The Grand Deal

The renovation of the Grandview has started and I’d like to provide some clarity on how this came to be. A recent article could lead one to believe the Gutierrez Company has committed $1.5 million dollars to the renovation. The $1.5 million dollars was their payment to the town of Burlington as a result of the 2001 landswap that was negotiated by the members of the Board of Selectmen at that time. The final deal was approved by Town Meeting. I was a Town Meeting member at the time. The Gutierrez Company gave Ruping Builders 11 acres of property at the end of Wall Street, where approximately 176 apartments were constructed. The Guiterrez Company also gave 6.4 acres of unbuildable wetlands to the Town of Burlington to be used as a buffer zone for the apartments that Ruping Builders was to build. The apartments were a mixture of market value rental units (that help the town keep its required 10% of affordable housing) and senior affordable units. The Gutierrez Company received 14.6 acres of prime commercial property located on Wheeler Rd from the town of Burlington. The current estimated value of that property is approximately $7 million dollars.

Since the Grandview work has begun, we will now start to receive $75,000 per year (for 20 years) from the Gutierrez Company, which will eventually total $1.5 million. These payments will cover the town’s bond payment that we borrowed to renovate the Grandview Farm. What did the town of Burlington get in this deal? The town of Burlington received two houses on South Bedford Street, which have an estimated value of $300,000 each, from the Gutierrez Company. Ruping Builders gave the town the entire Grandview Farm site, which included the land behind the farm (where the Burlington senior condos were built) and 4 house lots on Sleeper Drive. The town sold one double lot for $400,000, which went to jump-start the renovation work. When the market improves, we will sell one of the other lots plus the two house lots on South Bedford Street. This money will be used to complete the interior restoration of the Grandview Farm.

The reason why the town entered into this deal was to prevent 150 units of affordable housing over looking the common. Instead, we got 42 senior condos restricted to Burlington residents. And that, my friends, is a summary of the famous 3-way land swap.