Named for town’s first settlers, new apartments to add 26 affordable homes
March 2, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti 
State and town officials, project planners and funders join in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Marsh House Apartments at 51 S. Main St. on Feb. 10. Photo by Gordon Miller
Construction for a new three-story apartment building is well under way at 51 South Main Street and passersby can catch glimpses of the project that its developers plan to open next spring as Marsh House Apartments, named after Waterbury’s first settlers.
With the wintry site fenced in along the busy downtown street, the $15.3 million project had its ceremonial unveiling recently in the basement of the Wesley United Methodist Church across the street. A crowd of approximately 80 people packed the church hall for a short program featuring speakers from the collection of stakeholders who have played a role in launching the project.
“When we open the doors on the Marsh House next spring that will make a total of 81 permanently affordable homes in Waterbury,” said Kathy Beyer, senior vice president of real estate development at Evernorth, co-developer and co-owner of the project along with the nonprofit Downstreet Housing & Community Development based in Barre. “That’s a lot for this little community of Waterbury and I know you want to do more. And we will do more.”
Marsh House will be Downstreet’s fourth affordable housing site in Waterbury as Beyer tallied the units as of 2026. Downstreet runs and owns the senior housing on Stowe Street in the Stimson and Graves building, the Green Mountain Seminary apartments in Waterbury Center, and the South Main Apartments near the south entrance to the State Office Complex.
It was Tropical Storm Irene that blew through town in late August 2011, its resulting flooding setting the wheels in motion for what is now a noisy construction site. Town and village officials at the time determined that the damage wrought by the disaster was too extensive to try to reclaim the former home that had served for years as Waterbury’s town hall and police department.
The resulting demolition left the site a parking lot most recently, a handy addition to the downtown as Main Street was rebuilt and more businesses have come on the scene.
Angie Harbin, executive director of Downstreet Housing & Community Development. Photo by Gordon Miller
State Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury, recalled being involved with the Central Vermont Community Land Trust which later evolved into Downstreet and how after Irene, 51 S. Main was on the radar of local leaders and those in the housing community as a prime spot to redevelop for affordable housing. But it took until October 2022 before a specific plan got traction. That was when voters in the Edward Farrar Utility District (successor municipal entity to the former Waterbury village municipality) overwhelmingly approved selling the property to Downstreet to build on.
Downstreet Executive Director Angie Harbin told the crowd in the church hall of how the community rallied around the proposal even as it faced pushback from some in the community who wanted local officials to explore more options.
“We are here today because of the community of Waterbury,” Harbin said. “The community mobilized.”
Harbin then described what she sees in the future for the property. “Next year, Marsh House will be home to Waterbury’s workforce, and it will be home to students in Waterbury schools; it’ll be home to local volunteers and patrons of your local businesses,” she said. “And 30, 40 years from now Marsh House will be home to kiddos and parents and grandparents and people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to safe stable housing…This will be a community asset for generations to come.”
An architect’s rendering of Marsh House Apartments at 51 S. Main St. Image courtesy of Downstreet Housing & Community Development
As designed, Marsh House will be three stories tall – similar to nearby buildings in the same block. It will have 26 units: four studios, 17 one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units.
Construction is being managed by ReArch Company in South Burlington and the project design was done by gbA Architecture & Planning in Burlington.
Project planners say they expect to open applications for leases a year from now with construction completed for tenants to move in by May 2026.
Downstreet Director of Real Estate Development Nicola Anderson said monthly rental prices will vary based on the tenants’ income. “Studios will range from $839-$1,014, one-bedrooms from $953-$1,450, and two-bedrooms from $1,380 to $1,600,” Anderson said.
Stevens, who chaired the House legislative committee on housing for many years, said the target market for affordable housing today may not be what people consider typical to be eligible for subsidized housing. “Some 200,000 Vermonters file income tax returns for $60,000 or less which means that 200,000 Vermonters who file tax returns qualify for this housing. Think about that. And think about how far behind we are,” Stevens said. “The great part that it’s finally happening … I can’t wait to see this built.”
Rep. Tom Stevens D-Waterbury, shares his remarks. Photo by Gordon Miller
Project developers pointed out that as part of a pilot program, three of the Marsh House apartments will be reserved for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and five will be reserved for tenants exiting homelessness. Downstreet will work with Upper Valley Services and the Good Samaritan Haven to provide support in managing leasing those units to the appropriate tenants, they said.
“Next year we are going to see lives change in Waterbury because the town of Waterbury engaged in a collective action that was necessary to advocate and stand up for the more inclusive community that they want to see in their town,” Harbin said.
State Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, who chairs the House Human Services Committee, praised the project overall and the pilot project to include “service-supported housing” that will make units available to people with disabilities and those in need of permanent homes.
“I’m deeply, deeply thankful,” she said. “The importance of projects like this creating home and community for people who might not otherwise have an opportunity to [have] that.”
Wood pointed out that Vermont has more than 3,000 individuals who are homeless today including more than 400 children. “Our ability in one small way to make an impact on that is really important,” she said.
Project planners say 51 S. Main is an ideal location for more affordable housing for many reasons including the site’s proximity to shops, services, a bus line and schools. The new construction also will be energy efficient, relying on electricity rather than fossil fuels for heating, they noted.
An array of public and private funding sources were assembled for the project -- something speakers at the groundbreaking event emphasized.
More than half of the $15.3 million for the project cam from a federal tax credit investment by Evernorth and TD Bank through the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Another $4.8 million comes from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board including over $800,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending through the work of former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and a federal HOME Fund grant of $106,000. Other funding sources include the Vermont State Housing Authority, the sales tax reallocation through the state Agency of Commerce and Community Development, $106,000 from Efficiency Vermont, and $100,000 from the town of Waterbury’s American Rescue Plan Act funds.
EFUD Trustees Chair Skip Flanders and Kevin Ellis, president of the Downstreet Board of Directors. Photo by Gordon Miller
Waterbury Select Board Chair Alyssa Johnson said the town was happy to allocate the ARPA funding toward the project because “housing is essential to the strength and vitality of our community … and we look forward to welcoming neighbors to their new homes in our community."
Kevin Ellis, chair of the Downstreet’s Board of Directors, reflected on the lengthy time involved and the many players it took to bring the project to its groundbreaking.
“It's important to celebrate the people who do this work. It’s important to say thank you, especially to the people who do the incredibly hard work behind the scenes,” he said, scanning the faces in front of him. “In this audience, there are Republicans and Democrats, government officials at all levels – and the rest of us. We have done something good here, something hard, and we are doing it by working together. That is not nothing. That is something to be celebrated.”
P. Howard “Skip” Flanders chairs the Edward Farrar Utility District’s Board of Trustees as well as the board of the church where the event took place. Also is an avid local historian, Flanders’ remarks touched on the historical connections between 51 S. Main Street, the Methodist Church, and the new apartment building’s namesake James Marsh.
About 80 people attended the indoor ceremony. Photo by Gordon Miller
“It’s an honor to have this project at 51 S. Main named the Marsh House recognizing the sacrifice of Waterbury’s first family headed by James Marsh,” Flanders began. The New Canaan, Connecticut, settler first visited Waterbury in 1783 to stake his claim here, returning a year later with three of his oldest children: sons Elias and James, and (perhaps serendipitously) daughter Irene. Carving out a home in a new territory was arduous and the elder Marsh tragically died just four years later in the icy Winooski River, Flanders recounted. Historical accounts suggest his gravesite is in Richmond.
The eldest Marsh son, Elias, remained in Waterbury and made his home at what is now 51 S. Main Street until his death in 1802. He is believed to be buried in Hope Cemetery, Flanders said. “He’s the only member of the Marsh family known to be buried in Waterbury,” Flanders said.
Later owners of the property (1868-1933) Thaddeus and Roxanna Crossett, Flanders said, were church members and Roxanna taught Sunday school at the Wesley church for 47 years until her death in 1933.
The property was last a family home to a Waterbury celebrity, WDEV radio host Rusty Parker after whom the park just down Main Street from the apartment building site is named.
Gus Seelig, executive director of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, was the final speaker in the program. He recalled moving to Vermont 50 years ago and how Waterbury played a large role in daily life. “There was no public radio then. We all listened to WDEV and we felt like we all knew Waterbury listening to Rusty Parker,” Seelig said.
He reminded the audience that the town had less activity then compared with today. “Look at this community today in terms of its vibrancy. But it’s become a very expensive community to be in. One of my staff said to me just today, ‘I wish I could afford to live in Waterbury.’”
Gus Seelig, executive director of the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. Photo by Gordon Miler
In closing, Seelig told about growing up in New York City and visiting the Statue of Liberty on school trips. He quoted part of the Emma Lazarus poem, “The New Colossus,” that’s inscribed on the statue’s base:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Pausing, Seelig looked out at the crowd. “This building will be a golden door,” he said bringing his remarks back to Marsh House. “It will get people in who would not otherwise be in this community. Thank you so much for your commitment.”
After the speakers concluded, they bundled and headed across the street where shovels and hard hats for the groundbreaking ceremony awaited.
Photo by Gordon Miller