Groundbreaking for affordable housing in South Burlington

More affordable housing is coming to South Burlington as part of the new City Center project.

City and state leaders broke ground Wednesday morning on 60 new apartments that will be a mixture of one to four bedrooms. The developer has an agreement to sell the property to Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont to keep the apartments at an affordable rate.

Champlain Housing Trust's Brenda Torpy says affordability of rentals in the region has been a major problem. "People can't afford rents. The gap has become very, very large. So here it takes about $28 an hour if you're going to afford the average two-bedroom apartment. So think about that -- even two people on minimum wage are still going to be a little short," she said.

Torpy says the average two-bedroom unit in the new apartments will be around $1,150 with heat and hot water included. They are expected to open in 2019.