By NEIL ALLEN, Eagle Times Correspondent
WINDSOR, Vt. — Four years after the planning started for the 25 unit Central & Main housing project in Windsor, co-developers Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Evernorth are moving from remediation to construction.
“We are reaching a big milestone as we’re moving from excavation activities to building construction activities, which means we’re past one of the most risky parts of construction,” said Marion Major, outreach coordinator for WWHT.
The remediation work began on the site at 133 Main St. in March and the building is expected to be open in spring or summer of 2025, according to Major.
“Construction has been moving along very nicely, and is on schedule and on budget,” Major continued.
The planning for Central & Main began in 2020 and the location was chosen as the site “in terms of walkability and access. The site sits squarely downtown, directly adjacent to the Windsor Diner and around the corner from the school,” said Major.
The project was given the seal of approval with some modifications to the project to allow the housing to be in keeping with the neighborhood.
“The town of Windsor and community members have been excellent partners in this process. Supportive of the idea of development, they engaged in the public process,” she continued. “When the first plans were presented, we received feedback from the Design Review Committee that the proposed design was too high and some design features were not in keeping with the neighborhood. We redesigned based on the feedback and moved from 30 units and 4 stories to 25 on 3 stories along with changing a siding detail from a yellow color to a more neutral gray.”
Unlike WWHT’s Bellows Falls Garage project (a renovation of a historic 1920s-era building that was transformed from a garage to 27 affordable apartments), they will be starting from scratch.
“This site has been vacant since the original fire-damaged structures were demolished around 2008. Windsor Improvement Corp (WIC) was the landowner of the lot and actively looking for development in this space and donated the land to us for this purpose,” Major explained. “Due to it being the site of a burnt structure and the previous industrial uses, the vacant lot was not a greenfield and did require environmental remediation (common for responsible downtown development).”
The project is expected to cost $14,608,693.
“The project cost has risen 16% over the past two years which is incredibly challenging,” said Major. “Something unique about the funding stack for this project — we were one of the first awardees of the Upper Valley Loan Fund, which is pool funded contributed to by businesses in the Upper Valley recognizing that housing is a critical need for economic development.
When completed, the one and two bedroom units will be fully accessible with an elevator, they will be 100% electric with a solar installation on the roof, the building will be extremely high performing in terms of efficiency, and the soils that are being built on have been significantly remediated from contaminants (which is also a costly part wrapped into that number). Amenities will include an EV charger, underground parking, elevator, air conditioning and community space. Pets will be allowed following the rules of the management company.
The housing in Windsor will be very similar to Bellows Falls Garage in terms of leasing, occupancy and management to those at the Bellows Falls site.
“The variations in rents and incomes eligible for those apartments apply here as well. There are also supportive services matched with a similar number of units for residents who can use these supports,” Major said.
The property will be managed by Stewart Property Management. Applications for leasing will open as construction nears completion. “A sign announcing leasing will be put up at the site as well as announcements in local papers, front porch forum, social media,” said Major.
“A detail of note is that the application is specific to this one property. If you have already filled out an application for another property managed by SPM, your name does not move from one waitlist to another,” she continued. “Please fill out the application for this building specifically when they become available. There is no waitlist until the building is fully leased up.”
The rent is expected to be considered affordable.
“The rent for apartments varies in order to meet the mix of people in the community based on their local wages. The amount an individual pays towards housing costs does not go over 30% of their income. In affordable housing, rents are fixed at several different levels (within the building) in order to meet that affordability in a range of household incomes,” Major said.
“A question that is often asked is if this workforce housing.” said Major. “The answer is absolutely, while also being housing for elders on fixed income, workforce with low incomes, or for people living with disabilities.”
WWHT is pleased with the Bellows Falls Garage.
“Things have been going very well. Residents settled into the building nicely with many of them putting out decorative door mats, wreaths or decorations. It’s wonderful to see the personal touches of plants in the beautiful windows,” said Major. “The residents have also been doing regular game nights where they gather in the reading room for puzzles or other games then a group of them go to the classic movie night together at the Bellows Falls Opera House. It’s great to see the community building among neighbors. There have been no evictions.”
For more information, reach out to WWHT at 802-254-4604 or visit homemattershere.org/projects-in-development.
