LEBANON — City officials are recommending that a Stowe, Vt., company be selected to redevelop the city’s former public works facility in downtown Lebanon.
The Braverman Co. hopes to construct a four-story building with 94 apartments, a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, at 20 Spencer St. The firm also proposes building a nearby pocket park and restaurant or brewpub.
That vision won the support of two groups — the Downtown Lebanon TIF Advisory Board and Economic Vitality Exchange Commission — charged with finding a developer for the nearly 2 acre city-owned property.
“They thought this out, and their vision was really one that we think is going to benefit the city,” Victoria Smith, a member of the TIF Advisory Board, said Monday.
The Lebanon City Council will decide Wednesday whether to accept the recommendation and enter into negotiations with Braverman, which is offering $1.5 million for the parcel. Messages left for Ken Braverman, the company’s president, were not returned on Monday.
The firm’s proposal was one of two under consideration by Lebanon officials.
The other was a 68-unit development pitched by Concord, Mass.-based Northland Residential, which offered $400,000 to build two connected four-story buildings.
However, Northland’s proposal failed to garner the same enthusiasm. It offered 26 fewer apartments and failed to set aside any space for “workforce housing,” Smith said.
In contrast, Braverman says 10% of its units will have rents targeting households earning between 100% to 120% of area median income — or about $89,000 in Grafton County.
Braverman also has a proven track record in northern New England and is known to coordinate efforts with the communities it works in, Smith said.
For instance, she said, Ken Braverman spent a full day visiting the Lebanon site and talking to people on the Northern Rail Trail about their hopes to the Spencer Street property.
Braverman’s holdings include Keen’s Crossing, a 213-unit apartment complex that includes 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space in Winooski, Vt. The firm also has more than 200 units in three buildings in South Burlington.
In Lebanon, the company is proposing to build 202 units at 402 Mount Support Road, a roughly 6.5-acre lot about a mile south of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Braverman’s request for a sewer extension to the 6.5-acre lot also will be discussed by the City Council on Wednesday.
The company’s Spencer Street project would result in a 103,400-square-foot structure with a “warehouse-style” red brick exterior with large windows and steel balconies facing the street.
In addition, the developer hopes to renovate a neighboring, privately owned parcel at 10 Spencer St. The former freight house would be transformed into a 4,500-square-foot commercial space that could house a beer garden, brewpub or restaurant, according to plans submitted to the city.
Located across the street from the Emerson Place apartment complex, the former DPW property on Spencer Street has long been considered a prime target for apartments. The property abuts the rail trail and is within walking distance to amenities, parking and public transportation downtown.
The city discontinued use of the Spencer Street property after 2012, when public works moved into a new facility on Route 4.
In 2012, the City Council decided to declare the parcel surplus but didn’t take further action to market the site until Upper Valley developer Mike Davidson pitched plans to purchase it in 2017.
Davidson, who has redeveloped several properties in the Upper Valley, offered $400,000 for the property and presented plans to build 100 to 200 new housing units and about 200,000 square feet of office and commercial space in three separate five-story buildings.
However, city councilors said his offer was too low and opened a bidding process to other developers.
Braverman’s plans scored high marks in creativity, design and ability to generate taxes from city officials reviewing the proposal in November.
Dan Nash, a Lebanon engineer who sits on the Economic Vitality Exchange Commission, said he was attracted to the Braverman proposal for multiple reasons.
A higher number of units would draw more tax revenue, and the company was experienced working in neighboring Vermont, he said.
“They also have an option on the neighboring parcel that would be used as something to support the housing activity,” Nash added.
Both Nash and Smith said officials made their recommendation through consensus, with few disagreements throughout the three-day review.
“Most of us were pretty close on our ratings,” Nash said.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.