Property Purchase for affordable housing- 2 Railroad Circle

Excerpts from the Selectboard presentation on the topic at Town Meeting Day 2023

In February 2023, the Town of Jericho purchased this 2.5 acre property with an existing 3 bedroom, 1 bath home and detached barn using a portion of the ARPA funds. In moving forward with this purchase, the Selectboard considered feedback from the community:

  • 2 public surveys indicated that creating more affordable housing in Jericho is a top priority.
  • The Planning Commission presented to the Selectboard their recommendations for the use of ARPA funds that included investing funds in options to increase affordable housing.
  • Residents provided input directly to Selectboard members that the lack of affordable housing is a top concern.

The day the property was listed for sale, it was brought to the attention of the Jericho Community Development Corporation (JCDC). The seller set a deadline of 6 days to submit offers. The JCDC quickly conducted research and deemed the property attractive for its affordable housing potential for the following reasons:

  • ¼ acre zoning
  • Walking distance to Jericho Elementary School
  • Available utilities such as drinking water, gas, electricity, internet, and others.

Upon receiving this information from the JCDC, the town partnered with a Realtor to explore whether a municipal purchase was feasible. Conversations between the Realtor and the town resulted in:

  • Determining that the listing price of $260,000 was likely intentionally set low to encourage a bidding war.
  • An assessment of the market value of the property using comparable sales which was higher than the list price and using that value as a basis for negotiating.

The town’s offer was one of 13 bids. The town doesn’t believe that they were the highest bidder, however the Trustees of the estate communicated directly with the Selectboard that they supported the town’s interest in using this property to add affordable housing units, as that is what their parents would have desired. They noted that if their parents were starting out today, they could never have afforded to live in Jericho.

The question “Why was there not a public to be heard about this property purchase?” is a challenging one with real estate transactions. Any information made public would also be made public to competing bidders as well as the listing agent and would put the town as a buyer at a disadvantage.

The Selectboard, the Affordable Housing Committee, the Jericho Community Development Corporation (JCDC), and the Planning Commission are all excited about the opportunity this property gives the town to start working on the challenge of affordable housing facing Jericho as well as all of Vermont. The intent is to use the property to create multiple affordable housing units to benefit the community.