The former Koffee Kup Bakery in Burlington was purchased last fall by a company affiliated with the moving company U-Haul, according to city records.
The sale for $1.7 million closed in early October, according to property tax transfers filed with the city. In November, Amerco Real Estate filed for a zoning permit to demolish the buildings. The Arizona-based commercial real estate firm says it “provides real estate and development services to the U-Haul system.” The city approved the permit.
The demolition permit on file with Burlington lists a New Hampshire-based contact with U-Haul, Jeffery Vaine, who when reached on Monday wouldn’t discuss any future development of the property, saying that the current permit covers only the removal of the building.
Vaine said that, from U-Haul’s perspective, “we’re not 100% sure ourselves” about future plans.
In the permit description field, the applicant says the buildings will be taken down “to slab/foundation or existing grade elevation where applicable.” It also notes that a fence will remain up to prevent parking, and that the property is “pending redevelopment application.”
Brian Pine, director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Office, said that though plans are still uncertain, he thought U-Haul was seeking to expand from its existing presence just down the street on Riverside Avenue and to incorporate self-storage.
On Monday, the property was entirely fenced off. Two dumpsters were placed in front of buildings that have been heavily tagged with graffiti. One car was parked in the lot within the fence and occasional loud noises came from inside the building.
The city issued the zoning permit on Nov. 17. It stipulates that the property can’t be used for parking and that an inspection must be done to search for potential asbestos and lead.
In April 2021, Koffee Kup Bakery and its Brattleboro subsidiary, Vermont Bread Company, shut down without warning and laid off hundreds of employees. A court-appointed receiver was authorized to sell the company's assets. While some bids included plans to resume food production at both locations, a last-minute bid by Georgia-based Flowers Foods — which said at the time it had no plans to reopen the facilities — was granted by the receiver.
Flowers Foods purchased the Riverside Avenue facility for $2 million, according to city records. The buildings sat empty until the sale to Amerco Real Estate.
Former employees filed a class-action lawsuit against Koffee Kup Bakery in U.S. District Court in Burlington. The suit alleges that the company violated employees’ rights by not giving 60 days’ notice of mass layoffs. The former employees are seeking pay and benefits amounting to $5 million, according to court documents. The case is pending.