Here are some of the infamous blight sites not owned by the Handy familiy! I hope that this increases the civic education in Burlington and increase awareness about who our real enemies are in protecting our civic vitality.

Bonus Blight

68 Pearl St

  • Boves Purchased: 2002 (Source)
  • Vacant Since: 2015
  • Assessed Property Value: $361,300
  • Boves Asking Price: $1.5M (Source)

This property on Pearl St, the former site of the Boves Restaurant, has now sat vacant for more than a decade. It is almost completely destroyed from graffiti, and is one of the biggest eyesores in the entire city. It is barely worth the $361,300 that is its current assessment. Yet, the Boves are trying to sell this building for $1.5M, more than 4x its assessed value. You don't have to sit here and wonder for very long why it is that nobody has scooped up this property and redeveloped it. As with many of these vacant buildings, it sits on a site that has been rezoned as a transit corridor, so you could build an apartment building here with enough space to house every unhoused person in Burlington. The Boves won't let that happen though, not unless you are a sucker willing to pay more than 4x the amount the property is worth.

108 South Winooski Ave

  • Merrill Jarvis III Purchased: 2003 (Source)
  • Vacant Since: 2024
  • Assessed Property Value: $1,562,300
  • Merill's Asking Price: $2.7M (Source)

The closing of Merrill Roxy Cinema's was a scandal, not just because Burlington, for a brief moment, did not have a movie theater, but also because Merill Jarvis III still outright refuses to sell this building to anybody who would be willing to operate a movie theater. That's right, he's demanding that anyone who purchases this building sign a non-compete clause clarifying that they will NOT operate a movie theater here. That is a huge problem, since literally the only thing you can do with a cineplex buliding like this is operate a movie theater. And when you are selling the building for more than $1M its assessed value, you'd think you'd be a little less picky with what your buyer does with your stuff. Of course, Merrill is just trying to make sure his other movie theater, Majestic 10 in Williston, stays open. But everybody knows that now that Partizanfilm is in Burlington, there's no reason to ever go to any other theater but Partizanfilm, and for the occassional blockbuster, Essex Experience. Sorry, Merrill!
Please support Partizanfilm as much as you can! They are everything we should be trying to become in Burlington.