New housing under way in Shelburne

Thursday afternoon brought together scores of interested onlookers as three local nonprofit housing developers were joined by Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin to mark the beginning of construction of new housing in Shelburne village.
Breaking ground at Harrington Village, a new mixed-income neighborhood for seniors and families in Shelburne.
‘After many years of planning and persistence, this new neighborhood in the heart of Shelburne will soon be a reality,’said Gov. Peter Shumlin. ‘Harrington Village brings together rental and single family homes for all ages and a variety of income levels in the village center, surrounded by open land and promoting smart downtown development with good quality of life for residents.’
The three nonprofits ‘Champlain Housing Trust, Housing Vermont and Cathedral Square ‘are collaborating to build a mixed-income, mixed-generation neighborhood of 82 new homes including 42 family apartments, 36 senior apartments and four affordable homes for sale. Construction is underway and occupancy of the family and senior rentals is expected in the summer of 2014; the for-sale homes will be available later.
‘We are here today because committed citizens and local officials in Shelburne wanted to make sure that their community is inclusive for people of all incomes,’said Brenda Torpy, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust. ‘I applaud that commitment, and we look forward to coming back here next summer to welcome the first people moving in.’
‘We also appreciate the Town of Shelburne’s support for the new neighborhood we are creating,’added Kim Fitzgerald, Chief of Operations and Finance at Cathedral Square Corporation. ‘This development has so many wins ‘mixed income housing for seniors and families in a village location, construction jobs, and conservation of open space for the Town. Cathedral Square anticipates the Wright House senior housing to be leased up before the doors open next summer.’
Funding for the housing came from a variety of sources, including investments made by TD Bank and Enterprise Community Investment through a federal tax credit equity program. Grants from HUD-funded programs and USDA Rural Development were instrumental to the development, including support from NeighborWorks America, HOME and Community Development Block Grants (commonly known as CDBG).
Support and financing also came from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Vermont Housing Finance Agency, Vermont Community Development Program, Efficiency Vermont, Vermont Gas, the Town of Shelburne and proceeds from state tax credit. SCHIP’s Treasure Shop, a resale shop in the center of Shelburne, made an early grant in support of the predevelopment costs of the project.
‘The vacancy rate for rental housing in suburban Chittenden County is currently less than one percent,’said Housing Vermont President Nancy Owens. ‘Clearly, there are many families and seniors who are looking for quality apartments at affordable rents in good locations. Harrington Village directly responds to those needs and we expect that demand will be strong,’Owens said.
Wright & Morrissey Inc. is the general contractor for both the senior and family housing, and Duncan Wisniewski Architecture is the project’s architect. The combined cost of the two rental developments is approximately $20 million.
About the Nonprofit Partners
Cathedral Square Corporation (CSC) is a nonprofit organization that owns and manages communities for seniors and individuals with special needs. The organization was founded as a ministry of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in 1977 and by 1979 CSC had opened its first building in downtown Burlington, Vermont. For the past 30 years, Cathedral Square has lived up to its mission of ‘healthy homes, caring communities and positive aging’, providing housing with supportive services for over 1,235 residents. As an advocate for a system that better serves the long term care needs of Vermonters, Cathedral Square administers the SASH ‘Support and Services at Home - program statewide as part of Vermont’s Blueprint for Health. The organization continues to develop properties throughout Northwestern Vermont. Today, CSC owns and/or manages 27 housing communities, each uniquely designed to provide safe and secure apartments at an affordable price.
Champlain Housing Trust, founded in 1984, is the largest community land trust in the country. Throughout Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, CHT owns and manages approximately 1,800 apartments and stewards over 520 owner-occupied homes in its signature shared-equity program. CHT also provides homebuyer education and financial counseling and offers affordable energy efficiency and rehab loans. In 2008, CHT won the prestigious United Nations World Habitat Award, recognizing its innovative, sustainable programs.
Housing Vermont, a nonprofit syndication and development company founded in 1988, creates permanently affordable rental housing for Vermonters through partnerships with local organizations, public agencies and the private sector. This highly successful partnership has produced more than 4,800 affordable apartments in 155 different developments. Housing Vermont has raised and deployed more than $255 million in private equity which has leveraged an additional $352 million in private financing and public investment.