Dobra Tea Scores Free Rent For a Year at City Lights!

WINOOSKI, Vt. (NECN)

Vermont Business Scores Free Rent For a Year

A Vermont business just got a big head-start on an upcoming expansion: a year of free rent.
Dobra Tea already serves food and hot and cold drinks from around the world in its tea room in downtown Burlington.

Next year, it will expand into neighboring Winooski.
“We really want to be here,” Stacey Jolles of Dobra Tea said of Winooski. “We think it’s going to be a great place for us to be.”

The Dagesse Company, the builders of the new City Lights building in downtown Winooski, offered a year of ground-level rent free to a business looking to open or grow. The company said it made the offer in order to support a company through a critical stage, and also to contribute Read More…

Dobra Tea wins a rent-free year in Winooski

BURLINGTON FREEPRESS

Dobra Tea will open a branch in Winooski — and will be spared the first year of rent in a new downtown building, developers announced Tuesday.

The Burlington-based tea shop out competed other proposals for the street-level spot at the four-story City Lights apartments at East Allen Street and Abenaki Way, Dagesse Company co-owner Jackie Dagesse told the Burlington Free Press.

Business at the new branch will likely open in July, as will the building’s 27 apartment units, Dagesse added.

Dobra Tea prevailed over three other viable contenders because of its solid business model, its successful, 13-year run at Bank and Church streets in Burlington and its “cozy, multi-cultural” aesthetic, Dagesse said.

“I can see people coming downstairs in their PJs on a Saturday morning for a cup of tea, and then maybe heading up to the rooftop deck,” she added.

Nina Beck, co-owner of Dobra, said the decision to extend business into the Onion City grew out of ongoing expressions of interest by locals and folks who work there.

Two summers ago Dobra tested the waters at the Winooski Farmers Market, and found demand strong, Beck said — and Waterworks restaurant is already a customer for Dobra teas.

“Winooski is a good fit for us, because of the diversity of the population there, and the diversity represented by our tea and food,” she said.

Development of City Light’s 463-square foot commercial and retail space is limited by the lack of means to install large-scale venting or range hood — but will suit Dobra, Beck said.

City Lights occupies the former site of the Cameron House, a historic residence that was moved in August to a new location in Burlington

Another floor of Framing is beginning!

Level 3 wood framing is beginning today, while electrical, mechanical and masonry work is taking place on the lower levels. Come check out the project with the owner, Nathan Dagesse, by meeting in the construction office, viewing floor plans, renderings and the 3-D model of the building! Call 802-497-3653 or email [email protected] to schedule your appointment.

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View from Unit 201

This is your city and river view from your living room in unit 201.
1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, modern apartment for $1475/month. Rent includes heat and secured parking, pets allowed!

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Structural steel has been set for the City Lights building

Structural steel has been set for the City Lights building. You can also see the detail in the concrete walls beneath the steel which has a nice design feature. The crews worked late on October 26th to complete the concrete pour for the floor system of Level 2 for the building. Next week the construction team will begin installation of the wooden panel framing system. The wooden panels were being constructed offsite during the excavation, concrete pours and setting of the structural steel.  Having the panels preconstructed allows efficiencies in constructing the framing. You will see the structure go up quickly over the next two months!

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