The enormous cranes hovering over Portland’s Bayside neighborhood are orchestrating construction of a 201-unit affordable housing complex under development by Avesta Housing and Reveler Development.
The two enormous cranes hovering over Portland’s Bayside neighborhood are orchestrating construction of the 201-unit affordable housing complex under development by Avesta Housing and Reveler Development, to be called the Bellwether.
The cranes are essential for lifting up the 8- to 12-foot prefabricated panels that form the building’s walls, both exterior and interior, and are significantly speeding the construction process.
“An entire floor of the building is erected in a little over a week,” John Egan, Avesta’s director of real estate development, told Mainebiz. “Naturally, all inside partitions and finishes take much longer,” he added.
Egan said the project’s contractors — Falmouth-based Penobscot General Contractors and Turner Construction, based in New York City with a Portland office — estimate using panels over "stick-built" has accelerated the build by several months.
The complex fills an entire block in Portland's Bayside neighborhood. PHOTO / TINA FISCHER
North & South Construction, headquartered in Newington, N.H., installed the panels, which were manufactured by T.M.S. Système Inc. in St. George, Quebec.
Avesta's largest project to date
When completed in May 2027, the complex will be the largest income-restricted development in the city — probably in the state. It covers an entire block between Oxford, Lancaster and Elm streets.
“It is certainly the largest Avesta development project ever," said Jennifer Hawkins, Avesta’s president and CEO.
The buildings will provide critically needed housing for lower-income individuals: 39 studios, 141 one-bedroom apartments and 21 two-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 504 to 834 square feet.
Management and social services offices will be onsite, along with a fitness center, laundry facilities, community room with kitchenette, common patio and lounge spaces and bike storage.
Projected lease rates are estimated to range from $1,270 for the studios to $1,630 for a two-bedroom, and they’ll stay low for 45 years, thanks to deed restricted financing.
There will not be any parking on the lot. Portland does not require it, and the building occupies nearly all of the site.
“We feel strongly that one of the advantages of the location is that it’s within immediate walking distance to most of Portland's metro bus lines; very convenient to public transportation," Egan said.
“Also, future residents can find parking in the huge parking garage just a half-block up Elm Street.”
