The State of Vermont would like to lease space at the Municipal Center for a period of ten years with options two five-year extension options. This is presented in a Letter of Intent dated October 5, 2017, to be discussed at Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting.
The Letter of Intent comes from Christopher Cole, Commissioner of Buildings and General Services for the State of Vermont.
The space will be approximately 10,000 square feet, and will use “a portion of the second floor and a portion of the third floor” in the building.
Brattleboro will make improvements to the parking lot, restrooms, hallways, and front stairs, and improve air quality.
Vermont will pay for 50% of the work in the leased area, 50% of the parking lot upgrade, and about 40% of common area improvements.
Building will be ready for the State to move in by July 1, 2019. They’ll pay $16 per square foot to start, with increases each year.
Brattleboro will pay for all utilities and all major building maintenance. The State will take care of systems in their leased space.
The Letter of Intent, if signed by the Selectboard, will allow negotiations to continue and a specific lease to be created. The plan is to get that lease in place by the end of this year, present the funding options to Representative Town Meeting in early 2018, and if that is approved, do the work and have the building ready by July of 2019 for the State employees to move in.
Obviously, there will be many other steps and levels of approval along the way. Signing the letter of intent allows the full project details to be explored and presented.
The Town of Brattleboro plans to accommodate all existing Municipal Center tenants, though there might be some reshuffling of locations within the building.
Exciting news!
Thank you for underlining this bit of news that I and many others are excited about!
Old, historic buildings are difficult to maintain, and when taxpayers are rightly concerned about keeping the taxes low, historical architecture upkeep often is placed on a “when we can afford it” list and gradually falls apart.
This is a true “win-win” since, if all goes according to plan, Brattleboro will be able to upgrade this beautiful historic building, retain ownership and hopefully have the costs mostly paid for by the rental income.
We’ve got a ways to go, but a celebration of the hard work already done by town staff and the promising path ahead is definitely in order!
– Tim Wessel, Selectboard
Agreed!
I agree. This is a good solution, in my view. I like the building, like using it, and enjoy it as an icon of downtown and Main Street.
Not too long ago, there were rumblings about selling it off and moving town offices elsewhere. It’s good to hear that this won’t become condos.
Now, if we could just restore the ice hockey rink to the back parking lot… : )