Business View Civil and Municipal | May 2021

31 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL MAY 2021 ST . ALBANS , VERMONT About a year ago, Quebec’s Premier announced the province’s plans to extend the A-35 further south, all the way to the Highgate Springs/St. Armand border, where it would connect with Vermont’s Interstate 89. “We’re really excited about that,” says Deso. “The Highgate area is about to receive some federal and state dollars. If Highgate, as a municipality, were to match $1 million out-of-pocket with a bond, they’d conduct a major renovation of the Franklin County State Airport. That would open us up for cargo, essentially.” The A35 extension would make branding St. Albans “the gateway from the Port of Montreal to New England” a much easier sell. Deso notes, “We’ll have an airport able to help with air travel exports. We have a pretty solid manufacturing base in St. Albans Town already, but we hope to add to it. That’s our opportunity now: to capitalize on the State Airport expansion and the completion of the A-35.” It’s all part of an important rebuilding process for St. Albans. They just finished a $4.2 million new Public Works facility on property they’d previously acquired in a more centralised location, and they’re just about to wrap up the environmental site assessment and mandatory reporting for the old garage property on the White + Burke – your outsourced real estate department. Real estate development is complex. How are you supposed to handle that when you’ve got a business or a municipality to run? When St. Albans decided to become pro- active about downtown revitalization, they turned to White +Burke Real Estate Advisors. W+B established a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district with the goal of fostering private investment. Working side-by-side with the City W+B negotiated numerous successful public- private partnerships that have added over 60% to the taxable grand list within the TIF district. New buildings have been constructed, streets and sidewalks rebuilt, and downtown vacancies have been dramatically reduced. W+B works with public, private, and institutional clients to make their real estate visions happen. When a business is looking to expand, open a new location, or a town wants to incentivize development in downtown, these are massive undertakings that can take focus away from crucial day-to-day operations, and they call for specialized expertise in feasibility assessments, permitting, financing, commercial brokerage, negotiations, and economic development. There are numerous steps in navigating real estate that can slow down the timeline, increase costs, or introduce roadblocks. W+B handles these challenges allowing our clients to do what they do best – run their organizations. ...... For more information, please visit our website www.whiteandburke.com Courtesy of David Brueckner