Portland’s Libbytown neighborhood will have new affordable condo development
RENDERING / COURTESY MAINE COOPERATIVE DEVELOPERS PARTNERS
An affordable condo development has broken ground off Douglass Street in Portland.
Construction on the affordable condo development Dougherty Commons is getting underway, starting with 20 housing units, expected to be ready for occupancy this fall.
The project is located off Douglass Street in Portland, between Congress Street and Brighton Avenue, adjacent to Dougherty Field community park. (Its neighbor at the site is the nearly completed 45 Dougherty Court affordable apartment complex, developed by Szanton Co.)
Portland-based Maine Cooperative Development Partners has approvals for a total of 62 housing units at Dougherty Commons. Construction of the final phase of 42 additional condos is planned for early 2026.
MCDP was selected, along with Szanton Co., by the city in 2020 to develop an affordable housing project on Douglass Street with a mix of rental and owned units. The project received planning board approval in May 2022.
The first two buildings under construction will offer a mix of one- and three-bedroom homes and will be offered to households earning a percentage of the area mean income. Prices were originally targeted to range from around $260,000 for a one-bedroom unit to about $325,000 for a three-bedroom condos, but development partner Liz Trice said those numbers are not final, as the office of Housing and Urban Development raises the area median income levels each April, so prices could increase slightly, based on new figures from HUD.
“We won’t know the exact prices and income limits for a few more weeks,” Trice said, “but we expect they won’t change too much. Either way, these homes will cost dramatically less than market, and we are grateful to be able to offer this opportunity.”
For greater Portland in 2024 the area median income was $89,250 for one individual and $114,750 for a three-person household.
The condos will be modular units from KBS Builders, based in South Paris. They’ll be installed onsite in June by Brunswick-based Backyard ADUs. The homes are energy efficient, all electric, with heat pumps.
Trice’s partners in MCDP are Matthew Peters and Brian Eng; all have extensive development experience.
Trice said MCDP will start accepting full applications in May, though the company already has “an interested parties list.”
Mainebiz web partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments