West Brattleboro Terrace plan gets federal money for senior housing

Brattleboro Housing Partnerships marked the funding announcement Tuesday as another major step in a project that has been years in the making.

A $1.75 million congressionally directed award is helping move forward the long-planned redevelopment of Melrose Terrace into West Brattleboro Terrace, a project now expected to cost about $19 million and create 30 energy-efficient apartments for residents age 62 and older.

Brattleboro Housing Partnerships marked the funding announcement Tuesday as another major step in a project that has been years in the making. The new development will replace the remaining buildings outside the floodway, part of a broader effort to reshape the site after Tropical Storm Irene caused major damage in 2011 and led many residents to move to Red Clover Commons.

Christine Hazzard, the executive director of BHP, said construction could begin in the next few months, with completion and a ribbon-cutting anticipated in early 2028. She also noted that the project builds on completed flood mitigation work intended to protect housing near the brook while giving floodwaters more room to move through the area.

Funding for the redevelopment also includes $3.8 million from the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, $1 million in National Housing Trust funds, $815,000 in equity and nearly $3 million in tax credits.

At the event, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt, said the project represents a thoughtful kind of community investment. She also said Brattleboro remains a place she considers home, adding that she has made a point of focusing attention on the southern part of the state since serving in the Legislature and later in Congress. Balint estimated that Brattleboro still needs about 500 new housing units.

Balint said the project matters because it allows older residents to age in place with dignity in a setting that feels welcoming and familiar. She also argued that rural areas face housing and healthcare pressures similar to those in other parts of Vermont and that lawmakers from different parties can still work together on issues like housing when there is shared purpose.

Melrose Terrace, which was developed in 1966, originally included 80 households and was later affected significantly by Irene. The completed flood work has also changed the flood map for the site.

Hazzard said the property was the first one developed by the town-formed Brattleboro Housing Authority and was originally built for many of the town’s lowest-income elderly residents, later expanding to serve adults with disabilities in the late 1990s. She described it as Vermont’s only example of a mid-20th century garden apartment design, with winding paths and substantial green space, and said it has been deeply valued by residents and staff over the decades.

She added that communities across Vermont will need to protect historic downtowns, village centers and housing in flood-prone areas by making more room for water and by finding other land for future development outside floodways.

Hazzard thanked Chris Hart, the former executive director of BHP, along with M&S Development and the BHP Board of Commissioners, saying projects that stretch over many years require steady leadership. She also credited Balint with staying involved through the process, including during the earlier development of Red Clover Commons One and Two.