Rachel Pierce
After more than a year of due diligence and negotiations, efforts to purchase the flood-damaged federal building at 87 State Street in Montpelier through a negotiated sale with the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development have collapsed. The property is now slated for public auction this summer.
A key sticking point was the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), human-made organic chemicals banned under the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979. An initial screening and walkthrough of the building conducted in 2023 by Clay Point Associates, Inc., found “pervasive” PCB contamination in the walls, floors, and paint — a legacy of the materials used in its original construction. An environmental status report commissioned as part of the due diligence work and prepared by Stone Environmental in September 2025 estimated the cost of PCB remediation alone at $1.5 million to $2.5 million. The GSA’s asking price was $2.475 million, making cleaning up the building potentially more expensive than buying it.
“We don’t feel like the GSA took that contamination into account in setting a price for the property,” said Jon Copans, executive director of the Foundation for a Resilient Montpelier, the newly merged nonprofit leading local redevelopment efforts. “Given the remediation work that would be necessary, it just didn’t make financial sense and really precluded a path to successful development.”
He said the GSA was firm in its position: “They repeatedly said, ‘We are selling this as is.’” Copans called it “outrageous” that the federal government — which built the building using toxic materials — is now walking away from the cleanup costs.
“GSA’s asking price is consistent with the property’s market value,” wrote a GSA spokesperson in an email to The Bridge. “In formulating our valuation, we made appropriate adjustments for differences in the age, quality, and condition of comparable properties.”
The GSA spokesperson also said “We are committed to collaborating with the State, City, and other stakeholders as we prepare to market the property for a competitive sale.”
Local partners remain undeterred. The foundation is pursuing two parallel strategies to compete in the auction. The first is a push for a state legislative appropriation for acquisition funds, framed around the federal government’s responsibility for the contamination. The second is the formation of a local development corporation (LDC) — a statutorily defined nonprofit dedicated to economic development — that would bid on the property and oversee its redevelopment. Copans said that although it’s too early to name any names, the LDC will most likely consist of a combination of state, regional, and local stakeholders who “care about the health and vitality of Montpelier.” As has been the case throughout, no municipal funds would be involved — the city has consistently said it has no interest in owning the property.
“So far, it has been very much phase 1 — establishing existing conditions,” said Christian Meyer, executive director of the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission (CVRPC), which served as fiscal agent for the due-diligence process. The CVRPC has secured additional funding through the Northern Border Regional Commission to advance to phase 2, which will focus on potential site uses and public engagement.
One redevelopment scenario under active discussion would divide the property, designating the land behind the building for housing. The space — a surface parking lot known locally as “the Pit” — has been the subject of conversations between the foundation, planning consultants, and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board.
The collapse of the negotiated sale was a setback, but the planning continues. Phase 2 of the feasibility and visioning work will proceed as the auction process unfolds over the spring and summer. The foundation and the CVRPC are working to ensure that the eventual owner — whether a local development corporation, a private developer, or some combination of the two — has a roadmap for what comes next.
