Officials and developers seek $3.1M in capital-bill support for three housing projects

The House Committee on Corrections & Institutions on Feb. 27 heard presentations on three housing projects seeking $3.1 million in the capital bill: Prospect Heights in Berry City (requesting $1 million for site infrastructure), the BenHigh redevelopment in Bennington (requesting $1.1 million toward remediation, floodproofing and geothermal/well systems) and a Winston Prouty phase in Brattleboro (requesting $1 million to fund a pump-house to support future residential development).

Alex Farrell, commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development, told the committee the capital bill request includes $3.1 million split as two $1 million allocations and one $1.1 million allocation to the three projects. “In the capital bill request for dollars 3,100,000.0, dollars 1 million to 2 projects and then 1,100,000.0 to another,” Farrell said, introducing the applicants. Each presenter described a project that officials and developers say is near a funding/approval milestone but needs public infrastructure dollars to proceed.

Berry City’s Prospect Heights: Nicholas Storre (city representative) described a 37-acre site with an executed purchase option and preliminary engineering indicating the site could support about 79 housing units after wetlands restrict a previously proposed 128-unit layout. The city has $3 million from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) and is seeking an additional $1 million to fund roads, water, sewer and stormwater to the site. Storre said environmental due diligence, including a wetland study, must be completed this spring and that the final infrastructure cost estimate could fall from the earlier $6 million estimate tied to the 128‑unit concept to roughly $4.5–$5 million for the 79‑unit plan.

BenHigh (Bennington): Shannon Barsotti, the town’s community development director, and developer Zach Hale described a complex reuse of the vacant Ben High school: a mixed-use historic-rehabilitation project the presenters estimated at roughly $55 million that would create 39 housing units, include a 12,000-square-foot childcare facility, municipal recreation and senior space, and a public meeting hall. The town plans to apply $3 million in ARPA funds toward municipal program space and has secured multiple federal and state grants plus tax-credit equity; project proponents said the state contribution would be used for geothermal wells, floodproofing and remediation. The presenters said the project has more than $14 million in grants identified, tax-credit equity and private investment, but that remediation, floodproofing and the building’s scale have driven the project’s total cost higher than earlier estimates.

Winston Prouty (Brattleboro): Chloe Leary, executive director of Winston Prouty, said the nonprofit purchased a former school campus and is proposing a mixed-use plan with housing added to an already serviced campus. Phase 1 is estimated at about $9 million for 28 units; the requested $1 million would finance a pump house to resolve low-pressure water issues and to enable subsequent phases that could add substantially more units on the campus.

Committee members raised several recurring concerns: how the three projects were selected for capital-bill funding rather than being offered through a competitive grant program; whether bonded dollars are the appropriate vehicle; and limited state bonding capacity. Representative Mary Morrissey and other members pressed the administration on how the projects were chosen and whether the capital bill process creates inequities among applicants.

Nick Kramer, chief operating officer for the Agency of Administration, said the administration prioritized projects that were near “shovel-ready,” had substantial nonstate matching funds and addressed urgent needs — including flood risk and timing tied to other committed funds. “We were looking at the intersection of all of these points and flood risk,” Kramer said. He acknowledged the approach was not a formal grant program and said the administration would be open to developing formal grant mechanisms in the future.

Presenters described next steps: Prospect Heights expects wetland studies this spring and a site-control decision before October; BenHigh presenters seek closing and final tax-credit equity steps planned in coming months; Winston Prouty marked Phase 1 as aiming for construction and a close in the calendar year. No formal vote or appropriation was taken in the hearing; committee members asked for more detailed cost breakdowns, clearer documentation of selection criteria and legal drafts for any appropriation language before moving funds in the capital bill.

Next steps: the committee asked sponsors and administration to provide written cost breakdowns, summaries of matching funds and the administration’s internal selection criteria; committee counsel was asked to prepare draft appropriation language if members move to include any of the projects in the capital bill.