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January 5, 2021

Developer converts Saco Island office space to apartments to meet surging rental demand

Several old brick mill buildings split by a roaring river Photo / Maureen Milliken The 38-buiding Saco-Biddeford mill complex is increasingly becoming home to apartments, many rented to residents in their 20s and 30s moving to Maine from other places. The Forge apartments are on the ground floor of the building at the right.
By Maureen Milliken

The Forge Collection, which manages apartments, office and other commercial space in two former mill buildings on Saco Island, is taking advantage of the surging demand for rental property in the Saco-Biddeford area by converting office space into apartments.

The 12 units will be carved out of office space in the short end of the L-shaped former mill at 110 Main St., and will bring the number of Forge apartments on the property to 43.

The move comes as the city completes an economic development report that shows the increasing demand for apartments. The report, by Camoin Associates, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., found Saco has a higher number of renters than the surrounding area and a shrinking vacancy rate.

The new apartments will be in Building 2, which is the site of The Deli & Co., as well as other commercial and office tenants. While the building has had a 98% occupation rate for commercial tenants, the developers have found the demand for residential rental space outweighs what's available.

Property owner Ted Moore, of Massachusetts-based Glover Properties, opened 31 market-rate apartments in what used to be known as Unit 91, the long section of the L, in March. Leasing opened the same week the pandemic shutdowns began in Maine, but the apartments were snatched up as fast as they could be completed. All of the Unit 91 apartments are rented, and there are more than 30 applicants on a waiting list for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the developers.

The plan for Building 2 calls for six two-bedroom apartments on the third floor, and six two-bedroom apartments on the fifth floor of the building. No major site modifications are necessary for the conversion to residential spaces, according to a news release from Forge. The new apartments will be the same design and style as the earlier ones.

an overhead view of a complex of mill buildings
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The Forge Collection apartments in Saco is adding 12 apartments to the upper floors at 110 Main St. in the short end of the L-shaped building at the right.

Old buildings, new people

The building, which is actually two joined buildings, is part of the 38-acre mill complex in Biddeford and Saco that is on the National Register of Historic Places. The mills on the island were the York Mill complex, and parts of 110 Main St. date to 1832.

Adding 12 new apartments is likely to continue a trend of younger people moving to downtown Saco and patronizing area businesses, Forge said in a news release.

The economic development study finds:

  • Approximately 10.3% of the housing stock in the city of Saco is vacant, compared to 19.0% in York and Cumberland counties.
  • Saco has a greater portion of renters than the surrounding two-county region, and therefore a greater demand for rental properties.
  • Nearly 30% of the city’s housing units were built before 1939, and 97% of its housing units are more than 10 years old.

The developers say, too, that the Forge apartments are a complement to other developments in the two-city area, including the Lincoln Mill Development in Biddeford, where 148 apartments and a 33-room hotel is planned. The Riverdam Mill in Biddeford is also being renovated by Portland developer Tom Watson for 71 apartments, which pre-leased in less than a month this summer.

Longer-term plans include redevelopment of the former Maine Energy Recovery Corp. site, also in the Biddeford Mill District, into a mixed-use development, by Portland developers Jim Brady and Brian Eng.

The median age in downtown Biddeford-Saco has dropped in recent years, with the latest available figures showing Biddeford's is 35.6 and in Saco's is 44.9.

Many of the new residents who moved to the Forge apartments at Saco Island in the past few months are professionals in their 20s and come from outside of Maine, including Michigan, California, Idaho, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and Toronto, the developers said.

Moore acquired the property in 2018. He owns the lower two floors in Unit 91, including street-level parking for 66 cars, with the upper floors owned by Terrace Owners Association, a condo group. He owns the other section of the building in its entirety.

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