Phil Dodd
By Phil Dodd
Four of the five developers who were asked by Montpelier to submit proposals for developing the city’s Country Club Road property submitted responses by the Feb. 18 deadline. The fifth, SMGraves Associates, said it was too busy with existing projects to participate.
The proposals differ in size, proportion of rentals to owned homes, affordability, timeline and phasing, and which portions of the property would be developed.
After receiving public feedback, scoring the projects using a matrix, and conducting a financial analysis, the city council’s Country Club Road Subcommittee plans to recommend a developer to the full council by April 16, with a decision expected on April 22.
Chinburg Properties
This New Hampshire-based firm proposes to build approximately 250 multi-family rental units in three- and four-story buildings and 60 for-sale townhomes and single-family homes for a total of 310 units.
Of the apartments, 40% would be studios, 40% would be one-bedroom apartments, and 20% would be two-bedroom apartments. Between 5% to 15% would be “affordable” for those with incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). Washington County’s AMI for a two-person household was $88,400 in 2025, according to housingdata.org. Chinburg would retain and manage the rentals. It would also build 10,000 square feet of retail space.
The for-sale units would be two to three bedrooms, and 10% of them would be “affordable” for those with incomes at 150% of the AMI (or $132,600 for two persons). Chinburg said its site plan “preserves a potential future third phase on the northern portion of the site, where topographic conditions are more constrained. This area could accommodate additional single-family homes, expanded recreational space, or both, Chinburg said.
Chinburg’s site plan is compact and concentrated on the southern, less-steep portion of the property. Among other things, “this approach reduces the overall length of new roadways and associated infrastructure costs,” Chinburg said.
However, the site plans calls for housing on the eastern edge of the property, north of the existing building, in an area the city had said should be reserved for recreation.
The development would be built in two phases, with the first units to be finished in late 2029 and the entire project completed by December 2032.
DEW
DEW, a company with Vermont roots that has offices throughout northern New England, has proposed building 249 units in three zones, 24 of which would be single-family or tiny homes.
The high-density area would include three 35-unit, four-story buildings managed by Downstreet Housing and Community Development. Each would include two studios, 10 one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units, and four three-bedroom units.
The medium-density area would include twelve 10-unit, three-story buildings owned and managed by DEW Properties that could be offered for rent or sale. Each building would include four one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units.
The low-density zone would include the single-family homes or tiny homes and would be offered for sale by DEW Properties, with select homes also eligible for the Shared Equity program.
DEW’s site plan would place the high-density units at the southern end of the property, with the medium-density units along the northern boundary and low-density units in-between. The plan does not use the area identified for recreation.
The phasing plans are shown as “confidential” and were submitted to the Subcommittee in a separate document.
Execusuite
This Lebanon, New Hampshire-based developer proposes a much larger percentage of owned homes than the other developers, in a variety of sizes. Of the 340 proposed units, 251 units would be owned and 89 would be rental units that would be managed by Execusuite or a developer/manager like Downstreet.
In support of its focus on affordable owned homes, Execusuite cited an unofficial area survey that found a significant number of homeowners would like to move, preferably to downsize, and that the vast majority of renters would like to move, with most preferring to own a home.
Execusuite was the only firm to provide approximate prices for owned units, which ranged from $152,500 for a tiny home to $580,650 for a single-family home. Forty-eight percent of the project is designed to be affordable to those with incomes up to 80% of the Area Median Income.
Thirty-nine of the owned units would be efficiencies or studios, 63 would be one-bedroom homes, 52 would be two-bedroom homes, and 126 would be three-bedroom homes.
A significant number of homes would be pre-built houses supplied by local manufacturer Huntington Homes. Other local individuals and firms in the Execusuite team include local architect Sandra Vitzthum, Heney Realtors, Fecteau Homes, and Hanif Naserali, who would be the multi-modal expert and community coordinator.
Execusuite proposed two site plans with compact development and small lots. Both would keep the recreation area open and would build some units in the wooded area on the northeast corner of the project. One plan would retain the sledding hill, while the other would build on that hill and set up a new sledding area to the west.
The plan includes a community farm on the western portion of the property with a farm stand and five duplexes for farm families. It also emphasizes using public transit, bikesharing, carsharing, and golf carts and wagons over personal automobiles.
Execusuite says it would begin setting prefab homes on the site in 2028 and complete the project by 2030.
Pennrose
This national developer, which would oversee the project out of its Boston office, proposes to build 286 rental units. “Pennrose does not develop for-sale housing but are willing to partner with for-sale developer on a portion of the site,” the company said. It would retain and manage the rental units.
The project would consist of one mid-rise, elevatored building of 44 units; three walk-up buildings of 18 units each, ten walk-up buildings of 12 units each; seven townhouse-style buildings with four units each; and 40 townhouse units.
The project would be primarily financed using Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Tentatively, 58 of the units would be planned for renters with incomes up to 30% of the Area Median Income, 145 units with incomes up to 60% of the AMI, and 65 units for incomes up to 80% of the AMI. And 28 units would be market rate.
“All income-restricted units will remain affordable for the full regulatory compliance period of (usually) 30 years and any extended use restrictions required by funding sources,” Pennrose said.
The Pennrose site plan would retain the recreation area for soccer fields and would cluster its buildings in three zones, with a high-density area near the existing building, with medium density development north of that and low-density development near the northern boundary. The zones would be built in that order.
Depending on financing, the first units could be available in mid-2029, Penrose said. The project would be constructed in six phases, with full build-out occurring in 2034.
Public Feedback
The Country Club Road Subcommittee will be seeking feedback from the public through March 13, according to the city website. The city will be holding a “Community Input Session” from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 12 at Montpelier High School. It will also soon be posting an online feedback form and an FAQ document on the city’s Country Club Road webpage.
The detailed proposals and site plans from the four developers are online now and can be found at bit.ly/ProposalsCCR.
