New apartments help address workforce housing challenges in Upper Valley
On Wednesday, June 26, the White River Junction community celebrated the official grand opening of 42 new affordable apartments downtown with a ribbon cutting and an apartment tour. The apartments, named Riverwalk Apartments, were developed by DEW Braverman with an agreement to sell the building to Twin Pines Housing and Evernorth who will ensure the apartments will remain affordable forever.
“The issue of the day in the Upper Valley is housing, housing, housing. This project represents an important step forward for the community,” said Hartford Town Manager John Haverstock.
The newly constructed Riverwalk Apartments help address the shortage of homes for people in the Upper Valley workforce. The apartments are within walking distance to many downtown services and amenities including mass transit, two schools, the town hall, parks, a salon, government offices including family services, groceries at the Co-op Food Stores and Stern’s Quality Produce, two banks and the LISTEN Community Dinner Hall for residents who would benefit from programs designed to decrease food insecurity.
Funding totaling more than $16.5 million from a mix of public and private sources was raised to cover the total development costs.
“We are thrilled with the culmination of this project,” said Twin Pines Housing’s Executive Director Andrew Winter. “It marks a significant milestone as the first project to utilize funding from the Upper Valley Loan Fund. Riverwalk’s successful completion underscores the challenges of creating affordable housing and highlights the pressing need within our community.”
Riverwalk was designed to be an energy efficient building with ample parking and large apartments. The parcel sits above the Connecticut River, offering the residents of our new building unmatched scenic eastern views into New Hampshire and western views of White River Junction and surrounding areas. By building a highly energy efficient building with cold climate heat pumps, Riverwalk Apartments will save 117 tons in annual CO2 emissions.
Funding totaling more than $16.5 million from a mix of public and private sources was raised to cover the total development costs. Federal Tax Credit Equity administered by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) and provided by Evernorth’s Housing New England (HNE) Funds IV & V totaled over $7.6 million. The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board contributed over $6.7 million, including $5.8 million in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding and $595,000 in HOME funds. Evernorth’s Upper Valley Loan Fund (the Loan Fund) contributed $1.9 million — Riverwalk is the first completed development for the Loan Fund. The Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) awarded four project-based Section 8 vouchers and four Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers. Other funders include the Community Recovery and Revitalization Program and Efficiency Vermont.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our collective mission to create inclusive communities. With the acquisition of this newly constructed building, we are not just adding much-needed affordable housing; we are securing stability for our workforce and fostering a brighter future for our entire community,” said Nancy Owens, Evernorth’s president and co-counder. “This collaboration between the private and nonprofit sectors underscores how impactful change occurs when we unite for a common cause.”
Evernorth is managing the Upper Valley Loan Fund, a $10.45 million fund supported by investments from eight prominent Upper Valley employers. The UVLF provides low-cost, flexible financing to developers and other entities for affordable apartments.
The eight employers participating in the UVLF are Bar Harbor Bank, Citizens Bank, Dartmouth College, Dartmouth Health, Hanover Co-op Food Stores, Hypertherm, King Arthur Baking, and Mascoma Bank.
Twin Pines and Evernorth partnered to purchase the Riverwalk Apartments building from the DEW Braverman Development Company LLC, a partnership between The Braverman Company and DEW Construction. The building was designed by Jutras Architecture and built by DEW Construction.
Riverwalk Apartments is an elevatored, mixed-income housing development with four residential floors featuring a basement-floor 26-space indoor parking garage and 30 space surface lot.
Twin Pines Housing was formed in 1990 through the merger of two housing organizations having similar visions: to develop and provide affordable housing for low and moderate income families in the Upper Valley. It is now the only non-profit providing multi-family affordable housing in the region, with a service area that spans northern Windsor and southeastern Orange Counties in Vermont and southern Grafton and northern Sullivan Counties in New Hampshire.
Evernorth is a nonprofit organization serving the low- and moderate-income people of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont with affordable housing and community investments. Evernorth has raised and deployed over $1.5 billion in equity capital for affordable housing and built more than 17,000 affordable homes and apartments for low- and moderate-income people across northern New England.
