Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont internship, for The Stowe Reporter
STOWE – As Stowe grapples with lack of affordable housing, McKee Macdonald is helping guide the conversation, through both his professional expertise and community involvement.
Macdonald is co-owner of a local real estate business and chair of Stowe’s Housing Task Force. Macdonald grew up in Stowe, and his mother founded the family real estate business, The Smith Macdonald Group, in the 1980s.
“Being a realtor in Stowe gives me a unique perspective,” Macdonald said, “from growing up here to working with everyone from second-home owners to local teachers.
“Understanding both the challenges and opportunities, and bringing that insight to the task force, fuels my passion to help create solutions that benefit the entire community,” he said.
But his path back to Stowe wasn’t linear. After college in Denver and time working in New York City, he spent more than a year in Salt Lake City, helping manage alpine venues for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Sixteen years ago, he moved back to Stowe. Today, he and his sister Maggie run The Smith Macdonald Group. Maggie Macdonald says she and her brother complement each other as business partners.
“We can challenge each other, see the other’s perspective, and just as importantly, move forward quickly without letting anything linger. That balance keeps our work sharp,” she said.
Alongside their business, both siblings have remained deeply involved in local organizations and volunteer efforts.
“McKee is thoughtful, well-informed, and carries a confidence that shows up in everything he does.” Maggie Macdonald said.
That community focus led him to join — and eventually chair — the town’s Housing Task Force, a group formed by the Stowe Selectboard to address the town’s housing shortage.
The task force brings together a wide range of perspectives, from developers and nonprofit leaders to residents and local business owners.
Over the past two years, the group has worked to identify the town’s housing needs and propose solutions. Stowe has some of the most expensive housing in the state, according to the town’s 2025 Housing Needs Assessment.
“Stowe’s median home price is over $900k, a figure even local lawyers and computer science workers in dual-earner households would struggle to afford,” the report says. “Workers in lower paying – but still traditionally middle class – jobs have no choice but to live outside of Stowe despite working local jobs that contribute to the economy and community.”
One major milestone came at Stowe Town Meeting in March, when Macdonald and fellow task force member Josi Kytle presented on the need for a town housing reserve fund.
The fund would allow Stowe to accept and hold for long periods of time money specifically for housing initiatives—something that wasn’t previously possible within the town’s general fund.
Kytle said the stakes for the town could not be higher.
“The presentation we did at Town Meeting was a fight for our community and ensuring that it exists beyond our generation,” Kytle said, “to ensure that future generations are able to return to their town and set up their lives, give back to their communities, raise families, create businesses, drive the economy and enjoy the town that they grew up in.”
After some discussion, voters at Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved the proposal.
“It was a little nerve-racking,” Macdonald said of presenting the proposal to voters. “But it was really rewarding to see it pass.”
Now, as the task force approaches the end of its current term, members are focusing on next steps, whether that means continuing the group’s work in a new form or transitioning responsibilities elsewhere.
The new Housing Reserve Fund, and what exactly to do with it, is now in the hands of the Stowe Selectboard.
Through it all, Macdonald emphasizes the importance of community involvement.
“Stowe has shown a real appetite to stay engaged,” he said. “That’s what makes progress possible.”
