[V]ermont’s first effort to sell “sustainability bonds” to support affordable housing netted about $37 million and will enable development of 550 to 650 housing units in the next three years, Gov. Phil Scott said Thursday.
Affordable housing has been regarded for years as a stumbling block to developing Vermont’s workforce. Employers complain their recruiting efforts are hurt when would-be employees survey the housing market and find themselves priced out.
“As we work to create greater opportunity for Vermonters to attract more families to Vermont, decent housing Vermonters can afford is critical,” the governor said in a statement.
Sale of the bonds as part of the Housing for All program, which was born from legislation passed last year, raised $2 million more than the initial $35 million target. Sarah Carpenter, executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, attributed that to an improving bond market in the latter half of 2017.
Geoff Proulx, head of public finance housing at Morgan Stanley, said bond buyers appeared to appreciate the opportunity to invest in “sustainable,” public-spirited projects designed to provide housing to low- and moderate-income families.
“The bonds received a very positive response from the market with seven times the amount of orders than the amount of offered bonds,” he said.
Spending the proceeds from the bond sales will represent the largest state investment in affordable housing in decades, officials said. Money to pay off the bonds will come from the state’s property transfer tax.
The Housing For All program already has committed nearly $9.5 million of the money raised to the development of 310 homes in 10 communities around the state, as well as accessibility improvements in 60 homes. Eighty-six of the housing units are already under construction, according to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board.
One of the projects will include 30 rental units on Sykes Mountain Avenue in White River Junction, which Andrew Winter, executive director of the Twin Pines Housing Trust, said were being developed at a crucial time. The units will be made available to households with incomes ranging from $25,000 to $87,000 for a family of four. Meanwhile, 50 new jobs will be available at an assisted-living facility being built in downtown White River Junction.
“So building this type of housing, meeting the needs of organizations and businesses that are moving in, creating jobs — like this assisted living facility that I was talking about — it’s critically important that they have access to high-quality affordable housing,” Winter said.
