Since 1990, the City of Burlington has implemented an inclusionary zoning (IZ) program designed to require developers to include a set percentage of affordable units in new market-rate housing developments of 5 or more homes. 

In its original form, the law required developers to produce inclusionary units at the same bedroom ratio as the market-rate units located in the same project.  The intention of this piece of policy was to ensure that developers were producing inclusionary units with similar bedroom numbers as the market-rate options in a particular project. 

It wasn’t until 2015 that the City Council decided to revisit the ordinance as part of a Housing Action Plan that contained proposals for “building a more affordable, inclusive, livable, walkable, sustainable and vibrant community.”  As part of the findings and suggestions from this study, three ideas were presented to the council, all with varying levels of effort and reward.

With a lack of affordable housing options exacerbated by the unprecedented increase in post-covid buyer demand, the Burlington City Council finally took action on the aforementioned recommendations and recently amended the IZ requirements to allow for developers to better meet the new demands for affordable housing within Burlington city limits.

For more information check out the article “Inclusionary zoning changes coming to Burlington” on WCAX.com or read the full ordinance HERE. 

Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  As the top-selling real estate Team in Burlington, our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information, and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale an informed and enjoyable experience.  Contact us today to get started!     

On the first Tuesday in March for the last 250 years, Vermonters across the state have kept up with one of the most basic and traditional forms of democracy known as locally as Town Meeting Day.  Using a form of voting referred to as “Australian ballots”, residents of each city/town are able to voice their support or opposition to municipal proposals like town & school budgets, city council & school board elections, and specific issue or project ballot items.

According to an article on the VTDigger website, there are three-quarters of a billion dollars in municipal requests up for Vermont residents to decide on tomorrow at their local town meeting day polling sites.  Many towns are hosting in-person voting again for the first time since the covid pandemic shifted voting to mail-in ballots for the past two years.

Burlington voters will have a bit of work to do when fulfilling their civic duty this year as in addition to choosing 5 seats on the City Council, there are a number of ballot items addressing sensitive issues such as police oversight, resident-proposed ordinances, redistricting and one that we’ve been paying close attention to, carbon impact fees.

In conjunction with the City of Burlington’s ambitious goal of being a net-zero (carbon) city by 2030, the “carbon impact fee” proposal is being marketed as an attainable balance between the ultimate goal of carbon neutrality while at the same time keeping housing affordable for those who wish to make Burlington their home.  While most see the proposal, officially known as question 2 on the ballot, as a step in the right direction towards addressing the dangers of carbon emissions, others argue that the City is not prepared to successfully handle a move away from traditional fossil fuel energy sources. 

Voters will get the final say when casting their ballots before the 7PM deadline on Tuesday evening.  For more information on ballot Question 2 check out the full article “Burlington Considers Kicking Fossil Fuels to the Curb” on the SevenDaysVT.com website. 

Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  As the top-selling real estate Team in Burlington, our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information, and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale an informed and enjoyable experience.  Contact us today to get started!   

With over 400 engagements, 54 comments and 40 shares a week after the story was posted on Facebook, the rebranding of local business King Street Laundry is off to a promising start.  For new owners Andrew & Hannah Christiansen, a fresh start was exactly what this business and property really needed. They’ve engaged the community and are helping to provide some much needed outreach initiatives.

Located just blocks from many of downtown Burlington’s most popular spots, King Street Laundry closed in late 2021 after previous owner TJ Riley decided the days of running a “predominantly unattended” laundromat had become “unbearable”.  It was shortly after this realization that TJ reached out to Steve Lipkin with his plans of selling the building and business. Steve was able to help navigate the various permitting issues and other hurdles to help the Christiansen’s realize their goal of transforming King St. Laundry into a huge asset for the Burlington Community.

Click the link to read the full article "Wash and learn: New owners bring social services to Burlington laudromat" on the VTDigger website. Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  As the top-selling real estate Team in Burlington, our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information, and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale an informed and enjoyable experience.  

Closed in 2018 due to lack of funding, Burlington’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is now set to be torn down.  Located at 20 Pine Street in downtown Burlington, the 2.2 acre plot is currently under contract to be sold to a developer.  As part of the deal, the parish requested the building to be torn down to “desanctify” the property in preparation for it’s future intended use.

However, city officials and preservationists opposed the demolition citing it’s historic significance.  According to the article in Seven Days, the Burlington Developmental Review Board ultimately decided that historic significance was not enough to prevent demolition due to a state law that limits zoning review of houses of worship.

For more information and history on this story check out the article “Burlington Allows Parish to Demolish Historic Cathedral” on SevenDaysVT.com. Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  Our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information, and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale an informed and enjoyable experience.  

(Photo Courtesy of Louis L. McAllister/UVM Special Collections)

According to the City of Burlington’s website, Memorial Auditorium in Downtown Burlington was built in 1927 to honor World War I veterans and serve as a public auditorium and civic center in the heart of Burlington. 

However, in 2016 the historic building was closed due to structural and safety concerns and has been sitting mostly vacant ever since.  During the 6+ years it’s been shut down, there have been many ideas as to what to do with the over 57,000 sqft of space.  Meanwhile it’s costing city taxpayers, approximately $55,000 per year for insurance, utilities, and maintenance. 

Once home to concerts featuring major artists like Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and Nina Simone to name a few; recent renovation estimates submitted to the city have come in as high as $40 milllion.  However, fresh off the challenges created by Covid-19 pandemic and the unforeseen need to build a new high school campus, the city of Burlington’s borrowing power has been drastically diminished leading city leadership to look for partners within the private sector.

In an article recently published on VTDigger.com, three proposals are said to have been received by the city’s Community and Economic Development Office and are being reviewed by a selection committee with recommendations due to the City Council by January of 2023.  One concept attempts to address the fight for affordable housing within city limits and proposes a 40-unit housing complex with a mix of “workforce housing, student rentals, working veterans and market rate units.”

A second proposal by a local group called Babaroosa looks to create a 26,000 sqft. immersive art exhibit as well as areas for community use and youth art space.  The third idea, from local music advocacy nonprofit group Big Heavy World, would look to restore the building to a version of its previous purpose as a concert venue, performing arts center and youth-centered community space.

For more information, including more details on the proposed housing development, check out the full article – “Housing and art options considered for Burlington’s Memorial Auditorium” on VTDigger.com.  Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  Our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information, and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale an informed and enjoyable experience.  We will continue to update this ongoing story as new information is released…

In collaboration with the city of Burlington, local developers are making major progress when it comes to creating more housing available for those looking to make the Queen City their home.  In addition to the well-documented CityPlace development, a number of others projects are nearing completion which are poised to add desperately needed market rate and affordable housing options within Burlington city limits.

In an article published on WCAX.com, local developer Eric Farrell was quoted as saying “This is my town, this is where I grew up, this is where I want to live and work, and so this is where I’m building housing.”  Construction continues at Farrell’s Cambrian Rise development, with nearly half of the nearly 1,000 units already completed and occupied.  Echoing the sentiment of developers and residents alike, Farrell adds, “I don’t think I could build fast enough to catch up to demand”.

Located downtown, the Nest is developer Doug Nedde’s latest venture in redeveloping the area adjacent to the CityPlace construction site.  After having brought 49 new units to market in the old People’s United Building on Pine Street, the Nest is set to offer an additional 49 units which as of today, is nearly fully rented with residents awaiting the official launch currently scheduled as December of 2022.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger says he is committed to doubling housing production in the next five years which would equate to over 1,000 new units each year.  As part of his 10-point housing plan, Weinberger intends to modify antiquated zoning regulations to clear the way for additional development in areas such as the South End and UVM’s Trinity Campus.  For more information, check out the full article on WCAX.com, “Developers push to boost Chittenden County housing market”.

As the top-selling Team in Burlington, we are encouraged by the recent progress made in addressing the aging housing stock in Vermont’s cultural, artistic, and economic center.  Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  Our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale a comfortable, informed and enjoyable experience. 

Two years ago, the Burlington City Council passed an ordinance eliminating minimum parking space requirements for the developers of downtown Burlington housing projects.  As part of the ongoing effort to provide more affordable housing options within city limits, the ordinance was designed to not only lower the cost for developers to build new affordable units, but also to decrease the dependence on cars throughout the city.

Looking to build upon the success of these recent downtown parking reforms, the Council is now considering a new ordinance that would expand the minimum (and maximum) parking requirements throughout the entire city.  Additionally, the new legislation would require housing developers to offer subsidized transportation options such as car-share services while detaching the price of parking from the monthly rental amount of a given unit.

Although it was presented and discussed briefly during the October 17^th meeting, an official vote on the ordinance has been pushed back to allow more time for public input. For more information check out the article “Can new parking rules attract development while reducing use of cars in Burlington?” on WCAX.com.

Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  Our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale an informed and enjoyable experience.  We will continue to update this ongoing story as new information is released…    

Although construction has yet to begin, progress continues to be made by the local development group now in charge of the long-stalled CityPlace Burlington project.  As part of a request to use $275,000 in federal HOME Investment grant money, the group unveiled new plans for an eight-story affordable housing building to be located at 130 Bank Street.

In partnership with Champlain Housing Trust, this stand-alone building is a departure from the earlier concept that called for affordable housing units to be included in the two 10-story towers that will flank each end of proposed project.  Brian Pine, director of the city’s Community & Economic Development Office (CEDO), spoke positively about the modified plans saying, “This is very positive, this is certainly greater progress in at least this part of the project coming to fruition, and I think that bodes well for the whole project.”

With an important construction deadline looming on September 30^th, the city is actively exploring the possibility of extending the deadline to allow the project team additional time to finalize their plans.  The city’s optimism towards reaching a mutually agreeable path forward was also echoed by Mayor Miro Weinberger who was quoted as saying “While this project, like any major development, still faces challenges, the new ownership team has made more progress in the last four months than in the prior four years.” 

It is likely that another major announcement will be made before the looming deadline at the end of the month.  For more information, check out the full article on Seven Days Magazine…

CityPlace Developers Move Toward Building Affordable Housing on Vacant Site | SevenDaysVT.com

Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  Our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale a comfortable, informed and enjoyable experience.  We will continue to update this ongoing story as new information is released…

Rental property owners across Vermont recently received an email from the Vermont Department of Health regarding changes to the “Essential Maintenance Practices” (EMP) that are set to go into effect this coming October 1^st.  As part of the State’s new Regulations for Lead Control, the program will now be called “Inspection, Repair and Cleaning Practices” (IRC) and will require additional certifications for those looking to certify and/or repair properties in accordance with existing EMP compliance guidelines.

Designed to reduce the risk of lead poisoning in children living in rental housing built prior to 1978, the EMP program requires applicable property owners/managers to complete annual inspections (and necessary repairs) and register a compliance statement with the State.  Up to this point, property owners and managers who attended a state-provided training course were allowed to both “self-certify” and make repairs to their properties in order to obtain EMP compliance.

The biggest changes to the program include a new training course for self-certification and further limits who exactly is able to perform repairs on properties that need paint repairs.  Below is an excerpt from the State of VT’s email detailing the new guidelines…

• You will still be able to use your EMP certificate to perform IRCs (except for repairs) for 5 years from the date you took the EMP training. After that, you will need to take the new IRC training to receive an updated certificate number.If your EMP certificate is older than 5 years, you have until October 1, 2023 to update your EMP certificate to an IRC certificate.The IRC certificate will need to be renewed every 5 years.Learn more about updating your certificate here: www.healthvermont.gov/IRC-training.
• You will no longer be able to perform paint repair of one square foot or more per interior room or exterior surface on pre-1978 rental housing and child care facilities with only an EMP or IRC certificate. Repairs of these areas need to be performed by someone who is RRPM licensed or UCCO certified as described below.

Starting on October 1, Vermont will be taking over the federal Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) regulations.  They will be called the Vermont Renovation, Repair, Painting and Maintenance (RRPM) regulations. The Health Department will oversee compliance with these regulations and will license individuals and firms that perform renovation, repair, painting, and maintenance work. For the most part, the new RRPM regulations are the same as the federal RRP regulations. However, there are some ways that the RRPM regulations are more restrictive.  To read more about the RRPM regulations and learn how to become RRPM licensed, visit the ALRP RRPM webpage: www.healthvermont.gov/RRPM.

Since 1985, we’ve helped thousands of clients buy and sell real estate in Northwest Vermont.  As the top-selling multi-family and rental property real estate Team in the State of Vermont, our goal is to provide you with the local insight, information, and resources necessary to make your purchase and/or sale a comfortable, informed and profitable experience. Contact us today to learn more about our above and beyond approach to buying or selling rental properties in Vermont.