Dooryard developers cut the ribbon last week on three multi-unit apartment buildings in Rumford, adding 18 affordable homes to the Oxford County community.
The buildings are modular, built off-site by KBS Builders of South Paris. Dooryard, which is based in Rumford and Portland and owned by Kara Wilbur, provided on-site general contracting.
The project will help address an affordable housing shortage in the area, Wilbur said, by providing homes for local workers, downsizing seniors, and employees of area businesses including Sunday River ski resort and ND Paper mill.
From left, Rumford Town Manager George O’Keefe is holding the ribbon; Jon Whitten, Haley Ward; Roger Arsenault, Community Energy, Vanessa Farr, Haley Ward; Ed Connolly, Connolly Painting and Restoration, Nicole Knowles, United Insurance; cutting the ribbon is Keith Bickford, Dooryard; John Clark, Melissa McHugh and Kara Wilbur from Dooryard; Cheryl Dickson, executive director River Valley Chamber of Commerce; and Tammi Lyons, president River Valley Chamber of Commerce is holding the ribbon. PROVIDED PHOTO
Wilbur described the design of the buildings as “Maine-inspired” and designed to fit the scale of the surrounding neighborhood.
Wilbur, who Mainebiz honored as Development Industry Leader of the Year this past spring, has described Dooryard’s mission as focusing on creating buildings that are cost effective and efficient to build, with a local aesthetic.
“What that generally produces,” Wilbur told Mainebiz, “is a classic early Maine farmhouse-style. The buildings are simple and well-proportioned, like something you might see in a coastal fishing village, tucked into an historic neighborhood or out on a farm.”
The project, at 986 Prospect Ave., is on a lot that had previously been home to a motel, which had succumbed to fire. The town acquired the property and was keen to see it support infill development.
“By building on a previously developed site, we’re able to provide high-quality housing in the right place, near jobs, adjacent to an existing neighborhood, and among a really nice community of people here in Rumford,” Wilbur said.
The project is financed by MaineHousing through the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program. All 18 apartments are income-restricted, for residents earning no more than 80% of the area median income, and are required under the funding program to remain affordable for 45 years.
The one-bedroom, 400-square-foot units are leasing for $1,275 per month including utilities.
The buildings feature electric heat pumps and rooftop solar, installed by South Portland-based Revision Energy. Woodhull, with offices in Portland and Brunswick, is the project architect and Haley Ward, based in Saco, handled site design.
Dooryard is also building condos at Rumford’s Black Mountain and has developed other modular housing projects in the state, financed under the same MaineHousing program, in Madison — with Sam Hight and Brian Eng — and in Newcastle with Rob Nelson.
