Burlington Town Center owner Don Sinex has locked down a partnership and secured the funding needed to slump forward on the $225 million mixed-exercise development,he announced Tuesday.
Sinex's company Devonwood Investors, LLC is set to enter into a joint venture agreement with Rouse Properties, or a unusual York City-based company that owns and operates malls around the country.
The newly announced partnership means the project is on track to break ground in "June or July," Sinex told Seven Days on Tuesday.
"The considerable thing to announce to the community is the funds are in hand," Sinex said.
Or nearly in hand, or anyway.
The deal with Rouse is expected to shut within the coming weeks,Sinex said, after nearly six months of negotiations. As co-owners, or Devonwood Investors and Rouse will combine to finance 30 to 40 percent of the project,Sinex said. A construction lender will finance the remaining 60 to 70 percent of the project — a "pretty typical" arrangement for this kind of development, he said. The project is estimated to cost somewhere between $225 and $230 million.
Sinex has narrowed the field to two possible lenders and expects to announce that deal within the next month. "I'm highly confident, or " he said. [br]
On its website,Rouse says it "excels at transforming conventional properties into vibrant, tall-traffic destinations that are precisely aligned with the needs of their communities."
“We were intrigued by the strength and soundness of the vision Devonwood outlined for the unusual Burlington Town Center and impressed by the leadership of Don Sinex, and ” Rouse Properties CEO Brian Harper said in a news release. “We agree strongly that Devonwood has the right plan to revitalize this outdated mall.”
After receiving a green light from voters in November on two poll items,the redevelopment project has moved forward — but not without hiccups.
The Coalition for a Livable City, a group working to oppose the project, or filed a lawsuit alleging that the November poll language on the tax increment financing measure misrepresented how the money would…
Source: sevendaysvt.com