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Housing
Information
The Cathedral Square Difference
Featured Community
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Whitney Hill Homestead Whitney Hill Homestead is designed in the style of an extended farmhouse with long porches and courtyards. It provides a warm and gracious setting for those 55 and older who wish to combine independent living with reduced maintenance. With its pastoral setting, Whitney Hill offers a relaxed environm... More Information.
Grand Way Commons Expansion
Thayer House | Shelburne House
July 2009
Construction is underway!
Construction of the addition to the Grand Way Commons community is moving quickly. We expect construction to be complete in the late fall. If you are interested in one of the 28 new apartments please contact the Cathedral Square front desk at 863-2224.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
South Burlington development in final stages
By Joel Banner Baird, Free Press Staff Writer
SOUTH BURLINGTON -- The final touches to one of South Burlington's most ambitious new communities will begin -- and end -- in 2010, developers say.
Following approval by the Development Review Board last week, plans are in place to construct a 28-unit expansion to Grand Way Commons (an elderly care residence) and a 42-unit, four-story condo north of the Gateway Shopping Center.
Formally known as the O'Dell Parkway Planned Unit Development, the 24-acre site near the Burlington-South Burlington city line has gradually taken shape with offices and housing since F&M Development Co. LLC began construction in 2000.
Decades ago, a golf club occupied parts of the property.
Demolition of the derelict remains of a former WCAX and WVNY television station in February will precede construction at Grand Way, said Eric Farrell, principle developer with F&M.
Groundbreaking for the new 48,500-square-foot market-rate condo -- to be named the Bacon Street Lofts -- at the former site of Seaway Carwash will be in May or June, Farrell said.
Much of the previous development on the site was driven by the demand for affordable and mixed-income housing in Chittenden County.
South Burlington-based Cathedral Square Corp., which will take ownership of the Grand Way addition before the February groundbreaking, will ensure that all of the new elderly housing units will have perpetual-affordability leases, said Tim Ashe, the nonprofit corporation's development project manager.
"We know how great the demand is," he said Tuesday. "The existing (63-unit) building has about 150 people on the waiting list, so we know the benefit will immediately reach a number of households."
Negotiations with neighbors, city planners and architects determined the final shape and height of buildings at the O'Dell Parkway development. The result has caught the attention of out-of-state critics.
In a 12-page case study published this year by the New England Environmental Finance Center, the project is praised for a number of smart-growth principles, including:
• Improved access for pedestrians and bicyclists to nearby amenities.
• Easy access to public transportation.
• Dense settlement -- as opposed to suburban sprawl (made possible in part by underground parking).
• Mixed-use development, with residences, recreation areas, retail and offices providing opportunities for ample social interaction.
• Close involvement with city, county and state agencies in the planning and financing process.
A copy of the study is available at the New England Environmental Finance Center Web site.
Current resident entrance to Grand Way Commons in South Burlington.
