VHFA has awarded tax credits to Upper Story Housing, a proposed two-story addition to a new building in Brattleboro proposed by the Brattleboro Food Co-op.
Chief of Program Operations David Adams is quoted in a story about the development in this morning's Brattleboro Reformer.
The co-op has also put an excellent Q&A about the project on its Web site. That piece refers to a recent study of the Brattleboro housing market that found:
- More than 900 local households are eligible for the type of housing Upper Story Housing will provide and have the propensity to move in a given year.
- Between 2008-2013 there'll be a 22 percent increase in 15- to 24-year-olds in Brattleboro, young adults who've grown up in the area and are of the age to start new households.
- Seventy-six percent of Brattleboro renters are small households of one or two people.
- Brattleboro had a vacancy rate of 2.8 percent in 2000, which is considered "minimal availability." The rate grew even tighter from 2001-2005.
- The recent slowdown in the for-sale market has had little if any impact on the residential rental market. The difficulties in the ownership market might cause an increase in demand for rental apartments.
("Market Feasibility Analysis For Mixed Use Project at 2 Main Street," Douglas Kennedy, LandVest)