In the News
Shires Housing Local News 2021
Bennington— There was a time, when the Lake Paran Village housing community was being designed, that the 22-unit apartment complex was to use propane for hot water and heat…
Bennington Banner – Oct 29, 2021 – Path between Willowbrook, Orchard Village dedicated
Bennington— Kinzleigh Dare, 5 years old and dressed up for trick or treating in a witch costume complete with a pointy hat, wasn’t alive when the idea for a permanent path linking the Orchard Village (formerly Applegate) and Willowbrook residential neighborhoods was first conceived…
Bennington Banner – Oct 28, 2021– Reuse study points to housing potential
Bennington— A new report that examined potential uses for the former Energizer industrial buildings highlighted housing as one possible need the site could address…
Bennington— Where there once was a dirt path through marshes and a makeshift bridge made from an old board and a wayward shopping cart now stands a pair of handsome spans carrying pedestrians and bicyclists over the wetland between the Orchard Village and Willow Brook residential communities…
Bennington Banner – Oct 7, 2021 – Vermont Everyone Eats program extended to end of year
A Vermont program started during the pandemic that distributes free restaurant-made meals for people in need and directs revenues to local restaurants has been extended for the rest of the year…
Bennington Banner – May 12, 2021 – Shards of Bennington’s Past: Dig finds Norton Pottery fragments
BENNINGTON — An archaeological dig related to nonprofit developer Shires Housing’s planned rehabilitation of a historic site on Pleasant Street has yielded a trove of Norton Pottery fragments…
Shires Housing Local News 2020
Bennington Banner – Jan 26, 2021 – Shires debuts new name for former Applegate complex
Bennington— Applegate Apartments, a multi-family housing complex located off of Orchard Road near the interchange of Routes 7 and 279, has a new name: Orchard Village…
Bennington Banner – Dec 18, 2020 – Bennington projects to receive $600k in block grant funds
Bennington— More than a dozen once-vacant apartments are being renovated and will soon begin housing formerly homeless families, nonprofit developer Shires Housing announced on Tuesday. The rehabilitation project at Applegate Apartments, a 104unit complex located off of Orchard Road near theinterchange of Routes 7 and 279, was facilitated by an award…
Bennington Banner – Nov 24, 2020 – Shires rehabs vacant units for homeless families
Bennington— More than a dozen once-vacant apartments are being renovated and will soon begin housing formerly homeless families, nonprofit developer Shires Housing announced on Tuesday. The rehabilitation project at Applegate Apartments, a 104unit complex located off of Orchard Road near theinterchange of Routes 7 and 279, was facilitated by an award…
Shaftsbury— Shires Housing unveiled Tuesday a 22-unit residential complex in Shaftsbury, which the nonprofit said quadruples the stock of affordable housing in town. Lake Paran Village, located along Paran Road, is offering for lease eight single-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroomunits and four three-bedroom units…
Manchester Journal – Sept 10, 2020 – Four condos completed in Manchester
Manchester— Four new condominiums have been added to the Manchester housing market as part of a long-planned cluster of units, nonprofit developer Shires Housing announced. After a dozen units of the planned East Branch Farms condo association were built in 2007…
Bennington Banner – Sept 1, 2020 – Free drive-thru health fair planned for Thursday
BENNINGTON — Shires Housing/SASH will be holding their fifth annual Health and Wellness Fair along Applegate Drive in Bennington between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday, though participants will notice many changes from previous years…
Bennington Banner – Aug 28, 2020 – Town seeks $500,000 transitional housing grant
BENNINGTON — The town is applying for a $500,000 grant on behalf of a housing project for homeless families in transition. The Bennington Select Board approved Monday the grant application request from Shires Housing…
Bennington Banner – Jan 22, 2020 – Pleasant St. location to house families in transition
BENNINGTON — The local homeless coalition is hoping to move its transitional family housing to a new location this year.
The Bennington County Coalition for the Homeless intends to lease a house at 300 Pleasant St., which the nonprofit organization Shires Housing is in the process of buying and renovating…
Bennington Banner – Jan 14, 2020 – Honoring a too-short life
SHAFTSBURY — In a choice that reflects the public’s help and the history of the site, Shires Housing has selected a name for the main road at its new development, the under-construction Lake Paran Village.
After receiving public votes on two possible names for the road, Julia Drive was the clear winner.
Shires Housing Local News 2019
Bennington Banner – Nov 10, 2019 – All 24 Monument View apartments are now leased
By Patricia LeBoeuf, Bennington Banner
BENNINGTON — Only two months after opening to tenants, Monument View Apartments are fully leased — ahead of schedule. The goal was to have all the apartments rented by November, but all were leased by the end of October, Madison Kremer, AmeriCorps VISTA member of the Bennington County Regional Commission, said in an email…
Bennington Banner – Sep 24, 2019 – Capitol for a Day takes Bennington County by storm (subscriber only story)
By Jim Therrien, Bennington Banner
BENNINGTON–In a friendly invasion, Gov. Phil Scott and members of his cabinet rolled into Bennington County Tuesday as part of the governor’s Capitol for a Day initiative. The stop was Scott’s third in the current round of taking the administration to all 14 Vermont counties, following a similar schedule in 2018…
Bennington Banner – Sep 22, 2019 – Wide-ranging energy fair coming to Pownal in October
By Patricia LeBoeuf, Bennington Banner
POWNAL— Residents and others can expect to find resources and advice on weatherizing, energy-efficiency and affordable housing at the town’s first Housing & Energy Opportunity Fair, scheduled for Oct. 16. The free, drop-in fair will be held at the Pownal Center Firehouse from 6 to 9 p.m…
Bennington Banner – Sep 12, 2019 – Groundbreaking at Lake Paran Village apartments set for Sept. 24
By Patricia LeBoeuf, Bennington Banner
SHAFTSBURY—Lake Paran Village apartments is set to break ground next week, kicking off a project that is expected to bring much-needed affordable housing to an extremely tight rental market. The groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the kick-off of construction will be held Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 1:30 p.m. at 893 Paran Road…
By Patricia LeBoeuf, Bennington Banner
BENNINGTON—Officials on Wednesday celebrated the completion of Monument View Apartments, a 24-unit complex that will help address the town’s shortage of affordable workforce housing. Shires Housing co-owns the 24-unit Monument View Apartments in partnership with Housing Vermont…
Press Release
VERGENNES, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott today joined local, state and federal partners to announce over $2.5 million in community development grants to nine communities in nine different counties throughout Vermont…
Bennington Banner – Jun 5, 2019 – Lake Paran Village development to receive $350,000 grant
By Patricia LeBoeuf, Bennington Banner
SHAFTSBURY—Shires Housing is set to receive a $350,000 grant for its Lake Paran Village housing development, furthering a project that is expected to begin construction in August. Tim Scoggins, chairman of the Select Board, said he believes the project has received all required approvals, including the Act 250 permit, and all funding is in place…
VT Digger – May 5, 2019 – Vermont Housing Finance Agency announces funds for affordable apartments
News Release – VHFA
BURLINGTON, VT – The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners announced yesterday that its annual allocation of federal and state housing tax credits will support the development of 214 permanently affordable apartments in nine communities across the state. Low and moderate income Vermont renters will benefit from a 12.5 percent increase in Vermont’s annual allocation enacted by Congress last year…
Manchester Journal – Apr 8, 2019 – Manchester gets new affordable-housing condos
MANCHESTER — There are three brand-new condominium units in town that qualified buyers can snag for less than $170,000. Each has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a gas fireplace, basement and appliances.
The two-story units, among the latest additions to the East Branch Farms condominium complex, are affordable housing developed by the Bennington non-profit Shires Housing…
Bennington Banner – Mar 25, 2019 – Shaftsbury board approves Lake Paran Village plans
Shaftsbury— Lake Paran Village, a mixed-income, 22-unit rental development of Shires Housing, has won approval from the Development Review Board, and now awaits only an environmental review and several required permits…
Bennington Banner – Jan 6, 2019 – Lake Paran Village plan moves forward
Shaftsbury—A 22-unit housing development has been awarded more grant and loan funding, adding capital to a project that officials hope will begin construction this fall…
Shires Housing Local News 2018
Bennington Banner – Apr 16, 2018 – Housing project moves forward in Shaftsbury (subscriber only story)
Bennington Banner – Mar 20, 2018 – After debate, Shaftsbury approves grant application (subscriber only story)
Berkshire Eagle – Feb 13, 2018 – Shires project granted sewer access
Brattleboro Reformer – Feb 9, 2018 – Summit highlights affordable housing need, challenges