The Center has purchased 560 Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, to redevelop as middle-market housing and commercial spaces to support the community.
The project is underway. Demolition of the existing interior began in December 2023 and construction will follow in early 2024. Below are some frequently asked questions about the project. If you have further questions about the project, please contact Evan Oleson.
We anticipate creating 9 quality 1- to 3-bedroom rental apartments and two commercial spaces.
The apartments will not require income-based qualification. They will be designed to be financially in reach for people working in the St Johnsbury area. We use area median income and research on St Johnsbury-area salaries to determine affordable rental rates.
The apartments will have standard 1-year leases with the intent to serve folks interested in being in the community long-term.
The Center has been working in St Johnsbury for many years in a variety of different program capacities including facilitating the regional marketing initiative get NEKed VT, supporting the St. Johnsbury community forest and other recreation development, regional tourism planning through the Rural Tourism Academy, expansion of markets for wood heat, and more.
The Center will use a mix of funding sources to make the redevelopment of 560 Railroad Street financially feasible. Sources include impact investment funds, public grants, and private gifts. If you are interested in contributing to this important community project, please contact Becky Hession.
The Center is a regional innovation and investment partner creating rural vibrancy by connecting people, economy, and the forested landscape. Legally, we are a non-profit organization; a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. We work across the Northern Forest region of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.
The Center uses a variety of capital sources to fund property purchases and development. We raise private donations and grants, grants from public agencies, tax credits, and impact investment dollars – a mix of funding that enables the Center to take on challenging property development projects that do not attract commercial developers. By using low-cost capital and gifts and grants, we are able to create high-quality living spaces and make them affordable to middle income renters.
To help address the housing crisis in Northern Forest communities, we broadened our suite of programs in 2017 to include property development. We focus on downtown properties that have the ability to catalyze community redevelopment.
In our first housing project, the Millinocket Housing Initiative, we invested $1 million to renovate 6 dilapidated houses and created 11 apartments, now all leased to year-round residents.
Our second project redeveloped an 11,000-square-foot building on Main Street in Lancaster, NH, to create 6 new apartments and commercial space to house a local food market.
Our newest projects include redeveloping the historic Gehring House in Bethel, ME into 8-9 apartments, a mixed-use commercial and residential project on Millinocket’s main street, and a project in Tupper Lake, NY, that will create 8 apartments and a single-family house.
The Center will manage the property for several years to recoup our investment. The Center will then sell the property with covenants as condominiums to individuals or as a whole building to a like-minded property manager.
The Design phase of the project was completed in Fall 2023. We have retained HP Cummings as the construction manager for the renovation. Demolition of the existing interior began in December 2023. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2025. Information about renting the apartments will be available in summer 2024.
The renovated building will contain two commercial units. Catamount Arts will be leasing one unit for an artist studio. The other unit is available and interested parties should contact Evan Oleson for additional information.
The Center redeveloped the historic Parker J. Noyes 11,000-square-foot building on Lancaster’s Main Street to support the local economy and create a more vibrant downtown.
In its first impact investment fund, the Center raised $1 million to enhance Millinocket’s rental housing market as part of our broader community revitalization efforts.
The Center has purchased the historic Gehring House in Bethel, ME and plans to redevelop the building into 8-9 middle-market apartments.
