More than a decade after Vermont's largest financial fraud left a vacant lot in the middle of downtown Newport, Mayor Rick Ufford-Chase says a plan is taking shape to finally fill what residents call "the pit."
In a recent question-and-answer session, Ufford-Chase acknowledged the frustration around the empty block but struck an optimistic tone. "I prefer to call it the development opportunity block," he said. "But we all hate it, and we all want to know what's going to happen to it."
The lot has sat vacant for more than 10 years, a casualty of the EB-5 investment scandal that ensnared developers across the region. The city does not yet control the property; it remains in federal court oversight, where a receiver is working to bring a sale before a judge. The receiver's mandate is to recover money for defrauded investors, Ufford-Chase said.
Environmental contamination is expected on the site, requiring Phase I and Phase II studies and cleanup before the city can sign a development agreement. Ufford-Chase estimated it could take three to five years to break ground on a project, most likely housing above ground-floor commercial space.
The mayor was blunt about financial obstacles. "The math just doesn't math in a lot of instances," he said. The city plans to pursue grant money and borrowing repaid through higher tax revenue from the finished development. "We are not just building a downtown for outsiders," Ufford-Chase said. "The goal is to do this in a way that does not end up hitting the Newport taxpayers in their own wallets."
Photo: Justin.A.Wilcox (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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