City Market’s Parking Lot: Same Size, but Co-op Owned!

By Pat Burns, General Manager

You may have read recently in the Burlington Free Press that we completed negotiations with the City to buy the land and parking lot here at 82 South Winooski Avenue. This negotiation was not a speedy process; I first talked to the Mayor in May of 2012 when he attended a board meeting of the Burlington Business Association.

This deliberate process, while lengthy, allowed us to fully analyze the opportunities that purchasing the property will afford City Market and our Members. We have leased the property from the City for the past 12 years. Initially, we signed a 49 year lease with another 49 year renewal that was a good deal for the Co-op (before the opportunity to purchase the property arose). Based on our current rental agreement, it would only take 18 years for these payments to surpass the principal and interest payments on our loan from the Cooperative Fund of New England to purchase the property.

While the math bears out that it’s a better deal for the Co-op to own the property than to rent it, this is only one of the reasons for purchasing the property. Owning the property symbolizes the Co-op’s commitment to our Members, the community we serve and to the City of Burlington and that we are committed to a long-term relationship. We plan to be a member of this community for many, many years!

Can you expect any changes now that we own the property? Not really. While we own the parking lot, we still have limited space. The metered parking lot adjacent to the YMCA is not for sale, so we'll continue to make do with the spaces we have until we can open that elusive second store. While we haven’t shared news recently of our second store planning, be assured that there’s work going on behind the scenes to meet our goals. Our plans for a second store should help reduce the congestion in the parking lot and inside the store, making a more comfortable shopping and working experience.

In the meantime, we have gained additional parking spaces through a partnership with the HowardCenter. On Friday evenings, all day Saturday and all day Sunday, customers (only while shopping at the Co-op) can park in the HowardCenter lot (one driveway south of the Co-op). You can also bike or walk to the Co-op when you can to take advantage of the additional seasonal bike parking we offer, as well as our participation in the Bicycle Benefits program!

I want to thank City Market’s Board of Directors for their willingness to consider this recent land purchase. We completed our due diligence with legal assistance and Board Members were thorough in their review of all the related information. We anticipate closing the deal and signing all of the documents before the end of June. The parking lot might not look different the next time you visit, but I think we are better off for making this happen.

As always, thanks for your patronage,
Pat