South Meadow Apartments

South Meadow Apartments developed by Champlain Housing Trust and financed by Community Housing Capital

Champlain Housing Trust
Burlington, Vermont

South Meadow was developed as a mix of apartment buildings and duplexes. The community is home to 148 individuals and families in Burlington, Vt. Seniors benefit from the affordability of the South Meadows ApartmentsSouth Meadow is a mixed-income property, with some residents receiving subsidies and others paying market rate. Some have lived at South Meadow since the complex was built.

The private owner who developed the property had fulfilled the affordability compliance requirements attached to the property and now had options including selling the property to another developer or raising rents for the entire property to market rate, which would have resulted in the loss of 40 affordable units. For a small, yet high-cost city in Vermont, the loss of 40 affordable units is significant. According to Amy Demetrowitz, director of real estate development at Champlain Housing Trust (CHT), “Everyone was in danger of losing an affordable place to live. Properties like South Meadow are at high risk of converting to market-rate properties across the country, diminishing an already limited supply of housing that’s affordable.”

Vacant unit at the South Meadows Apartments

The private owner didn’t want to displace the residents and decided to sell the property to CHT. According to Demetrowitz, “It’s difficult to find financing for homeownership projects that are part of a strategy like this, but CHC was able, willing, and enthusiastic about helping to finance this property.”

CHT is converting some of the units to for-sale condominiums and providing existing tenants the first option to buy. Their Shared Equity Homeownership Program provides down-payment grants to qualified buyers. In exchange for the grant, buyers share a portion of the home's increase in value with the next buyer when they sell to help ensure the housing remains affordable. The balance of the units are apartments that will remain affordable.

Occupied unit at the South Meadows Apartments

The financing solution was two loans, one from CHC and one from TD Bank. CHC provided a five-year acquisition loan for the 32 proposed condo units, allowing time for CHT to meet the city of Burlington’s restrictive condo conversion notice requirements, apply for state homeownership monies, and prepare the existing tenants to be successful homeowners. TD bank financed the acquisition of the 116 affordable rental units.

Across the nation, developments with a mixed-income strategy are proving successful in improving opportunities for low-income residents to become more connected in an economically diverse atmosphere, often resulting in increased financial success over time.

The homeownership component is an important part of the strategy to maintain a mixed-income neighborhood where subsidized renters, market-rate renters and homeowners will work together to create a vibrant community.