Burlington College Buys Diocese Headquarters, John Briggs, Burlington Free Press, May 24, 2010

Burlington College Buys Diocese Headquarters

By John Briggs
Burlington Free Press
May 24, 2010

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100524/NEWS02/100524010/Burlington-College-buys-diocese-headquarters

The headquarters of the state Roman Catholic Diocese will be part of a sale to Burlington College, school officials confirmed today.

Burlington College President Jane Sanders confirmed that the alternative liberal arts college has purchased the sprawling state Roman Catholic Diocese headquarters property on North Avenue.

“We bought all three parcels,” Sanders said. “We’re extremely excited about it. The purchase and sales agreement has been signed.”

The 32.4-acre property was put on the market in late April. Bishop Salvatore Matano, in announcing a $17.65 million settlement of sexual abuse cases, said the church had obtained an interim bank loan and was counting on the sale of the diocesan property to pay off that loan.

Details of the sale, including the price tag, were not immediately available. Yves Bradley, vice president for commercial brokerage at Pomerleau Real Estate, said the headquarters property was placed on the market last month for $12.5 million. The site is the largest undeveloped tract of land left in Burlington and is valued on the city's Grand List at $19.8 million, but Bradley said that figure does not reflect the present real estate market.

Sanders said Burlington College will use the orphanage building, which dates to 1881, “for classroom and public space. The newer wing,” she said, “building in the 1940s, will be administrative offices and some classrooms. The building to the south will be used for student housing.”

Sanders said Burlington College will retain its current building at the corner of North Street and North Avenue, but will “look at options.”

She said the college will begin discussions with “the city and the neighborhood” to find a good use for the building. Sanders also said the college has no plans to build new buildings on the diocesan land.

“This will be truly transformative for the college,” she said.

Burlington College, founded in 1972 originally as the Vermont Institute of Community Involvement, offers 21 majors and enrolls 180 full- and part-time students. The school’s yearly tuition was $20,242 for the 2009-10 school year.