Housing advocates say they’re a step closer in their efforts to turn a former residential care facility in Rutland into affordable apartments and emergency transitional housing for families.
Rutland City’s Development Review Board approved a permit on April 29 for Cornerstone Housing Partners to create 16 new low-income apartments in the former Loretto Home.
The four-story, red brick building located at 59 Meadow Street was built in 1904 and operated as a level III residential care facility for seniors and adults with disabilities until it closed in 2023.
Cornerstone is a nonprofit that offers housing services in Rutland, Bennington and Addison Counties. It bought the property with its adjacent annex building for $1 million dollars in January from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
The sale, however, was contingent upon a two-pronged redevelopment plan.
Dan Caputo, director of real estate development for Cornerstone, said they want to create low-income apartments in the main building and turn the annex into 19 two-bedroom units of transitional housing for families facing homelessness.
The city granted Cornerstone a permit to redevelop the annex in March. Under state statute, emergency shelters are exempt from local zoning rules.
“But buying the property only makes sense financially if we can do both,” explained Caputo. It’s why he said he’s relieved the city greenlit their permit application to create new low-income housing in the main building.
Not everyone is enthused. Local property owners spoke out at a development review board meeting in March expressing frustration at what they felt was an already high concentration of low income housing in the neighborhood.
“God knows I will do anything I can to help the less fortunate, but there is a price we’re paying,” said Rutland City resident Robert Paolucci, who said he was especially worried about the proposed transitional housing.
“Rutland has done a terrible job with the homeless," he said at the March 18th meeting. "We’ve destroyed virtually every hotel and motel in this city. I don’t want to see that in my backyard. My home has lost considerable worth in the last couple of years. I think this project is going to make it dip even further.”
Cornerstone is sensitive to neighbors’ concerns, said Caputo, and he stressed the 19 units of transitional housing they’re planning will be exclusively for families and would be run very differently from the state's emergency motel voucher program.
While Cornerstone will maintain the property, Caputo said BROC Community Action will handle selecting tenants and operating support programs. The organization currently operates a 10 person shelter at its Rutland headquarters.
Rutland City Mayor Tom Donahue formerly served as BROC’s CEO and said the 24/7 wrap-around services provided to families in the annex will include developing plans to transition to permanent, stable housing.
He supports Cornerstone’s plan and pushed back against critics who complain affordable housing is too concentrated. Donahue pointed to the 77-unit Sheldon Towers, and 60-unit Templewood Court, as examples of affordable housing in other parts of the city.
“We’ve seen Cornerstone invest millions of dollars into much-needed housing in this region recently and they do a stellar job,” said Donahue. “Right now, the Loretto Home is a vacant and potentially blighted building.”
Caputo said Cornerstone already had funding lined up for the $6 million annex project. If all goes according to plan, he said the units could be available by November before cold weather sets in.
Securing funding for the low-income apartments could take another 24 to 36 months.
Local residents have 30 days to appeal the April 29 permit ruling.
