in an interview that he can no longer spearhead the project and he has asked the council to appoint a 10-member development team that would lead the effort.
“The City Council is now firmly in the driver’s seat,” the mayor said.
At a meeting tonight, councilors are expected to consider whether to consider the plan.
Michael Boutin, a city councilor who describes Lauzon as “a great leader,” says Lauzon is asking the council to take it from here in order to avoid a conflict of interest.
“He does things so good for Barre,” Boutin said. He compared the Park Place project with City Place, a development Lauzon led five years ago. The 100,000 square foot development, with office and retail space, is also on North Main Street. The Agency of Education offices occupy much of the space, bringing 100-plus state workers to downtown Barre.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:13 a.m. June 20, 2017.
