Three buildings that had been barracks, then dorms, are newest affordable housing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2025
Colchester, Vermont – Champlain Housing Trust and Evernorth celebrated with community members, state officials, and public funders at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester Monday, marking the completion of 65 new permanently affordable apartments. The apartments, across three buildings, were completed in phases over the past five months.
“Champlain Housing Trust appreciates all of the support this redevelopment received – fourteen sources of funding in all,” said Michael Monte, Champlain Housing Trust’s CEO. “But what’s most important to remember is that this represents 65 new permanently affordable homes for Vermonters at a time when housing prices are going through the roof.”
The 65 apartments are a mix of one-bedroom and studio apartments, which are lacking in the neighborhood. Eighteen will come with rental subsidy committed by the Burlington Housing Authority, capping rent at 30% of the renter’s income. CHT is also renting fifteen of the apartments to people who had been experiencing homelessness. Rents will average about $1,200, including heat and hot water – newly constructed apartments in the region are renting for twice that much.
“These are amazing historic buildings, and Engelberth Construction and Freeman French Freeman made the difficult task of transforming the dorms into apartments look easy,” added Nancy Owens, President of Evernorth. “The successful partnerships that contributed to every aspect of this development will be even more important to sustain in the months to come as federal resources are at risk.”
The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board supported the redevelopment with State of Vermont General Funds and three federal programs, totaling about $9.5 million. Vermont Housing Finance Agency allocated Low Income Housing Tax Credits that brought in about $10.7 million in equity through Evernorth’s Housing New England Funds III and V. Federal historic tax credits, also through the same two Evernorth funds, added nearly $5 million.
VHFA provided two sources of debt to the development, and additional grants to address pollution and energy efficiency were also part of the funding stack. NeighborWorks America, which has been a critical, flexible funder of affordable housing across the state, made a $350,000 grant.
The first tenants moved into the first building around the beginning of the year, and the final ones will move in next month.
The buildings most recently had been dorms and office space for Saint Michael’s College. CHT purchased the buildings from the College and with Evernorth, set out on this ambitious redevelopment project that included environmental cleanup and remediation, preserving historic structures, and adding permanent affordable housing to the community.
In the early 20th century, long before they were college dorms, these three buildings, Hamel, Purtill and Dupont Halls, served as barracks to the 10th Cavalry, one of the first peacetime U.S. Army regiments made up of all Black soldiers after the Civil War. Nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers,” the Cavalry also had a troubled charge: they were deployed to western regions to clear land from Indigenous peoples and claim it for new settlers. CHT and Evernorth will document this history in the entryways of the buildings.
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Evernorth is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing and community investments in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Evernorth has raised and deployed over $1.6 billion in equity capital for affordable housing building more than 17,000 affordable homes for low- and moderate-income people across northern New England. www.evernorthus.org
