Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak on Monday announced $30 million in low-interest loans 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 the funding 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 $8 million will fund the first phase of Burlington’s South End Coordinated Redevelopment project. The $100-million phase will construct two six-story buildings with nearly 200 studio and single-bedroom units on a parking lot at 125 Lakeside Avenue, not far from the co-working campus Hula. Future phases expect to add more than 1,100 additional units, with twenty percent designated as affordable housing.
The project aims to transform the industrial area into a mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood combining apartments, retail space, and green areas.
Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak emphasized the collaborative approach needed for housing development. “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, developer of the Hula co-working space and main backer of the South End project, thanked Pieciak for his support and for suggesting that the project apply for the funds.
The loans come from a program that invests up to 10 percent of state funds and reinvests earnings back into Vermont’s economy. Pieciak expanded the program several years ago to focus exclusively on housing development.
Pieciak noted that this funding approach addresses problems earlier in the development process, rather than filling gaps that emerge late due to rising material and labor costs. The strategy aims to make projects economically viable that might otherwise not make economic sense.
“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,” Pieciak said.
Another project received $484,000 to construct 70 additional units at the Cambrian Rise development on the North Avenue site of the former St. Joseph’s Orphanage. The program also approved loans for housing projects in four other communities.
In addition to the loans, the overall South End 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.