Two local housing groups may merge

A merger between the Rockingham Area Community Land Trust and the Windham Housing Trust might be in the works.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100721/NEWS02/707219863/1003/NEWS02     # # # # Two local housing groups may merge  •  Rutland Herald  •  By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer - Published: July 21, 2010  •  SPRINGFIELD – A merger between the Rockingham Area Community Land Trust and the Windham Housing Trust might be in the works.  •  The town of Springfield has agreed to apply for a $30,000 state grant to be joined with a second $30,000 state grant that Putney is applying for to study the financial and legal implications of merging the two groups.  •  Rockingham Area Community Land Trust is based in Springfield, and works on affordable housing projects in Bellows Falls, Rockingham, Springfield, Windsor and towns in between, while the Windham Housing Trust, which used to be called the Brattleboro Area Land Trust, serves most of Windham County.  •  Martin Hahn, the interim director of the Rockingham Area Community Land Trust, said the idea of a merger came from his group as it was assessing whether to hire a new, permanent housing director. The land trust has been without a permanent leader since last September, when Russell Brink resigned abruptly in the wake of news of financial problems with his prior employment in Eugene, Ore.  •  Hahn said the state planning grants, one from the Springfield-based group and the other on behalf of Windham Housing Trust, would probably go toward paying for the legal and accounting assessments needed to evaluate the various property transfers to a joint group.  •  The Rockingham Area Community Land Trust probably won’t close its Springfield office on Main Street next to the Springfield Town Hall because it has such an active program for first-time homeowners, Hahn said Tuesday.  •  Last week, Hahn discussed the situation with the Springfield Select Board, who voted to apply for the grant, but not before questioning the wisdom of Springfield applying for a grant that could conceivably end up costing it some jobs.  •  But the board, reassured by Hahn’s statements, voted in favor of the town applying for the grant.  •  Hahn said the Rockingham group was on the verge of starting a $8,765,000 project to rehabilitate the 77 units at the Old Windsor Village Apartments in the former state prison. The land trust recently completed the rehabilitation of a large apartment block in Windsor, which is now called Union Square, and contains 58 apartments. That rehabilitation cost $17 million. The group also recently was involved in a “scattered” redevelopment project of 28 apartments in Bellows Falls, in several different locations.  •  “The advantages of a merger, the theory that we are testing, is economies of scale. They serve the southern half and we serve the northern half,” said Hahn, who said that staffs would be consolidated. “We support affordable home ownership, and we’ve been able to lower the cost for 76 families, 39 in Springfield,” he said.  •  He said the merger process began this spring, when the Rockingham trust started looking at a “strategic alliance.” Connie Snow, the executive director of the Brattleboro-based Windham Housing Trust, couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday about the potential merger.  •  “I would anticipate we would not close the office in Springfield,” Hahn said. “We have quite an active homebuyer program. There’s a lot of activity in Springfield area.”  •  A decision on the proposed merger isn’t expected until fall, he said.  •