In Progress…and Recently Completed

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192 Canal Street, Brattleboro | Tontine Building, Guilford | Daly Shoe Building, Brattleboro
Worden House, Brattleboro | Sadawga Springs Apartments, Whitngham
Wilder Building, Brattleboro | Butterfield Common, West Dover

192 Canal Street, Brattleboro

Number of Units:  4 apartments
Estimated Completion Date:  September 2008
General Contractor:  Ingram Construction
Architect:  NBF Architecture
Engineer:  Stevens & Associates
Development Consultant: J.D. Kantor, Inc.

This project represents WHT’s long-standing efforts to revitalize and support the residential character of the Canal Street corridor. Until recently, 192 Canal Street served as the Trust’s offices, which were moved to the Daly Shoe Building at 68 Birge Street in December of 2007, leaving the building vacant. 

This building is in good condition, and most of the proposed renovations will take place on the first floor. Reconfiguration of this property will create four affordable apartments, ranging in size from a studio to three bedrooms, as well as shared laundry facilities for residents of 192, 188, and 182 Canal Street.

Tontine Building, Guilford

Number of Units:  7 apartments
Estimated Completion Date:  September 2008
General Contractor:  Ingram Construction
Architect:  NBF Architecture
Engineer:  Stevens & Associates
Development Consultant: J.D. Kantor, Inc.

The Tontine Building is an important historic anchor in Guilford’s Algiers Village. Located at the corner of Guilford Center Road and Route 5, its renovation to affordable housing represents Phase One of the community’s Master Plan. Initially constructed in 1819, the building is one of several surviving structures built or owned by an early group of entrepreneurs who utilized available water power from the nearby Broad Brook. Construction work is currently underway to transform this crumbling and haphazard arrangement of small apartments into seven attractive, safe and affordable apartments for lower-income Guilford residents.

Daly Shoe Building, Brattleboro

Daly Shoe Building (before renovations)	Daly Shoe Building (after renovations)

Number of Units: 29 apartments and Windham Housing Trust’s new offices
Completion Date:  February 2008
Architect: Williams & Frehsee
Engineer: Stevens & Associates
Contractor: Baybutt Construction
Development Consultant: J.D. Kantor, Inc.

This project was WHT’s first adaptive reuse initiative, which resulted in the creation of WHT’s new offices and 29 new rental housing units, ranging in size from studios to a four-bedroom apartment. Part of the historic Estey Organ Factory complex, this former commercial/warehouse building includes 37,000 square feet of space spread over two stories.

Daly Shoe Building is among a growing number of bigger, bolder and more financially complex housing development initiatives undertaken by Windham Housing Trust in recent years that are creating new affordable housing, not just renovating existing housing. This project created more new housing units in the town of Brattleboro (without contributing to sprawl) than were created in WHT’s first 19 years.

While preserving its historic features, including its post-and beam construction, large windows, high ceilings and original wood warehouse floors, WHT incorporated many special energy-saving technologies and systems, which will help to save energy, water, and money. WHT has transformed this former factory building into comfortable, permanently-affordable new housing and office space, conveniently located within walking distance of downtown Brattleboro.

Worden House, Brattleboro

Worden House  (before renovations)	Worden House (after renovations)

Number of Units: 7 single rooms, plus a resident manager apartment
Completion Date: August 2007
Architect: Williams & Frehsee Architects
Engineer: Stevens & Associates
Contractor: Baybutt Construction
Development Consultant: J.D. Kantor, Inc.

For more than five decades a simple wooden sign—reading “ROOMS”—had hung on the mailbox at Worden House in West Brattleboro Village, one of only a handful of single room occupancy (SRO) dwellings left in the county. Worden House has long been accepted in the neighborhood and recognized for its historic role in housing “hard to house” low-income individuals.

On the verge of being shut down for myriad code violations in 2006, and owned by a landlord who was unable to invest in improvements, Worden House was at risk of losing its important status as an SRO dwelling. WHT stepped in and purchased the building in January of 2007 in order to preserve that status and prevent its conversion to higher rent multi-family housing.

Renovations on Worden House were completed in August of 2007. The building includes seven single rooms with shared kitchen and living areas in a home-like setting, as well as a one-bedroom apartment for a resident manager.  

Sadawga Springs Apartments, Whitingham

The Old Hotel/Sadawga Springs Apartments (during renovations)	Sadawga Springs Apartments (after renovations—building in distance)

Number of Units: 9 apartments
Completion Date: April 2007
Architect: Williams & Frehsee Architects
Engineer: Stevens & Associates
Contractor: American Construction
Development Consultant:  J.D. Kantor, Inc.

“The Old Hotel,” as it is known locally, sits at the corner of Route 100 and School Street in the tiny village of Whitingham. First built as a general store in 1869, it has been reincarnated many times over the past 150 years—from its glory days as a hotel and spa for well-to-do visitors, to its conversion to a boarding house for local millworkers, and finally into a condemned apartment building and vacant eyesore.

Today, Sadawga Springs Apartments stands proudly in its newest incarnation, thanks to the insight and effort of many residents of Whitingham who worked hand-in-hand with WHT. Years of planning work, and the formation of a state-recognized historic district and “village center,” culminated with the extreme makeover of The Old Hotel by WHT, and the creation of nine units of permanently affordable housing. It is housing that is helping to maintain the village’s unique mixed population.

Wilder Building, Brattleboro

Wilder Building, December 2004	Wilder Building (after renovations)

Number of Units: 8 apartments, River Gallery School, and storefront space for Windham Wines
Completion Date: October 2006
Architect: Williams & Frehsee
Engineer: Stevens & Associates
Contractor: Trumbull Nelson Construction
Co-Developer/General Partner:  Housing Vermont, Inc.

The Wilder Building underwent a complete renovation after the devastating fire of December 2004, and is once again contributing to the health and economic vitality of downtown Brattleboro. It provides eight light-filled, one-bedroom apartments, accessible space for the River Gallery School, and street level commercial space downtown, home to Windham Wines. WHT was honored with a Vermont Community Development Program Achievement Award, a Preservation Trust of Vermont Award, and a Citizens Bank 2007 Housing Hero Award for its work to preserve the Wilder Building.

Butterfield Common, West Dover

Number of Units:  26 apartments for the elderly/disabled,
7 townhouse-style rentals, 7 for-sale condominiums
Completion Date:  Elderly/disabled housing and townhouse rentals are complete; 4 condominiums are complete
General Contractor:  Wesfield Construction and Ingram Construction
Architect:  Williams & Frehsee Architects
Engineer:  Stevens & Associates
Development Consultant: J.D. Kantor, Inc.

Butterfield Common Elderly/Disabled Housing is one portion of a larger, intergenerational, mixed-income community. Seven townhouse-style rental units for families are complete, as are an additional four condominium units. The project also includes a community center. Butterfield Common is located on a six-acre parcel of land that was donated to WHT by Marlboro resident, Edie Mas.

 

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