White River Junction
Byron Hathorn’s Rio Blanco Corp. is holding preliminary meetings with town planners this week, and hopes to submit plans for the 80-unit project, which will be sited at 109 Gates St., for a formal review on May 2, according to spokeswoman Brooke Ciardelli.
“This is a high-end hotel with support, not a nursing home with flexibility,” Ciardelli said of the facility, which will include 50 senior living apartments and dedicated areas to hold 30 memory care units for those with dementia.
The project is moving forward without the land of the United Methodist Church, which is next door.
Hathorn and church leaders had developed a proposal for Rio Blanco to purchase and raze the church; the proposal met stiff opposition from some church members, and the membership rejected the offer on a 24-20 vote last March.
In September, another offer on the church received a 34-30 vote in favor, but when church leaders discovered that state statute requires a two-thirds majority membership vote for Methodist churches to sell their land, the deal fell apart.
Ciardelli said the designs that they plan to submit to town planners do not include the church’s property.
Ciardelli said Hathorn is continuing to work with the church, and Northern Stage Theater, which sits on the other side of the project, to build good relations moving forward.
The project would be priced similarly to other senior living quarters in the region, and would include 83,500 square feet of living space.
Hathorn has played a role in the broader revitalization of the area. He was involved with the construction of office buildings and condominiums on Railroad Row, developed the White River Junction Railways Station, and was a partner in the Mariott Courtyard Hotel in Lebanon.
On Thursday, the Vermont Senate passed a bill introduced by Rep. Gabrielle Lucke, D-Hartford, that made it easier for Methodist churches to sell land. The bill was passed by the House in late January.
In testimony to the Legislature, the Rev. Brigid Farrell, district superintendent for the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, wrote that the church was pursuing the change because of what transpired in Hartford, which she said had caused waves of worry in other congregations throughout Vermont.
“Many churches want to get out from under old, inefficient buildings that are too big for them and often votes on building sales are unanimous, but not in all cases,” she wrote.
She also testified that several other churches in the state are working on the sale of their buildings.
Ciardelli said that if all goes smoothly, new residents could move into the assisted living facility as early as fall of 2017.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.