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March 25, 2025

Rumery Lofts on Portland's Forest Avenue will add 38 apartments to the market

rumery lofts apartment building Rendering / Courtesy of Developers Collaborative Rumery Lofts on Forest Avenue is projected to be completed this June.
By Tina Fischer

The renovation of a circa 1929 brick building on Portland’s Forest Avenue into a mix of apartments and retail is nearing completion, and Rumery Lofts is now pre-leasing for a June opening. 

Developers Collaborative, based in Portland, is creating 38 apartments and 12,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space in the three-story building at 509 Forest Avenue. 

The new apartments will be a mix of studio and one- and two-bedroom units, ranging in size from 415 to 1,000 square feet. Monthly lease rates are expected to range from $1,350 to $2,900. Ten of the units will be reserved for households that qualify for affordable housing. The project includes a 42-lot parking garage under the building.

Scarborough-based Ducas Construction is handling the rebuild, which is estimated to cost close to $16 million, according to Kevin Bunker, partner at Developers Collaborative. 

The building has had many lives. It once housed a dance hall and performance venue that hosted Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller and Ella Fitzgerald. The most recent tenant was MaineHealth, which vacated in 2023. 

The property is part of a block of five buildings at 509-537 Forest Ave. which Developers Collaborative purchased in 2022. Bunker told Mainebiz that plans for the other buildings are still on the drawing board but noted that 533-535 Forest Ave., which was once a Studebaker car dealership, is likely the next project.

"We hope to develop that as an urban grocery-type use in about three years. The rest will likely stay largely as-is as commercial buildings," Bunker said. "We do have a lot over at 41 Ashmont St. that came with the property that we plan to develop as a residential building."

Bunker’s company develops market-rate housing and commercial projects and has created more than 20 affordable housing projects in Maine.


 

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