Sen. Patrick Leahy joined affordable housing developers and local, state and federal officials this morning to break ground on Thayer Commons in Burlington.
The project, in city's New North End, will create 33 new affordable apartments for seniors and 33 affordable apartments for families.
Cathedral Square Corp. plans to construct an additional 26‐32 senior apartments in a second phase of the development. Developer Eric Farrell is renovating the former Thayer School for commercial use and constructing a new building that'll add 47 more market rate apartments.
Sen. Leahy secured a $433,000 special purpose grant through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development as a piece of the overall $13.8 million project developed by non-profit partners Cathedral Square, Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont. VHFA allocated federal Housing Tax Credits to the project.
Construction will continue through the summer and fall, with occupancy expected in Spring 2012.
(Illustration: Lincoln Brown Illustration)