Community Celebrates Grand Opening of 25 Permanently Affordable Apartments in Downtown Putney

[Putney, VT] Today, the Putney community celebrated the grand opening of Alice Holway Drive Apartments with a community celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony. Co-owners and co-developers, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Evernorth partnered to develop these 25 newly constructed, highly energy-efficient, and permanently affordable apartments in Putney, Vermont.

At Alice Holway Drive, five apartments are set aside for households who are at-risk of or experiencing homelessness with Southeast Vermont Community Action providing wrap-around services for these designated homes. WWHT's SASH For All (Support and Services At Home) provides both individual and community level services, support, and programming for all Alice Holway residents who wish to participate.

"This is the moment the Housing Trust, Evernorth and all of our funding partners and community champions have been working toward," said Elizabeth Bridgewater, WWHT's Executive Director. "Our vision, developed over 5 years ago was to create a new opportunity for residents to live in beautiful, affordable homes within walking distance to food options, cultural amenities and other essential services. We committed to do this in a manner that preserved a portion of the land for the Farmer's Market and the Community Gardens to remain onsite. We never wavered from this commitment and despite some strong headwinds, this vision has now come to fruition. What has made it even more gratifying is to see so many existing Putney residents welcoming their new neighbors, some of whom already have strong Putney connections and others who are new to the community."

The new homes sit adjacent to the community gardens and Farmers Market in Putney village and will extend pedestrian access along Alice Holway Drive. Alice Holway Drive will be served by the MOOver, a Southeast Vermont Transit (SEVT) commuter line running two morning routes and two afternoon routes between Brattleboro and Bellows Falls. These highly energy-efficient homes utilize ground source heat pumps and solar energy, which, combined with an extremely tight thermal shell, will minimize the building's carbon footprint.

"By opening the doors to this permanently affordable housing, that will continue to be affordable for generations into the future, in this town of Putney, we are taking care of the community, because all communities prosper by supporting housing for all income levels," said Kathy Beyer, Senior Vice President for Real Estate Development at Evernorth. "In addition to providing affordable housing, Alice Holway Drive is also providing climate solutions. By incorporating geothermal for heating and cooling with a very robust thermal shell, our buildings avoid 92 tons of carbon per year.

Funding and financing totaling $15 million from a mix of public and private sources was raised to cover the total development costs. Evernorth's 481 Fund II (TD Bank, N.A.) provided the federal tax credit equity investment of $8.6 million, which is administered by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and an additional $525,000 in Federal Investment Tax Credits. VHFA also provided $700,000 in Local Investment Advisory Committee (LIAC) Partnership funds and $400,000 in Housing Investments for Vermont (HIVE) funding. The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board contributed over $4 million, including $3 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding, $818,000 in general funds, and $585,000 in HOME Funding. VT Agency of Commerce & Community Recovery & Revitalization Program provided $500,000. Other funders include Efficiency Vermont & Green Mountain Power Initiatives. Brattleboro Housing Partnership awarded the project 8 rental-assistance vouchers. TD Bank provided the $8M construction loan. The development received its permit from the Town of Putney in 2022 which was promptly appealed to the Environmental Court and Vermont Supreme Court, followed by an appeal of the Act 250 Jurisdictional Opinion to both courts, resulting in 4 cases delaying the construction by 2 years.

Vermont Integrated Architecture provided architectural services for the project. ReArch Company provided construction management services for the project.

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Windham & Windsor Housing is a mission-driven non-profit organization, established 35 years ago in response to increasing threats to the region's supply of affordable housing. Their mission is to strengthen the communities of Southeast Vermont through development and stewardship of permanently affordable housing through ongoing support and advocacy for its residents. WWHT builds concrete solutions to the region's housing challenges and provides better housing opportunities to more than 1,500 Southeastern Vermonters each year. To learn more about our upcoming development work visit our webpage www.homemattershere.org and scroll to the FAQ section.

Evernorth is a nonprofit organization serving the low- and moderate-income people of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont with affordable housing and community investments. Evernorth has raised and deployed over $1.6B in equity capital for affordable housing and built more than 17,000 affordable homes and apartments for low- and moderate-income people across northern New England. Learn more at www.evernorthUS.org.