In Bath, plan calls for building 18 much-needed apartments

COURTESY / ARCHETYPE ARCHITECTS Part of the general suite of affordable housing projects that Bath Housing is helping to lead.

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By Alexis Wells

A Bath housing development has gotten key approval on the way to building much-needed affordable housing.

The Bath Housing Development Corp. has received notice that it is eligible for funding from MaineHousing through the Rural Affordable Housing Rental Program.

The funds will support the development of 18 affordable apartments.

Bath Housing executive director Deborah Keller says the initial budget is about $5 million.

The need for workforce housing is critical.

“We see local employers of all sizes struggling to hire because of housing issues. Vacancies are non-existent, waiting lists are lengthy, and rent escalation has far outpaced wage raises,” Keller said. “These funds will support an exciting new development — providing housing for families who want to stay in this community but are coming up short when it comes to finding a home. Rents will be targeted to modest incomes.”

MaineHousing Development Director Mark Wiesendanger added: “Bath Housing has a solid track record of putting together housing developments and is a trusted, capable partner.”

Building construction is slated to start within a year and leasing apartments by early fall 2024. The architect for this project will be Ryan Senatore Architects

“Like everywhere in Maine right now, there is an extremely low vacancy in Bath,” said Keller. ”We maintain waiting lists only for apartments with project-based subsidy — and the wait times for those apartments are 2 to 3 years. For apartments without subsidy (market rate), we do not keep waiting lists. But as an example, we listed a one-bedroom apartment on Monday of this week and by Tuesday, we had to stop accepting applications because we had received 14 applications by the end of the first day.”

Development projects are a significant component of the Bath Housing Strategic Plan 2022-25.

“I wanted to take this small, community housing organization and shake it up to see what we could do,” said Keller, who joined Bath Housing in 2014.

Under her watch, the organization has bought and renovated five multifamily buildings; led efforts to create the Uptown, a historic renovation of the Moses and Columbia blocks with the addition of 50 new downtown apartments; and the overseen creation of Comfortably Home, a home modification program launched in 2015 that has now served almost 300 area homeowners.