Winston Prouty center housing project becomes ‘more concrete’
By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer, published June 19, 2024
BRATTLEBORO — A project aimed at bringing as many as 300 housing units to the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development continues to gain momentum.
Chloe Learey, executive director of the center, announced Tuesday that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., nominated water and sewer upgrades for the project to receive $2 million through congressionally designated spending. If that funding is approved, Learey called the component “a big piece of the puzzle” as it’s estimated to cost about $7 million.
“It just feels like things are coming together to make it more concrete,” she said at the Select Board meeting Tuesday, where a hearing closed out the $50,000 planning grant from the Vermont Community Development Program to look at water and sewer. “It’s been this big vision. Some people say, ‘Oh, that Prouty project is already happening.’ I’m here to tell you it will happen, but it’s not happening yet. We still need support.”
Master planning, initial design and preliminary meetings with neighbors have been conducted. A feasibility study found that capacity for the project exists in the town’s water and sewer infrastructure.
Learey said her group “made a lot of progress in trying to find out the unknowns and the water service was a really big piece of it.” They decided they don’t want to compete with housing trusts and developers for low income housing tax credits nor do they want to limit the project to only lower income units.
“We’re really trying to create a truly mixed income neighborhood that’s broadly mixed income,” she said.
A development consultant hired for the project suggested modular construction could help reduce costs. Learey said architects are “helping us think about how we might do a little more mix and match, some different kinds of housing to meet different needs, so that it’s not all just this one sort of cookie cutter.”
“We are close to having the next conceptual design to share with neighbors, with the town, and get feedback on that, so that we can move forward with finalizing design,” she said.
The hope is to put a shovel in the ground by 2025 and build in phases. Initial construction might be for water storage upgrades, Learey said.
She noted community support will be crucial to the project. Given potential traffic implications, board member Franz Reichsman said the larger vision will be a tough sell in his Esteyville neighborhood.
“I think the last time we had a community meeting on this was about a year-and-a-half ago,” he said, “so there’s been a lot of kind of stewing under the surface amongst my neighbors about this.”
He suggested a slow scaling up might be more welcome to his neighbors and attract additional investors over time.
In commentary published in the Reformer last month, Learey said her group’s “primary need right now is to attract flexible financial resources from people and entities that are interested in investing in our community through this project.” She called the housing crisis “a great example of a challenge that requires our collective action to solve.”
“Brattleboro needed 500 units of housing to meet demand three years ago, and we get further behind as each year passes,” she wrote. “We need all the solutions and all the types of housing, from accessory dwelling units to rehabilitated apartments to infill development to multi-family new construction by public, non-profit and private developers. Our housing ecosystem is failing, and building a healthy housing continuum is essential to changing course away from economic decline.”
In a letter to Learey, Sanders said the nomination for congressionally directed spending is “just the first step of the process, as requests from members do not guarantee that your project will receive funding.” Each request is reviewed by one of 12 appropriations subcommittees, according to the letter.
Subcommittees decide which projects will be included in final legislation, Sanders wrote.
“Further, as you are no doubt aware, the process of funding the federal government can be long and complicated,” the letter states.