[M]ONTPELIER — In 1998, the Montpelier Conservation Commission decided to refurbish a scrap yard in the middle of downtown as a transit center for public transportation. The idea was to attract new residents to the state’s capital and modernize travel.
In the intervening 20 years, local leaders have overcome budget problems, environmental issues and a drawn-out regulatory process to make that happen.
On Tuesday Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Gov. Phil Scott and Mayor Anne Watson announced the launch of the long-awaited redevelopment project.
The transit center project on 1 Taylor Street will include a Greyhound and Green Mountain Transit bus stop, an indoor waiting hub, and 30 housing units.
The cost estimate for the project is $8 million. Leahy secured $5.1 million from the Federal Highway Administration and $1.9 million from the Federal Transit Administration for the project. Another $1.2 million will come from state grants and tax credits.
“[The project] addresses critical transportation and housing needs while setting the stage for new private investments in our capital city’s downtown,” Leahy said. “Vermont’s future requires that we increase the vibrancy and livability of our downtown and village centers and this project does that in a big way.”
The purpose of the development project is to help ensure Vermonters have access to affordable housing and transportation. According to Eileen Peltier, executive director of Downstreet Housing and Community Development, residents who live in the downtown Montpelier area spend about half as much time in their cars as Vermonters who don’t live in the immediate downtown area.
Six of the housing units will be studio apartments starting around $660 a month, 18 will be one bedroom apartments starting at around $700, and six will be two bedroom apartments starting around $900, Pelletier said. People’s United Bank provided $4 million in equity investments for the housing project.
GMTA plans on adding at least two full-time positions for the transit complex, while Downstreet Housing and Community Development anticipates adding at least one full-time position assigned to the housing units.
The project will eliminate 120 parking spaces in Montpelier currently leased by the state for government employees. According to City Manager Bill Fraser, 30 to 40 parking spaces will be available for housing tenants behind the Department of Labor building.
DEW Construction Corp. obtained the state contract and will begin working on the project next month. The project is expected to be completed by the spring of next year.
For over two decades the Taylor Street redevelopment project has been discussed without much progress. After an initial city inspection in 2001 the site was deemed too hazardous. Allan Carr acquired the property and removed 876 tons of PCB-contaminated soils. Carr sold the property to the city in 2014 for $1.4 million (over 150 percent above appraised value).
