Vermont State Colleges seeks $1M to ready Johnson campus site for 60‑unit housing project
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Summary
Chancellor Beth Mauck and developer partner Art Klugo asked the committee for $1,000,000 in capital funds to complete design, permitting and environmental work for a two‑phase, 60‑unit apartment project on the Johnson campus; they projected phase‑one construction costs of about $10–11.5 million and draft rents roughly $1,900–$2,500 per unit.
Vermont State Colleges officials briefed the House Corrections & Institutions Committee on Feb. 10 about a proposal to build apartment‑style housing on the Johnson campus and requested $1,000,000 from the capital fund for site design, permitting and environmental due diligence to make the project shovel‑ready.
Chancellor Beth Mauck said the proposal seeks to repurpose underused campus assets to serve students, faculty and the surrounding community. "We're using those now as a testing ground to see what also might we be able to do on the other campuses," Mauck said, describing the Johnson campus as a suitable, non‑flooded site for mixed student and community housing.
Art Klugo, managing partner with Campbell Home Development Group (presented in transcript as the development partner), outlined a two‑phase plan for a 60‑unit project (build 30 units in phase one with the option to expand). He said the $1,000,000 request would fund design to roughly 75% construction documents, permitting and any environmental testing needed for a developer to complete the final construction documents and finance the build. Klugo estimated phase‑one construction costs in the range of $10–11.5 million and offered draft market rents of about $1,900 for a one‑bedroom up to $2,500 for larger units — roughly $600–$1,000 per bed in the campus context.
The presenters described financing options including private developer capital (with leaseback or long‑term ownership models), congressional and disaster‑recovery grants used previously at Johnson, and potential CHIPs or Opportunity Zone funding. Committee members asked about enrollment impacts, long‑term operating costs, affordability targets, ownership models, and whether the administration included the request in its capital submission; Mauck said the proposal has been discussed with the Agency of Administration but was not included in the governor's capital submission.
Committee members and the presenters agreed the $1,000,000 would be used to create a shovel‑ready package to solicit developers; if the capital request is not approved, presenters said they would pursue alternative paths and further partner engagement but that timeline and escalation risk would extend. The committee did not vote on the request and will consider it during capital bill deliberations.