A new affordable housing project in Middlebury, planned as a collaboration between the college, Summit Properties and the town of Middlebury, is set to see its first units go on sale in May 2025.
Upon completion, the development, located on Seminary Street Extension, will have approximately 200 units, divided into three categories of equal size: affordable housing, the “missing middle” — people with a household income between $60,000 and $120,000 — and market-rate individual townhouses.
The affordable housing units will be rental housing for households with yearly incomes of less than $50,000. The “missing middle” will be made up of townhouses, duplexes and triplexes. Many Middlebury staff are a part of that income bracket, so this affordable housing is a huge opportunity, according to David Provost, executive vice president of finance and administration.
State and federal funding will cover $180,000 of the approximate $500,000 construction cost for each unit, according to Provost, who noted that high construction financial borrowing costs are among its biggest challenges.
Colleen Norden, systems & communications specialist in the CTLR and president of Staff Council expressed staff support and excitement about the project.
“A new mixed use, affordable housing development project has been sorely needed for decades in Middlebury. Staff truly welcome this project,” Norden wrote in an email to The Campus.
Norden added that as a result of a lack of affordable housing in the area, many staff members are forced to live further away from campus, facing longer commute times and other costs such as car wear-and-tear.
“These issues can impact if an employee chooses to start working or continues working at Middlebury,” Norden wrote. She added that this contributes to low application numbers for staff positions as well as some rejected offers.
According to data the college’s human resources department emailed to The Campus, only 39.9% of staff members live within the town of Middlebury’s limits, and 21.7% of staff members live farther than 15 miles away from the town.
Norden also noted that the new housing development could have positive impacts far beyond benefitting the occupants of units themselves. She expressed hope that it could lead to lower or slower rental price increases and improved overall housing conditions in Middlebury. She explained that tenants often fear complaining about living situations because they have a lack of options and landlord references are needed for long-term rentals.
Many towns also offer few protections for renters, but increasing supply might increase average housing quality, added Norden.
“Middlebury and its surrounding towns do not have a mandatory rental inspection program like the ones existing in Burlington or Rutland putting the complaint burden on renters. Decreasing the local occupancy rate may encourage improvement of rental stock either through more time between turnovers or renter pressure,” Norden wrote.
The college purchased the 35-acre parcel of land in April 2022 for $1.5 million. Now, it has a less of a direct role than it does in on-campus construction projects, where the facilities team manages the project directly.
“We go to all [Development Review Board] meetings to show support of the project but it's really Summit as the Developer that takes the lead,” Provost said.
The development will occur in several phases, according to Provost. The first phase, which must be completed prior to the first round of unit construction, is basic site infrastructure, such as the stormwater and sewer system.
The college is working on establishing an agreement with a subcontractor in Vermont who would prefabricate at least some of the units in their factory, and ship the pieces to the site on tractor-trailers, but the agreement has yet to be finalized.
“Building in Vermont is a pain in the ass because one day it's 10 below and the next day it's hot so when you're dealing with materials, it's really tough to get consistency. But in the control environment of a factory, you can,” Provost said of the potential benefits of constructing using prefabricated pieces.
The housing development’s occupants will not be restricted to college faculty and staff, and many other local businesses and other employees are expected to benefit.
“[The project] will eventually benefit not only staff, but all employees of the college or local community who are seeking housing,” Norden wrote.
Provost reiterated that the college recognizes that this project is community-focused and will also benefit local businesses and Porter Hospital. However, he did note that as the community’s largest employer, he expects the college will have the highest percentage of employees living in the development, and that the development will first be marketed to college employees before expanding to the wider community.
Provost believes that the state as a whole is going to see a period of quick housing growth.
“I think the last 20 years, 30 years we were in hold of, ‘Let's keep people from ever coming to Vermont, we're gonna control that with our zoning rules and in our permit process to make it really difficult to build here’… Now we don't have places for people to live, so we have to build,” Provost said.
Provost explained that while staff have not been involved in plans for the new housing up to this point, he hopes to involve them as the project gets closer to fruition.
Norden expressed her hopes for more Staff Council involvement in the future.
“Questions we hope to follow up on include — what strategies will be in place to ensure continued housing affordability for staff members, how will staff members be involved in the ongoing planning and development process, and what mechanisms will be in place for collecting feedback, addressing concerns, and making adjustments based on staff input?” Norden wrote.
Provost reiterated his view of the college’s role in helping develop the Middlebury and Addison County communities along with college employees.
“I'm a big believer that large employers have to be at the table to solve economic factors,” Provost said.
