Community Renewal Good Stories - Burlington

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CRD Helps Burlington Reclaim Its Historic Waterfront

Burlington, Vermont, RC

"Without the commercial revitalization deduction [CRD] tax allocation, the public amenities of this project would have dragged down the project financially," commented Melinda Moulton of the Main Street Landing Company, developer for the Lake and College Street Redevelopment Project in Burlington, Vermont.

"With the CRD, we are able to provide a wonderful community resource with enormous cultural amenities, public promenades, 18,000 square feet of additional park space, and public linkages from downtown to the city's waterfront, and create a financially viable commercial project," said Moulton. A 2003 CRD, awarded through the Burlington RC, provided $10 million of an estimated $12 million in costs for the Lake and College Street Redevelopment Project.

Once the region's lively, bustling center of transportation and manufacturing activity, Burlington's waterfront on Lake Champlain played a major role in the early history of the city. Later, as highways came to dominate commerce and transportation, more than 100 acres of Burlington's urban waterfront lands were left neglected, scarred with remnants of past industrial uses such as junkyards, auto body shops, coal plants, and oil storage terminals. A large lumber mill at the corner of Lake and College burned in the 1920s.

The 113,000-square-foot Lake and College Street Redevelopment Project includes a movie theater, a restaurant, office and retail space, sculpture gardens, a 56-car underground parking garage, and public promenades and terraces. A series of pedestrian-friendly businesses and shops staggered along Lake Street's edge will provide a mix of small retail spaces housing locally owned businesses, shops, and artist studios. The project will link to the Battery Park Extension to the west via a central overlook, stair, and elevator system. The steep embankment will be terraced, creating about 18,000 square feet of new city park space. The project broke ground on July 1, 2003.

The project is estimated to employ 500 people during construction, creating about 250 permanent jobs. The project owners and employers will also be able to take advantage of RC wage credits worth up to $1,500 yearly for each person they employ that resides in the RC.

For more information on the programs of the Burlington RC, please contact Bruce Seifer of the city of Burlington at (802) 865-7144.