Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak on Monday announced a block of money to support new housing in the state, including an $8 million infusion to help a long-awaited project get off the ground in Burlington’s South End.
Pieciak announced $30 million in low-interest loans that he said would help build 450 new units in six communities.
“We don’t want to leave a single dollar on the table when Vermont is dealing with such a significant housing crisis,” Pieciak said.
The loans are made possible by a program that invests up to 10 percent of the money the state has on hand and puts the earnings back into the Vermont economy. Pieciak opted several years ago to expand the program and focus it exclusively on housing.
The largest chunk will go toward the first phase of a long-awaited project in Burlington’s South End. In the $100-million phase, two six-story buildings with nearly 200 studio and single-bedroom units will be constructed on what is now a parking lot at 125 Lakeside Avenue, not far from the co-working campus Hula. Future phases are expected to build more than 1,100 additional units. Twenty percent of the development will be affordable.
Plans call for transforming the industrial area into a mixed use, transit-oriented neighborhood of apartments, retail and green space.
Pieciak noted that past investments from the fund have helped close funding gaps that emerged late in the development cycle because of rising costs of things such as building materials and labor. This time around, the state is getting involved earlier to help jumpstart projects that might not otherwise make economic sense, he said.
The goal is to boost the housing supply for residents and to help local businesses and organizations whose growth is constrained by the housing crunch.
“This is going to not only support more housing in general in the Burlington community, but it’s going to support these businesses to be successful, driving that economic growth, providing good-paying jobs and creating a really virtuous cycle of success,” he said.
Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak stressed that the project, known as the South End Coordinated Redevelopment, is an example of how the city is committed to working with developers and housing organizations to get the housing the city needs.
In addition to the $8 million loans, the overall project is expected to take advantage of city-owned property, tax-increment financing and a program passed last year by lawmakers to fund infrastructure upgrades including sewer, water, roads and sidewalks.
“Together these efforts reflect a shared understanding that housing is a result of deliberate planning, investment and coordination that happens when land, infrastructure and public leadership all move in the same direction,” she said.
Russ Scully, the developer of the Hula co-working space and a main backer of the South End project, thanked Pieciak for his support and for suggesting that the project apply for the funds.
“This money literally put wind in our sails at a time when we were really struggling to figure out how we were going to pay for this,” he said at the press conference at Hula.
Another Burlington project also received a boost from the program.
Cambrian Rise, the new neighborhood being built on the North Avenue site of the former St. Joseph’s Orphanage qualified for $484,000 to help construct an additional 70 units. Loans were also approved for a variety of other housing projects in Grand Isle, Barre, Fairlee, Hinesburg and Vergennes.
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