Twenty-two construction projects across Vermont will share $2.7 million in state tax incentives.
Gov. Phil Scott announced the recipients of the downtown and village center tax incentives at a press conference in downtown Montpelier on Wednesday.
The event was held near the historic French Block in Montpelier, which will receive $300,000 in tax incentives. The money will be used to renovate the upper floors of the building, and create 18 new housing units.
Montpelier Mayor John Hollar says the project would not go forward without the money.
“This really can’t be done alone by the private sector and our downtowns. The economics don’t work. It’s too expensive to build. And the economic returns don’t work," Hollar says.
Scott says the $2.7 million public investment will “leverage” more than $50 million in additional funding for downtown and village center construction and rehabilitation projects.
The tax incentives are earmarked for specific construction and renovation projects, such as student housing and offices for Bennington College, rehabilitation of the Quincy Hotel in Enosburg Falls, and the re-opening of the Essex House in Island Pond.
