Winooski Redevelopment
MSK is proud to have represented the City of Winooski in connection with the redevelopment of its downtown core, resulting in the construction of new streets, new underground utilities, and a municipal parking garage, facilitating the construction of a mixed use development that includes residential, commercial and office uses. This redevelopment project – the largest urban redevelopment project in Vermont history – was a true public/private partnership and the culmination of years of behind the scenes work. MSK attorneys assisted the City and its redevelopment arm, Winooski Community Development Corporation, to:
- Acquire the project property through a combination of land purchases and condemnation proceedings.
- Obtain municipal and state permits to subdivide the property into new streets, parks and development lots.
- Obtain a master permit from Act 250 that functions as one of the first “form based” land use regulations adopted in Vermont applicable to the new, redeveloped downtown core.
- Amend the City of Winooski zoning regulations, first through the use of “interim zoning” and, later, through the adoption of permanent zoning, to create a zoning district encompassing the redeveloped downtown core.
- Establish a tax increment financing district to finance the construction of public improvements within the redeveloped downtown core.
- Negotiate a series of development agreements with the private developers chosen by the City to develop the new lots within the downtown core.
- Negotiate loan documents to finance the construction of the public infrastructure improvements within the redeveloped downtown core through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the subsequent issuance of tax exempt municipal bonds.
- Support the construction of student housing financed through the issuance of tax exempt bonds.
Attorneys: Catherine Dingle, Jeremy Farkas, Liam Murphy
Photography: Mike Worthington, Jr.
