The view from Cherry Street Burlington looking south of the re-imagined CityPlace Burlington by BTC Mall Associates LLC. The existing mall is to the left in yellow, former Macy's is to the right in blue, and the new center section in pink is where the former mall, parking garage and offices were demolished.
Vermont Business Magazine As demanded by Burlington Miro Weinberger, CityPlace Burlington developers have met the city’s first set of demands to get the long-delayed project back on track. Brookfield Properties (BTC Mall Associates LLC), at the City Council meeting Monday night, presented a new, sketched-out development plan that they say is less expensive than the $220 million plan previously proposed by former Developer Don Sinex.
In response, Weinberger released the following statement late Monday night: “The developers of the CityPlace project took an important step forward tonight. Brookfield has met the demands in my September 27 letter, and appears to have resolved internal disagreements that have delayed the project. The revised plans that Brookfield presented would achieve all of the major goals that the City has held for this site from the beginning, including restoring lost public streets, creating hundreds of much needed new homes and downtown jobs, and generating substantial new public revenues. While I welcome this overdue progress, Brookfield still has substantial work to complete before the end of this year to preserve the project, and get this effort to fix a long-troubled part of the downtown back on track.”
The scaled back plan also drops the controversial height of the project from 14 stories to 10. It also retains the former Macy's building, which will be redeveloped as a mixed use commercial/retail/office space.
The existing mall space, which is largely vacant and accesses Church Street, also will be redeveloped but will remain a mall, if much smaller than before. Meanwhile, the envisioned reconnection of St Paul and Pine streets will continue to be part of the new plans.
Those plans, however, are very much in the design stage. The mayor and councilors want more detail, including how much the entire project will cost. A crucial part of the plan is meeting the requirements of the TIF district, which city voters previously approved. The $50 million TIF funds are earmarked for infrastructure projects that are important to the new development, whatever that ultimately entails.
Brookfield did confirm that the 100,000-square-foot medical office portion for the UVM Medical Center will be part of the redevelopment, which was another cornerstone of the city's demands.
However, Brookfield was still uncertain as to a start date for getting the project restarted, though they hope for some time in 2020. Much of the original mall has been demolished and has been an open eyesore for many months.
In the meantime, Brookfield has wired the city $192,000 to satisfy back payments and has promised to fix up the parking spaces, sidewalks and crosswalks on Cherry Street to make them again useable, as well as meeting Weinberger’s other demands.
In that September 27 letter, Weinberger outlined those demands in the Development Agreement:
“BTC is not in compliance with numerous obligations under the Development Agreement dated as of October 26, 2017 made by and between the City, and BTC,, as amended by Letter Agreement dated August 27, 2018 and fully executed on September 7, 2018 (as amended, the “Development Agreement”; capitalized terms used in this letter and not defined shall have the meanings given in the Development Agreement).
“Most significantly, BTC failed to continue construction of the Project following demolition of the mall and parking garage in contravention of the requirements in the Development Agreement that BTC diligently prosecute construction to completion, and contrary to the assertion made by Rouse Properties, LLC (predecessor-in-interest to Brookfield Properties), in a letter to City dated October 26, 2017, which stated in part “[t]he undersigned (“Rouse“), the general partner of the sole member of the managing member of the joint venture that owns BTC Mall Associates, LLC (the ”Owner“) hereby states…that it has entered into a LLC joint venture agreement with BDM Associates, LLC, dated as of June 23, 2017 that requires Rouse, among other things, to invest equity in the Owner that may be used to finance the construction of the Project. The Owner plans to commence construction in reliance on the available equity financing. The available equity financing may be used by the Owner as needed to fund construction until such time as the Owner secures debt financing for the Project.”
“Significantly, as you know, the City is concerned that BTC’s construction delays have endangered its ability to construct the Public Improvements in sufficient time to be eligible for reimbursement in accordance with the Development Agreement and in compliance with the statutory requirements applicable to the City’s expenditure of funds in the Waterfront TIF District (which are referenced in the Development Agreement). In order to salvage all of the hard work that has gone into this project, the City requires BTC to take the actions described below by the deadlines established below.
“On or before October 7, 2019:
1. Pay in full the following amounts due to the City:
a. $30,000 to Burlington Electric Department, which is amount that BTC pledged towards the performance of due diligence associated with the District Energy project.
b. $50,000 to the City of Burlington, which is the amount that BTC agreed to pay the City to cover its administrative costs associated with BTC’s construction delay, at the rate of $10,000 per month, for the months of May through September 2019.
c. $122,000 to fund a holiday parking initiative at a rate equal to the successful 2018 holiday parking initiative, ($72,000 parking subsidy plus a $50,000 promotional budget for use by the Church Street Marketplace and Burlington Business Association, for a total of $122,000), as promised to the City Council at BTC’s appearance before the City Council on August 26, 2019.
2. Commence implementation of the Temporary Parking Plan, and provide evidence of the schedule and contract associated with that work.
3. Confirm in writing your plan and schedule to open and maintain the public restrooms in the remaining portions of the “mall”, as required by the Development Agreement, no later than November 25, 2019 (acknowledging the need for time to accomplish the necessary renovations).
Before October 28, 2019:
1. Present to me and to the City’s development team the following:
a. An updated development plan and proof of concept for the “center block” of the property.
b. A feasible plan documenting BTC’s commitment to contract for $50,000,000 of private improvements on the property by December 1, 2019, as required to preserve the City’s ability to expend funds in the Waterfront TIF District for the benefit of the property.
c. A plan and development schedule for the redevelopment of the former Macy’s building.
d. A plan to retain the commitment of the University of Vermont Medical Center to lease approximately 100,000 sq. ft. of office space and relocate its business offices to the property.
2. Pay all renewal fees associated with the Encumbrance License for a period expiring on the earlier of: (a) the date on which Bank St. and Cherry St. are fully restored; or (b) the effective date of any new encumbrance agreement associated with the project.”
On October 28, 2019:
1. BTC’s project development team will appear before the City Council to present a report regarding the foregoing and to report, generally, on the status of the project.
“If the milestones established above are met, then a range of subsequent actions by both the City and BTC will be necessary to resume our collaborative efforts including, without limitation, a presentation to the Vermont Economic Progress Council during the month of December 2019 to demonstrate how BTC’s commitment to contract for $50,000,000 of private improvements on the property has preserved the City’s ability to expend funds in the Waterfront TIF District. In addition, it would be necessary for the parties to amend the Development Agreement and to amend or replace the Encumbrance License to reflect the revised project description, revised project schedule, and other terms. “
Sincerely,
Miro Weinberger
Mayor, City of Burlington
By last June the rest of the mall, parking garage and offices had been reduced to bare ground, where it remains to this day. VBM photo.