Executive Director Sarah Carpenter joined Congressman Peter Welch, Addison County Community Trust (ACCT), Cathedral Square Corporation (CSC) and other partners yesterday to celebrate the opening of McKnight Lane, Vermont’s first net-zero energy affordable housing community. Formerly a blighted mobile home park, McKnight Lane is a vibrant, new, affordable rental community featuring Vermods, modular, high-efficiency homes manufactured in Wilder, Vermont.
The new development was named to honor Terry McKnight, ACCT’s former Executive Director who died in November 2014 and had wanted for years to transform this mobile home park. Housing credits allocated by VHFA provided 58 percent of the funds needed to develop the 14 home neighborhood.
"Nearly half of Addison County renters are burdened by their housing costs, paying more than a third of their incomes in rent and utilities. Not only is McKnight Lane affordable to low-income Vermonters, the net-zero homes with resilient battery systems ensure residents won't have to choose between purchasing groceries or paying their fuel bill to stay warm this winter. In particular, the addition of the battery systems through this important energy partnership means that McKnight Lane residents can rest assured knowing they are prepared to weather storms and outages for years to come," stated Elise Shanbacker, Executive Director of ACCT.