Three years after the July 2023 floods tore through Barre City, the hard-hit North End is finally getting a housing project.
Gov. Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development announced $4,243,069 in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding for the city on Oct. 15. It's the third and final round of awards from the program, according to the state's announcement.
The North End Buyouts and Housing project will turn Wobby Park into a development of 17 townhomes. It also includes three buyouts, two commercial properties and one residential property in the North End. Those buyout sites will become green space and the new home of a relocated Wobby Park.
"When floodwater devastated Barre, especially here in the North End, it was clear rebuilding in the same place didn't make any sense because as we all know, it's going to flood again," Scott said.
The city-owned park sits next to Barre's public safety complex, on relatively high ground just outside the flood zone. The city plans to sell the land for $1 to local contractors Trym Chouinard and Eric Lajeunesse, who plan to build the 17 townhomes, Mayor Thom Lauzon told Vermont Public.
The two-bedroom homes will be built in an East Montpelier factory by modular homebuilder Huntington Homes. Chouinard told Vermont Public he expects to break ground in May 2027 and finish construction in the summer of 2027.
Because of the federal funding rules, the homes will be sold at subsidized prices. The target sale price is $270,000, according to Chouinard, and qualified buyers will get down payment assistance, though the amount is still being worked out.
The city had been trying to attract housing to Wobby Park for years. The nonprofit developer Downstreet looked at building three or four homes there in 2024 but didn't move forward, Vermont Public reported. The city applied for the disaster funds twice before with a focus on buyouts and flood storage, and won on its third try after adding more housing, Lauzon said.
The bigger picture
In total, Vermont awarded $67,845,000 in CDBG-DR money to 28 projects in response to the July 2023 floods, the state said. The Barre award follows nearly $50 million in first-round grants announced in December 2025 and $10.2 million in second-round awards announced in April 2026.
The money came through the American Relief Act of 2025, passed by Congress in December 2024. It's funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and run by the Vermont Community Development Program. Eligible areas include Lamoille, Washington, Caledonia, Orleans, Rutland, Windham and Windsor counties.
Scott said the federal recovery money is expected to support about 139 new homes in Barre overall. Twenty-eight Barre City properties have already gone through the buyout process, with more underway, Central Vermont Recovery Officer Patricia Moulton said at the press conference.
"It isn't as grand as I had originally hoped, but it's still going to be impactful to this region and this part of the city, in particular," Scott said, according to Vermont Public.
Lauzon called the townhomes a first step. "We probably need to replicate this project four or five more times in order to bring meaningful recovery to the North End," he said.
Why it matters for Contractors
This project is being led by local contractors, not a big out-of-state developer, and that's worth noting. Chouinard and Lajeunesse are taking on 17 for-sale homes with help from a $1 land deal and federal recovery money, a model other Vermont builders may want to study.
The factory-built approach matters too. With Huntington Homes building the units in East Montpelier, much of the work happens indoors. On site, there's still foundations, utilities, setting, finish work and landscaping, plus demolition and site restoration at the three buyout properties.
The timeline is set: groundbreaking expected in May 2027 and construction wrapping in summer 2027. Contractors in central Vermont interested in site work, foundations or finish trades should keep an eye on the project.
The mayor has already said the city needs four or five more projects like this one. With buyouts continuing and about 139 new homes expected in Barre overall from the recovery money, flood recovery remains a source of building work in the Barre area.