Champlain Housing Trust has been recognized as a 2026 “Best of Best” award winner by Efficiency Vermont for 10th Cavalry Apartments in Colchester. The annual awards celebrated 10 organizations for their leadership and innovative projects across Vermont. Champlain Housing Trust received this award along with our development partner Evernorth.
CHT’s transformation of 10th Cavalry in to 65 mixed income apartments in the Fort Ethan Allen Historic District was recognized for Affordable Housing Innovation for Multifamily Homes. The award highlighted the complex historic renovation efforts this project required, as well as unique environmental challenges including the safe removal of PCBs, asbestos, and lead.
Preservation of historic elements was a key fixture of the project. CHT worked in coordination with the National Park Service to restore tin ceilings, slate roofs, and historic windows, while maintaining the building’s historic brick exterior.
As part of the project, CHT installed high-efficiency gas boilers for heat and hot water, which not only use less energy, but also conform to historic preservation standards. The development team also added high-efficiency LED lighting, appliances, and EV chargers.
Now complete, the apartments create permanently affordable housing while preserving the legacy of the 10th Cavalry Regiment who were housed there from 1909-1913. Nicknamed “Buffalo Soldiers,” the Cavalry also had a troubled charge: they were deployed to western regions to clear land from Indigenous peoples and claim it for new settlers. CHT and Evernorth have documented this history in the entryways of the buildings.