FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2024
CONTACT: Lisa Patlis, (802) 861-3814
[Shelburne, VT] – Federal, State and local officials gathered today in Shelburne at the site of a former motel to announce the creation of a new neighborhood with nearly 100 permanently affordable homes and apartments. The new neighborhood, Bay Ridge, is being developed by Champlain Housing Trust in partnership with Evernorth.
Bay Ridge will include 26 shared equity condominiums for sale and 68 rentals, 20 of which will be dedicated for people who will no longer be homeless. The neighborhood will include new infrastructure, including a new road, two solar arrays, and stormwater systems to protect Lake Champlain’s water quality. The roughly $55 million development received funding awards or financing from over 20 different sources, including U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Project funding secured by Senator Peter Welch and Representative Becca Balint.
“Community-driven initiatives like the Bay Ridge neighborhood are key to addressing Vermont’s affordable housing crisis. This development will turn a community vision into reality by creating a new neighborhood that will host permanently affordable housing. I’m proud to have helped secure federal funds for this project which will help more Shelburne families access housing,” said Senator Welch.
“In the midst of Vermont’s severe housing crisis, I’m proud to support the essential work of Champlain Housing Trust alongside Senator Welch,” added Representative Balint. “This new neighborhood is exactly the kind of large-scale, permanently affordable housing infrastructure that we need at this moment for Vermont. Although much more work remains to be done, the ambition of this project is a credit to the remarkable work of the many partners involved. Bay Ridge is yet another illustration of how critical federal investment will be as we work to tackle the housing crisis, and I’m committed to preserving and expanding support for housing in Congress.”
Champlain Housing Trust purchased the property in 2013 and operated a motel, Harbor Place, at the site for almost 10 years. In addition to providing rooms for guests experiencing homelessness for several years, Harbor Place served the State of Vermont’s Covid-19 response as a quarantine and isolation motel beginning in March 2020. The motel operations shifted across the road when the Housing Trust purchased the Day’s Inn in 2021. Champlain Housing Trust then engaged Evernorth and other stakeholders, including the Town of Shelburne, on a plan to redevelop the site.
“This new chapter in the life of this property is one to celebrate even as we recognize that this one development won’t solve all of our housing challenges,” said Michael Monte, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust. “Beginning construction on so many permanently affordable homes at once, though, is a rare occurrence in Vermont and we thank all of our partners and funders that have made today’s milestone possible. We look forward to the day in the near future when we welcome people into their new homes.”
Leaders stressed how affordable housing is critically needed as homelessness has grown by 5% in Vermont in the past year with the second highest per capita rate in the country. A year-over-year increase of 12.8% in home prices topped the nation, and a report out last week showed that to afford the rent on a two-bedroom apartment in Chittenden County a household would need to earn over $36 per hour – an increase of $5 per hour more than last year.
Rents for a three-bedroom apartment will run as low as $1,725 versus the Fair Market Rent of $2,390. Sale prices for the new condominiums will be around $180,000 – a median priced home in Chittenden County is $460,000.
Joined at the press conference and groundbreaking ceremony were major funders Vermont Housing Finance Agency, Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, the State Agency of Commerce and Community Development, NeighborWorks® America, and tax credit investor RBC Community Investments.
“The amount of collaboration, coordination, and mission-driven funding and financing to pull together this complicated real estate deal into vision of a new neighborhood is truly remarkable,” added Nancy Owens, President of Evernorth. “At the end of the day, we are all looking for the same thing: more affordable housing in our communities. And we’re accomplishing this at Bay Ridge here in Shelburne.”
The Town of Shelburne was a key partner in not just working with two developers to review and approve the new housing, but also as a sponsor of a successful grant application and by waiving impact fees to help defray some of the costs associated with the development.
Shelburne Town Manager Matt Lawless summed up the Town’s support by saying, “The Select Board believes that Shelburne needs more of this type of development. With their leadership, Shelburne will be part of the solution to Vermont’s housing crisis. Our team is helping create the new homes we all need. We look forward to welcoming our new neighbors at Bay Ridge.”
Snyder Homes is building the condominiums, with first occupancy expected in May 2025. DEW Construction is constructing the new apartment buildings, which were designed by Duncan Wisniewski Architecture. Scott + Partners Architecture designed the rehab work to be done on existing buildings on the site, working with contractor Naylor and Breen Builders. The neighborhood will be connected by Margaret’s Way, a new road named for Margaret Bozik, a Champlain Housing Trust employee who led the organization’s homelessness initiatives until her death in 2021.
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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 $1.5B 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.
