FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 6, 2025
[Berlin, VT] Today, the Berlin community celebrated the grand opening of Fox Run Apartments with a ribbon cutting celebration. Downstreet and Evernorth, the co-owners and co-developers, partnered to develop Fox Run Apartments to provide essential housing for 30 low- and moderate-income households in Berlin.
“Fox Run Apartments is more than just new housing—it’s a promise to Central Vermont families that safe, stable homes are within reach,” said Angie Harbin, Executive Director of Downstreet. “This project brings a permanently affordable asset to a growing community, supports local employers, and provides families with a strong foundation for the future. We’re proud to be part of a partnership that understands that housing is infrastructure—and that investment in homes is an investment in people.”
Fox Run Apartments is a single three-story building with a mix of affordable and market rate apartments ideally situated in the heart of the Berlin Commons New Town Center. Located within walking distance to area employers, schools, and essential services, the new building provides residents with green space, community gardens, an onsite office for resident services and property management, and a community room.
“As permanently affordable housing, Fox Run Apartments is a long-term asset to the community. These homes will be affordable for generations into the future,” said Kathy Beyer, Senior Vice President for Real Estate Development at Evernorth. “Fox Run is also addressing climate change; by installing cold climate heat pumps, our building will prevent the emission of over 83 tons of CO2 annually.”
Downstreet has built a robust and successful system to coordinate services and connect residents to the help they need, including a strong partnership with the Family Center of Washington County to serve previously homeless families; this program will be extended to include additional families at Fox Run. Evernorth’s Connections Program will bolster these efforts as our collective focus on serving the needs of residents continues to grow.
Funding and financing totaling over $15 million from a mix of public and private sources was raised to cover the total development costs. Housing New England (HNE) Funds provided the tax credit equity investment of $5.8 million for this project, which is administered by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. The Vermont Housing Finance Agency also provided $175,000 from the Vermont Housing Investment Fund. The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board contributed over $ 3.1 million, including over $2.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding and $1.4 million in HOME funds. Citizens Bank provided the $7 million construction loan. The town of Berlin contributed $500,000 through the VT Community Development Program. Other sources of funds include NeighborWorks, Efficiency Vermont and Green Mountain Power. The VT State Housing Authority awarded 10 critically needed project-based housing subsidies to Fox Run Apartments.
Wiemann Lamphere Architects is the project architect. Neagley & Chase is the Construction Manager.
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Downstreet Housing & Community Development is a non-profit organization that strengthens the communities of Central Vermont by creating permanently affordable homes, promoting equity and inclusion, and connecting people to the resources and services they need to thrive. Since 1987, Downstreet has been enriching neighborhoods in Washington, Orange, and Lamoille counties through real estate development projects, homeownership programs, supportive services, and a rental portfolio that provides safe, healthy, mixed-income rentals to over 500 households in apartments and manufactured housing communities.
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.
