Background

Built in 1913, Bennington High School is a significant example of an important public building displaying Beaux Arts style architecture. It was built to provide a larger educational facility as the high school population in Bennington increased rapidly between 1900 and 1912, and the original high school, built around 1875, could no longer accommodate the growing number of students. The new location opened in 1914 and served as the high school until the 1960s, when a third high school building was built, and the property became Mount Anthony Middle School. The middle school graduated its last class in 2004, and the building has stood vacant ever since.

The Project

Benn High is the sustainable redevelopment of a 100,000 SF historic former school building in Bennington, Vermont, into a vibrant community hub that will consist of two condo structures, one utilizing federal NMTC and HTC financing and the other using LIHTC and HTC financing. The total anticipated development cost of both condo buildings is $51MM. The $40.2MMM NMTC condo development is a 72,000 SF space that will consist of 22 workforce housing units occupying 22,450 SF and roughly 48,000 SF of commercial space.

The commercial space will be leased to a variety of tenants with a focus on community services. The Town of Bennington will serve as the anchor tenant and will lease 28,179 SF to be used as a recreational center, a senior center, and other community space. In addition, the YMCA will lease 12,763 SF for a 102-seat childcare center, the University of Vermont will lease 2,246 SF for offices for its extension program, and Community Resource Management LLC, the property manager for the Project, will lease 681 SF for office space. An additional 4,256 SF of commercial space will be used as event and assembly space. The Project is located in a non-metro census track and therefore qualifies as a highly distressed area. Upon completion, it will be 100% electric and include geothermal and solar energy components.

The Project will also receive significant Brownfield Remediation Funds (BRF) from Vermont and the federal government due to an on-site machine workshop dating to the late 1800s, prior to the high school’s construction.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

The Project is expected to create 22 workforce housing units with five units at or below 80% AMI and all other units at 80-120% AMI. The Sponsor estimates there will be 24 new permanent full-time jobs created, and 35 full-time jobs retained, 85% of which will be high-quality jobs at a living wage and 75% of which will be accessible to people without a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, the Sponsor estimates 92 high-quality FTE construction jobs will be generated by the project.

The commercial tenants are expected to create substantial positive impacts over a wide range of areas, including childcare, community recreation and programming, educational resources, senior services, and more. The creation of a new childcare facility will generate seats for 102 children, with 55% of the children coming from low-income families. Recreational and community programming will be created through the YMCA’s operation of the town’s recreation center. While some features of the center will only be available for YMCA members, many programs will be open to everyone regardless of membership status, including youth after-school programs and summer programming. The Project estimates 4,308 individuals benefiting from the recreational center programming, with a projected 1,940 new users. The University of Vermont Extension estimates that more than 1,000 individuals in the community will benefit from their educational and practical resources for local agricultural, nutrition, and community development. Nearly half of the extension’s participants are expected to be engaged in the UVM Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program, which empowers Vermonters to lead healthier lives through hands-on nutrition education. The YMCA will also operate the Senior Center, which will be incorporated into the Town space. 50 seniors who are currently active at an existing location and 100 new seniors are expected to benefit. Programming will include exercise classes, art and cultural classes, and more.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The $51 million revitalization of Benn High was supported in part by NTCIC through the facilitation of an equity investment in the $5.54 million Federal Historic Tax Credits generated by the project and an allocation of $5 million in NMTCs. NTCIC acted at the NMTC allocatee and asset manager, as well as the FHTC investment sourcer, underwriter, and closer.