A field at the corner of Riggs Road and Route 116 in Hinesburg is about to become a busy job site. The developers say the spot "will soon be a hive of construction activity."
Champlain Housing Trust and Evernorth gathered with local officials at Hinesburg Town Hall on Oct. 13 to mark the start of Riggs Meadow, a new neighborhood that will begin with 36 permanently affordable apartments. The apartments are set to be under construction soon, according to Evernorth's announcement.
The land came as a gift. Local business leader and philanthropist Jan Blomstrann donated 46 acres between Route 116, Riggs Road and CVU Road to the Champlain Housing Trust, with a vision of making Hinesburg more affordable.
"We are grateful to Jan for her gift and her vision and look forward to adding much needed affordable housing here in Hinesburg where costs have skyrocketed in recent years," said Michael Monte, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust.
The numbers back him up. The median sales price for a home in Hinesburg was $429,000 in 2025, up roughly 60% over the last 10 years, according to the announcement.
A neighborhood in phases
The 36 apartments are only the first piece. The plan calls for 16 one-bedroom, 16 two-bedroom and four three-bedroom apartments, giving the trust a range of sizes that includes larger homes for families.
After the apartments, eight homes will be built in partnership with Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity in the spring of 2027. A second phase will include as many as 32 more homes, a mix of affordable and market-rate, along with a childcare center. The full development will also include walking trails.
"We are excited to be building 36 permanently affordable rental homes in Hinesburg," said Kathy Beyer, Evernorth's senior vice president for development. "The community of Hinesburg is a shining example of how towns can take steps to encourage the building of new housing in the village growth area."
The first phase will be fossil-fuel free. Through a partnership with Vermont Gas, known as VGS, the apartments will be all-electric, with solar-ready construction and heating and cooling supplied by a community geothermal system installed by VGS.
The apartments were designed by Wiemann Lamphere Architects and will be built by D.E.W. Construction. They are slated to be finished around the end of 2027.
Paying for it took some doing. The nonprofit developers pulled together 11 different sources of funding for the first rentals, including the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, the Vermont Community Development Program, Evernorth's 481 Fund II and NeighborWorks America. Green Mountain Power and Efficiency Vermont are providing energy incentives, and TD Bank is providing construction financing.
Riggs Meadow will serve a range of income levels and add to the trust's efforts to offer a mix of apartment sizes, according to the developers. The announcement didn't list rents or a total development cost.
Why it matters for Contractors
This is a multi-year pipeline in a single town. The 36 apartments come first, followed by eight Habitat homes in spring 2027 and then up to 32 more homes and a childcare center in a second phase. That sequence means work for site contractors, builders and trades well beyond the first building.
The community geothermal system stands out. Instead of a boiler room or individual furnaces, the heating and cooling comes from a shared ground-source loop installed by VGS. Mechanical and electrical contractors working in Vermont will want to understand how a shared geothermal loop ties into a building's own heating, cooling and electrical systems, and how work gets coordinated when a utility is installing part of the system.
Solar-ready construction also adds details for electricians and roofers to plan around, such as conduit runs and roof layouts that leave room for panels later.
For the larger region, Riggs Meadow is another sign that Chittenden County towns outside Burlington are adding housing in their village growth areas. Evernorth's Beyer pointed to Hinesburg as an example for other towns. Contractors who can work efficiently on mid-size, energy-efficient apartment buildings are the ones these developers need.
With D.E.W. Construction leading the build, subcontractors and suppliers interested in the apartment phase may want to reach out to the builder directly about trade packages.