The county’s second Habitat development brings new life to formerly blighted properties in the North Branch Street neighborhood.
Bennington is in desperate need of affordable housing for the people who make a living locally. High housing costs have long forced workers to live in less-expensive areas-such as bordering areas of New York-and make long commutes into Bennington for work.
Beginning in the mid-2010s, Bennington County Habitat for Humanity developed three adjacent lots on North Branch Street in the Town of Bennington to create safe, affordable housing for local families.
We cleared two blighted properties and rehabbed an existing 1930s residence for a partner family in our homeownership program. This home required special attention to energy efficiency. Our team made improvements that increased air sealing by 58.9 percent, reducing heating costs by an estimated 44 percent.
Mance Engineering prepared a plan for new construction on the lots, which the town of Bennington approved in August, 2016. Six income-qualified Habitat partner families purchased these homes-and Bennington County Habitat intends to keep them perpetually affordable to people earning less than the area median family income.
In partnership with the Kornn family, we broke ground on the first single-family house in mid-2016. The family moved home in April, 2017.
The second home followed on a slightly longer schedule. There, in addition to our partner family, we had the support of Southwest Career Development Center. Forestry and heavy equipment students took part in infrastructure and road construction work, while building and trades students built the house under the guidance of instructor Brian Coon. The family moved home during the 2017-2018 school year.
Mark Onorato Excavating led the infrastructure and road construction work through the summer of 2017 and the Town of Bennington accepted the road dedication in late 2019. By the end of 2020, six partner families had become homeowners on Corcoran’s Way.
