WINDSOR — Community members will have a chance to learn more about a proposal for a 30-unit mixed-income housing complex in downtown Windsor during an in-person and virtual meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The in-person meeting will be held at the Windsor Welcome Center and online at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89989369926.
The proposal calls for a single newly constructed building that will hold 30 units on a 1.2-acre plot of land between Center and Main streets located behind the Windsor Diner that is currently owned by the Windsor Improvement Corp., known as WIC. Windham & Windsor Housing Trust and Evernorth, both nonprofit organizations that focus on building affordable housing, are behind the project.
“It’s not a really huge space, but there’s enough space there for this type of development to go there,” said Donna Sweaney, WIC board president. “Knowing that housing is so critical through the Upper Valley and in our area as well, we thought this would be a perfect possibility to have housing here.”
The proposal calls for a four-story building that will have 30 mostly one-bedroom units of mixed-income housing, said Kathy Beyer, senior vice president of real estate development at Evernorth. Parking would be located under the building and on a surface lot. There is also potential to add another apartment building to the same site, which would share the parking lot.
It is still early in the design process and the cost estimate for the project is unknown at this time.
“The homes would target to a range of incomes: approximately 25% market-rate, and 75% affordable to households earning between $33,000 and $42,000,” Beyer wrote in a follow-up email.
She noted in a phone interview that “rents are considered affordable when a family pays no more than 30% of their income toward rent.”
If all goes according to plan, the groups should be able to apply for funding in May 2022. There will be no cost to Windsor taxpayers and the building will pay town property taxes.
“These projects take a long time so it could very well be a year and half to two years before we can start construction,” Beyer said.
The groups signed an option agreement in June and now are in the process of introducing the project to the public.
The proposal will fill a need for housing in Windsor, one that has become even more pronounced during the pandemic.
Major employers, such as Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center, have long spoken of the need for more housing for their employees.
“We know the project will be done right,” said Bob Flint, director of the Springfield Regional Development Corp., about Evernorth, which constructed the nearby Union Square apartments. “It’s taking property that has been sitting for many years, and it will increase the housing density in downtown Windsor, which will help certainly with downtown development and supporting downtown businesses.”
That is one of the reasons Evernorth and the housing trust target downtown areas for projects.
“It addresses not just the affordable housing need, but it addresses community efforts to reinforce their downtown,” Beyer said. “There’s always ripple effects when we bring housing investment to our downtowns.”
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
