Courtesy / Aceto Landscape Architecture + Urban Design
Developers Collaborative of Portland has an option to purchase the former public works site from the city. Seen here is an artist's rendering of the project.
Updated: May 11, 2021
Belfast may get an injection of much-needed affordable housing
Courtesy / Aceto Landscape Architecture + Urban Design
Buildings B, C, D and E include 36 apartments that would be income-restricted for residents earning 60% or less of the area median income. Building A, in the upper left corner of this rendering, would feature 12 apartments rented at market rates. The plan includes shared green space.
If it makes it through the planning and finance process, a new development of 48 affordable and market-rate rental apartments is expected to help fill the city of Belfast’s housing shortage.
Developers Collaborative of Portland has proposed the project on approximately 4.3 acres at 115 Congress St., in a zoning district that allows multifamily housing.
The site was formerly home to the city’s public works facility.
Environmental cleanup and demolition of the facility took place in 2020 in order to prepare the site for redevelopment. At that time, the mayor and City Council determined the highest and best use of this property was for workforce housing and entered discussions with Developers Collaborative, according to a post by the city on its Facebook page.
Developers Collaborative has an option-to-purchase agreement with the city.
The proposed development includes the construction of 48 apartments in five two-story buildings.
Four buildings, with 36 apartments, would be income-restricted for residents earning 60% or less of the area median income. The fifth building would feature 12 apartments rented at market rates.
The layout was designed around a large shared space, with lawns common to all residents. Amenities would include a community room, covered terrace, naturalized play area and private gardens.
The plan includes 72 parking spaces.
Developers Collaborative is a real estate development and management company that frequently participates in public-private partnerships.
Critical financing
At its virtual meeting held last week, the council unanimously approved a request by Developers Collaborative to apply on its behalf for a Community Development Block Grant, through the Maine Department of Economic & Community Development’s housing assistance grant program, to help fund the project.
According to a public hearing announcement rearding the request the program can award grants of up to $500,000, which can be used for “soft” costs related to the construction of new housing for low- and moderate-income people, such as permits and fees, engineering services and surveys, architectural services, environmental reports, appraisals and market studies.
The program requires a cash match of at least 20%.
The grant would have the “double benefit” of increasing Developers Collaborative amount of below-market capital for the project, which would both improve the project’s overall financials and increase Developers Collaborative’s application score for a Maine State Housing Authority low-income tax credit, the city’s economic development director, Thomas Kittredge, told the council at last week's meeting.
The credit is “critical” in order to make the income-restricted portion of the project feasible, Kittredge said.
The market-rate portion of the project would be financed separately, he added.
Badly needed
Written comments from two residents said affordable housing is badly needed in Belfast, especially to attract younger residents and help business that are unable to fill jobs. They said the location is ideal, with hook-ups to sewer and water already in place, easy access to the U.S. Route 1 bypass and a presence in an otherwise underutilized residential area.
Councilor Michael Hurley agreed. Describing an apartment search for his mother, “what we found really quickly is that there are no apartments,” he said.
Courtesy / TERRADYN CONSULTANTS, LLC
One advantage touted for 115 Congress St. is convenient access to the Route 1 bypass.
He continued, “It cries for a proactive approach and I consider this project a proactive approach and I’m completely supportive of it.”
According to MaineHousing’s 2020 data, in Belfast the median two-bedroom apartment with utilities costs $1,219, and the income needed to afford it, spending no more than 30% of gross income, is $48,777.
However, the median renter household income is $30,872. For a two-bedroom apartment to be considered affordable to them, it could not exceed $772 per month.
Other housing projects
Developers Collaborative and Realty Resources are also developing affordable senior housing projects at 75 Wight St. and 80 Wight St., respectively.
The 75 Wight St. project consists of 25 subsidized, multi-family housing units for older adults on a two-acre property, according to city documents. The housing units will be one-bedroom and efficiency units and will be located in one three-story building.
Developers Collaborative was awarded funds through the 2019 Rural Housing for Older Adults program offered by Maine Housing to assist project construction.
Realty Resources, a development and property management firm headquartered in Rockport, has worked in the field of affordable housing for decades.
Its Belfast project, called Belfast Acres Estates, is a $6.1 million, 25-unit building featuring primarily one-bedroom apartments and gas-fired heat pumps. Completion is expected by mid-September. All units are eligible for federal rental assistance. The project was partially funded by MaineHousing.
The two Wight Street projects were among seven developments across the state that in 2020 shared $14.5 million in senior housing bond money.
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