A sunny Thursday afternoon in early August 2025, marked the beginning of construction of 40 new permanently affordable apartments at Cambrian Rise, a new, mixed income neighborhood, situated between Burlington’s Old North End and New North End. The new building, 100 Cambrian Way, is being developed by Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) and Evernorth. Since then, and despite frigid temperatures and snow, construction progresses and the walls are going up.
The 40 new apartments at 100 Cambrian Way are the third affordable housing built on the site – Laurentide Apartments, with 72 apartments was completed in 2019 by CHT and Evernorth, and Cathedral Square’s Juniper House has 70 apartments with services for seniors. A fourth building is forthcoming: next to 100 Cambrian Rise, CHT’s Shale Beach Condominiums will bring 30 permanently affordable condos to the neighborhood, offering homeownership opportunity at a fraction of the sales prices of newly built homes in the neighborhood.
All told, that will mean that more that 210 homes will always be affordable in the new neighborhood.
“The average wait time for an apartment with Champlain Housing Trust continues to be well over a year, in fact, 14 months,” said Michael Monte, CEO of the housing trust. “While it is important to celebrate the construction of these homes – which will be permanently affordable and a lasting asset to the community – we know we must continue to press to build more.”
Rents at 100 Cambrian Way are expected to average $1,325 for a one-bedroom, $1,530 for a two-bedroom, and $1,840 for a three-bedroom apartment. The range of bedroom sizes and varying rent levels – and the inclusion of 10 housing vouchers from the Burlington Housing Authority – will result in serving a variety of needs, including setting aside eight apartments for people exiting homelessness.
Funding for the development came from 14 different sources totaling $23.8 million, including an anonymous $1 million charitable gift from a donor who has been motivated to address homelessness in Burlington, which has also blossomed across Vermont. Other sources include:
- Federal and state tax credits through the Vermont Housing Finance Agency provided about a third of the overall budget, and VHFA also administered below-market financing;
- The City of Burlington committed almost $3 million from four sources of funds; and
- Vermont Housing and Conservation Board committed about $8.8 million from both State and Federal funds.
Wright and Morrissey are the general contractors for the development, which was designed by Duncan Wisniewski Architecture. Eric Farrell is the master developer of the neighborhood.