The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board handed out $13.8 million at its Oct. 1 meeting, and a good share of it is headed for construction work: a new senior building, a big rehab job and dozens of heating system replacements.
The awards will help create 35 new affordable senior apartments, preserve and rehabilitate 52 rental homes, permanently protect 44 lots in two manufactured home communities and replace failing heating and ventilation systems in 82 affordable apartments, according to the board's announcement. The package also extends financing for two existing affordable housing communities and covers historic preservation, local conservation capacity and the conservation of more than 725 acres of farmland, forestland and natural areas.
"These investments show what Vermont can do when communities, landowners, and public partners work together," said Gus Seelig, VHCB's executive director.
The biggest piece: Colchester
The largest housing award, $5,420,000, goes to Cathedral Square Corporation for Severance Park in Colchester's Downtown Growth Center. The money will support construction of a new 35-home affordable senior community supported by SASH, the Support and Services at Home program.
The four-story building will serve households earning 50% to 80% of area median income. Plans include a community room and kitchen, garden planters and walking paths.
It's also the start of something much larger. The building is the first residential building in Severance Park, a planned mixed-use neighborhood of up to 585 homes, with a grocery store, café, childcare and a central park, VHCB said.
In Burlington, Champlain Housing Trust received $1,500,000 to preserve and rehabilitate 52 rental homes at South Meadow, a 148-home mixed-income neighborhood in the city's South End. The money pays for siding, roofing, drainage, and heating and hot water upgrades, and places permanent affordability restrictions on 44 homes.
Another $1,750,000 went to Evernorth to replace 82 failing Minotair heating and ventilation units across five affordable housing communities in Hartford, Morrisville, West Burke, Bristol and Burlington. The manufacturer went bankrupt in 2025, parts became unavailable, and the failing systems threatened the stability of residents and properties, according to VHCB. Working with Twin Pines Housing, Downstreet, RuralEdge, Addison Housing Works and COTS, Evernorth will complete the replacements over five years, preserving heat for 93 homes.
In Rutland, Cornerstone Housing Partners received $1,325,500 to buy and preserve the Allen Street and Brookside manufactured home communities, with 44 homesites. Residents voted for Cornerstone to buy the parks, and the purchase prevents a sale that could have closed the Allen Street community, VHCB said. It also places permanent affordability on 33 lots.
Other awards include $500,000, VHCB's largest historic preservation award to date, to help restore King Farm in Woodstock, a 157-acre National Register property with 11 historic buildings dating to 1793. Part of the dairy barn will become a classroom and learning kitchen for Woodstock High School's CRAFT program, and the project will secure permanent public access on trails linking to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.
In Craftsbury, Headwaters Community Trust received $50,000 for feasibility and predevelopment work for permanently affordable housing on the former 155-acre Sterling College campus. The board's announcement also lists preservation of affordable homes in St. Johnsbury among the work it is funding.
Why it matters for Contractors
There's something here for almost every kind of contractor.
The Colchester building is new construction, four stories and 35 homes, and it's the first residential piece of a neighborhood planned for up to 585 homes. Contractors who get to know Severance Park now could be in position for later phases.
South Meadow is a classic rehab job: siding, roofing, drainage, and heating and hot water work across 52 homes in an occupied neighborhood. That's work for exterior, roofing, site and mechanical contractors.
The Minotair replacements are a statewide mechanical job spread over five years and five communities. HVAC contractors who handle combined heating and ventilation equipment should note that 82 units need replacing, and that parts for the original systems are no longer available.
The King Farm barn restoration is a niche job for carpenters and preservation specialists who work on historic agricultural buildings.
VHCB awards are often one of several funding sources a project needs before it can go out to bid. The commitments announced Oct. 1 move these projects a step closer to construction.