If you’ve driven down Hinesburg Road or Dorset Street in South Burlington, you might have noticed a slew of construction vehicles ripping apart Market Street. A question we keep hearing from friends, colleagues, and clients is ‘what’s happening with Market Street?'
Well, let’s fill you in!
City Center TIF District
For the past 40 years, South Burlington residents have been looking to create a downtown as an economic and social center of the community. The vision is coming to a reality with the South Burlington City Center initiative.
The three landmark projects fueled by public investment are the reconstruction of Market Street, a new City Hall which includes a library and senior center, and the City Center Park. These public improvements will be a catalyst for the private sector to develop the parcels surrounding Market Street as mixed-use commercial and residential growth areas.
Photo Credit: City of South Burlington
Where do we stand?
City Center Park, completed in 2018, is a passive recreation space consisting of a trail network, seating, infrastructure to protect the Potash Brook wetlands, and other recreational opportunities.
The park is currently accessible from Iby and Barret Streets and will connect to the new Market Street once the reconstruction project comes to completion.
Market Street is currently undergoing renovations that include street lights, 14-foot shared-use paths, street trees, and street parking. The project is expected to finish this November. Garden Street will extend to intersect the new Market Street, continuing through to Midas Drive.
City Hall, with the attached library and senior center, has approved financing and is pending authorization for a construction contract. South Burlington projects opening celebrations sometime in 2020.
So what can we expect for housing?
The project environmental assessment, published in 2010, suggests approximately 590 housing units will be developed in the City Center. With the completion of the publicly funded projects, we should expect the development to move in swiftly. The South Burlington Development Review Board met in early July to review the first phase of a subdivision of the land between Garden Street and Market Street, behind Healthy Living.
Snyder Braverman Development Company is proposing the first market-rate housing development consisting of 106 residential units. At such an early stage of planning, it is hard to say when we should expect to see units hit the market. Snyder Braverman started construction of a 42 unit affordable housing project last fall with completion expected the end of this year.
As City Center continues to develop, we can only expect more and more housing opportunities for South Burlington.
