BRATTLEBORO -- Three years ago, Mike Gilman and his Green Hills Real Estate purchased a number of multi-family buildings in Brattleboro, and as part of the package deal, they received the Sportsmen's Lounge on Canal Street.
On Nov. 7, in what investigators are characterizing as a "human involved" blaze, the Sportsmen's was destroyed by a three-alarm fire.
The Sportsmen's Lounge occupied a set of buildings dating back to the 1850s and had been closed for a decade.
Gilman said the plan after demolition called for putting up a couple of townhomes on the spot, but he is hesitating and is looking for some reassurance from town leaders and the community.
"Since 2021, what we've noticed is there seems to be more crime, more lawlessness, more and more homelessness, and there's been no consequences," he said.
Green Hills has purchased distressed properties in places such as Rutland, Chester, Bennington, Townshend and Proctor.
"We don't have this problem in any other town. Brattleboro is the only place with this scale of lawlessness and anarchy."
Green Hills is a Vermont-based property owner with more than 500 units in the Green Mountain State.
Gilman and his partners also operate Cross Mountain Capital and 3Gen Property Management, with properties in Stratton and Killington, and in Colorado and Kansas City.
"We're very successful at what we do, but what I'm seeing is the tide going the other way in Brattleboro, whereas things are getting better and all these other towns, especially, Rutland, have had dramatic improvement."
Gilman attributes the positive changes to increased law enforcement and the public's unwillingness to accept further mayhem.
"There have to be consequences," he said.
Despite boarding up the property at 45 Canal St., he said, it kept getting broken into. It is believed the fire on Nov. 7 was caused by someone who had broken in. Police are still investigating.
Over two years, he said, he and his partners have been rehabbing and retenanting their local properties, which include 55 South Main St., 29 Canal St., 101 Clark St., and 1046 Western Ave., as well as a parcel at the corner of Canal Street and Clark Street.
"All the tenants were in some kind of delinquency, some of them on drugs, unfortunately. We've had units taken over by squatters and it's taken a year and a half to two years to get them out. Since then, we've focused our sites on 45 Canal. We've been trying to get it demolished for awhile."
Gilman said asbestos removal was scheduled for this week, followed by demolition. The fire has doubled the cleanup costs, from about $90,000 to $200,000 and the building was uninsurable because of its condition.
By the end of the week, all the debris will be gone, said Gilman, but for the short term, it will stay an empty lot.
"We're scared to develop there," he said, even with multiple buyers already expressing interest. "Until we can feel like people are working on it, I don't see how we can develop there."
Nonetheless, said Gilman, he's not giving up on Brattleboro, which he believes has a lot going for it, including its location on the river, a new bridge over that same river, a new Amtrak station in the works, lots of nightlife and good food and a charming Main Street.
"I love Brattleboro," he said. "We want nothing more than to improve the neighborhood, but it will take people coming together. What I'd love to see is some kind of conversation between businesses and the town where we can collectively all work together to clean this area up."
Available apartments in Vermont are listed at 3genbrokerage.com/locations with rents ranging between $1,200 and $1,950 per month.