DORSET — A plan to develop what could eventually be about 125 units of new housing built along Raptor Lane got an initial green light at Dorset’s select board meeting on Monday, Oct. 21.
The select board approved a proposal from SM Graves, a real estate consultant based in Rutland, to explore the development of the Raptor Lane site for housing. An initial six-to-nine month “due diligence” phase will launch the process, where SM Graves will analyze the site to determine what may be feasible there, a part of a 307 acre property parcel off of Route 30 which the town acquired in 2018 for $100,000. Its assessed value at the time was $1.8 million.
“We asked for a design that would highlight the nearby hiking and biking trails as well as the green space,” said Rob Gaiotti, Dorset’s town manager, in an email following the select board meeting. “We see this as both a development and conservation project….by utilizing a compact design, the development will take up far less space.”
It is one also intended to help address a lack of workforce housing in the “missing middle” of the town’s housing market. About 40 percent of the housing units eventually to be constructed if the plans are eventually adopted are proposed to be homes within a middle income price range.
“Right now there are 17 homes for sale, only 2 of those homes are listed below $700,000,” Gaiotti stated in his email. “We need both market rate and affordable units because we lack inventory.”
During the upcoming due diligence phase, the town anticipates holding input sessions for community members and local employers, to hear their thoughts on the design and process of the proposed development. Initial construction is not expected to start until 2028 or 2029.
An initial first phase of the housing development would involve 27 units in total, with five single family homes, four quadplexes, two triplexes and two duplexes. Future phases of the development could push that total to approximately 125 units.
A housing needs study conducted in 2023 and a housing feasibility study written in 2024 laid the foundation for a Request for Proposal, released earlier this year, for development ideas for the property, which also saw the opening of Dorset’s new town offices last month. The town contracted with White + Burke, a real estate advisory and brokerage firm, to manage responses to the request. In the end, only SM Graves submitted a proposal, although other housing developers did express some interest, said Brian Pine, a senior project manager with White + Burke during Monday’s select board meeting.
Essentially, the town and SM Graves have signed off on a pre-development agreement, which allows for the due diligence analysis of the cost and development needs of the site to go forward, or “an agreement to reach agreement,” Pine added.
“It’s really saying we’re going to work together,” Pine said. “We’re giving exclusive option to the SM Graves Associates and the town is going to continue to do its due diligence and the developer group is going to do its diligence.”
