UVM settles on buyer for South Burlington land parcels

University of Vermont has approved the sale of 44 acres of land to Eastern Development Corporation, a firm that intends to build housing behind Swift and Spear streets in South Burlington, according to a news release Monday from the university.

Contract negotiations between the two parties are still underway, and details of the sale price will be disclosed later, the release states.

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The buyer and UVM "are looking forward to public input in the near future" regarding the nature of development to take place in the Edlund South and Martin Parcels, it adds.

Most of the land involved is zoned Institutional/Agricultural — and a zone change through the city would be required before it could be put to residential use.

The buyer intends "to create housing that is consistent with the characteristics of the neighborhood and sensitive to the environment, according to the news release.

Eastern Development intends to buy an additional 22-acre tract at 150 Swift Street to better connect a proposed residential community with the East Woods Natural Area, the release states.

The sale of the parcels will advance UVM's "capacity to make strategic investments" that correspond more closely with its core educational mission, it adds.

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 802-660-1843 or joelbaird@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @VTgoingUp.