Developer Don Sinex told VTDigger he had reached a financing agreement with a new lender, and he expects construction to start around May 6 — more than eight months after the City Council authorized the project to begin pouring the foundation.
“Once restarted, the project will proceed smoothly to a full completion,” Sinex said in an email.
The 14-story CityPlace project will feature a mix of retail, commercial and residential space and will replace the former mall in the city’s downtown. The approximately $220 million project has been mired in delays, and residents are growing increasingly worried about the status of the project, which also includes around $20 million in public funding.
The latest official update on the project came from Brookfield Asset Management, the majority partner, at the City Council’s January 22 meeting. Chase Martin, a senior vice president for Brookfield Properties, told the council that Brookfield was completely committed to the project and would be providing more regular updates.
Brookfield, an international company based in New York, holds 51 percent control in CityPlace, while Sinex’s Devonwood Investors has a 49 percent stake. Sinex said he is optimistic about the project’s future.
Sinex said that starting in May means initial occupancy of CityPlace will start between March and May 2021 and the project will be fully completed between October and December of that year.
Despite the City Council’s August decision to allow Sinex to pour the foundation without having all the funding lined up, there has been no major construction activity since the demolition of the buildings on the site was completed in mid-August 2018.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said that the May start date is consistent with what the city has been hearing from Brookfield and Devonwood.
“Since [Brookfield’s] public appearance, we’ve seen a substantial uptick in the construction and design related activity, which is consistent with a May re-start of construction,” the mayor said. “So I’m pleased to hear the developers put a specific date out there, and remain optimistic this project is getting back on track.”
Sinex told VTDigger that he was unable to name the lender but that financing has been secured. He said that the lender is in the due diligence process, including visiting the site. After that visit, he said loan documentation would be completed and the financing would be closed.
“That process of involvement has taken a lot of time but it is now complete and we expect to restart in May,” he said.
Sinex conceded that every time he has thought that an issue should take a month or two to resolve, it has turned out to take three or four months to resolve.
“We are in that mold with this project due to its size, complexity and given the larger involvement of Brookfield,” he said. “Brookfield has enormous resources and will be extremely beneficial to the project to me and in the end to the City so Brookfield’s greater involvement is a good thing but required more time to bring them completely up to date.”
Andrew Brent, the head of communications for Brookfield Properties, did not respond to requests for comment from VTDigger Thursday.
Sinex had said for months that the foundation was about to be poured and that the project’s financing was nearly secured.
While some city councilors were feeling optimistic after hearing the news of the May start date, others were skeptical.
“Don Sinex has lost my trust,” Councilor Dave Hartnett said. “That doesn’t mean I’ve lost trust in the project… I hope this time he’s right and we see progress starting May 6, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”
If Sinex misses the May 6 start date, Hartnett suggested the city should examine its contract and take any possible legal action against Sinex.
“If we don’t see construction on May 6, I think Don Sinex really needs to consider if he should remove himself completely from this project,” he said.
Councilor Adam Roof said that the news that there is a plan to start construction is something to celebrate.
“If you have a hard date, and that’s the date they are ready to roll and that is something we can hold them accountable to and the community can start to rally around, I think that’s a good thing,” he said.
Councilor Joan Shannon said the May start date lines up with Sinex’s and Brookfield’s previous statements that they would restart in the spring.
“If there are hurdles down the road, I wouldn’t be surprised,” she said. “It’s a highly desirable site, and it will be redeveloped, either by this developer or somebody else. It looks like this developer is on the path to completion, and that’s good news.”
“We continue to need to see better communication not only with the council, but with the public so folks know what’s going on in their downtown,” he said.
At Monday’s council meeting, Councilor Karen Paul mentioned that Brookfield had promised monthly updates but had not made an appearance at a meeting in February. City Council President Kurt Wright said that Brookfield was on the schedule for a future meeting.
Tracy said Thursday he would believe construction is starting May 6 when he sees it.
“They really need to both communicate better with the council and public on a continuous basis and live up to the promises they are making,” he said. “If they say they are going to do something, they have to do it.”
Weinberger said he has remained optimistic that the project was getting back on track since Brookfield’s appearance at City Council.
“I’m looking forward to seeing those statements confirmed by construction activity soon,” he said.
Sinex said that he could agree “to an extent” with the contention from some residents that the project has been unnecessarily delayed.
“But then I would add and caution everyone that this is a large deal (probably the largest private development in VT history) and it is also a complicated project, which explains somewhat why it has taken so long to get everything in order including the financing,” he said.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is planning on renting 100,000 square feet of office space in the development. Annie Mackin, a hospital spokesperson, said that the hospital is currently looking at an early 2022 move-in date.
The hospital initially planned to move into the complex this year, as VTDigger reported in 2017.
The hospital has extended leases at other locations in the meantime.
Sinex said that discovery and safe removal of asbestos compounded the delay, as did the time it took for him to enter into the development agreement with the city since he was not authorized to start the demolition until the agreement had been finalized, approved and executed.
“All these factors in a cumulative fashion have brought us to where we are today but with Brookfield committed and involved and with financing on the horizon, we are committed to restart the development in May,” he said.
