Supportive housing for people with disabilities planned for the Downs in Scarborough
Rendering / Courtesy 3i Housing of Maine
The building will have wired technologies for adaptable environmental controls and smart home functionality.
A type of housing said to be first of its kind is planned in Scarborough, aiming to provide accessible, supportive homes for people with physical disabilities.
The complex of 51 affordable apartments, at the 550-acre Downs campus, is being co-developed by two nonprofits, Boston-based Preservation of Affordable Housing and Topsham-based 3i Housing of Maine.
The goal is to create independent, community-based living options for people with mobility impairments and physical disabilities, according to 3i Housing.
The organization, founded in 2019, works to create housing through a model of support services and assistive technology, providing people with disabilities more opportunity to control their living environment and participate in their communities.
Easy mobility
Earlier this year, MaineHousing awarded a low-income housing tax credit allocation and a $5.4 million subsidy for the project, to be named Sturgeon Place.
The building will be the first of its kind with wired technologies for adaptable environmental controls and smart home functionality, according to a news release.
In addition to the private rental apartments, the project will have a common living area, a designated workspace for health and human service providers and an entrepreneurial center for mobility and assistive technology innovation.
“People with disabilities who find themselves challenged to complete activities of daily living are at risk of institutional placement well before their time,” said Paul Linet, founder and president of 3i HoME. “Our residents will be empowered to manage their own lives in a supportive, accessible environment in the heart of the town center of Scarborough.”
There will be 31 one-bedroom units, 16 two-bedroom units and 4 three-bedroom units.
The project is being planned in a portion of the Downs with mixed-income residents and that includes nearby transportation, employment, health care, shopping, social and recreational activities, said Cory Fellows, Preservation of Affordable Housing’s vice president of real estate development.
The apartments will be designed for easy mobility, with or without the use of a wheelchair. Bathrooms, kitchens and all living areas will be barrier-free.
Resident eligibility criteria are still being formulated, but the expectation is that the apartments will be available to households where at least one person lives with a physical disability or mobility impairment.
Income eligibility will be guided by the requirements of the federal low-income tax credit program, which is based on 60% of area median income. Fellows said that would result in a monthly rent range of roughly $1,200 to $1,400 for a one-bedroom up to $1,800 to $1,900 for a three-bedroom.
Assistive tech
Fewer than 1% of housing is acceptable for folks who rely on wheelchairs and other mobility devices, Linet said at a recent presentation on the project.
A large portion of the 61 million Americans who are disabled need assistive technology, he added.
The building will include technology infrastructure such as automatic door openers and closers, and remote controls for appliances, Fellows said. Customized technology will be available for individual apartments based on resident needs.
The project will be built to passive house energy efficiency standards.
The decision to locate the project at the Downs “was intentional and consistent” with 3i HoME’s long-term vision of having a property that promotes independence and integration, “so it’s not an institutional setting in the middle of nowhere,” Fellows said.
He noted that the project is POAH’s first in Maine. The national nonprofit has developed and managed about 13,000 apartments in 12 states and in D.C.
Project approvals
The project received approval from the Scarborough Planning Board in June 2023. In December, the Town Council approved a credit enhancement agreement to provide partial relief from real estate taxes, which has helped the developers lock in the project’s operating budget and be able to leverage long-term financing, he added.
Architectural plans are being finalized and the plan is to take the project out to bid with general contractors later this fall, Fellows said. A request for proposals is expected to be issued to prospective investors for the MaineHousing tax credit around the same time, he added.
“Our goal is to break ground and start construction by late spring, early summer 2025, and be complete by fall of 2026 and hopefully leased up and have full active property by the end of 2026,” Fellows said.
He added, “The reality is that these projects have long runways. It’s taken us a while to get to this point. We hit a lot of milestones these past few months.”
Mixed housing types
The project fits the Downs’ goal to provide a variety of housing, with a mix of demographics and serving a mix of housing solutions, said Dan Bacon, development director at M&R Holdings, the Downs’ developer.
M&R Holdings considers Sturgeon Place to be “a unique and necessary and critical housing type,” said Bacon.
He added, “We’re thrilled to have 3i HoME working with us to add this unique housing type to the portfolio.”
Sites around Sturgeon Place are still in development, he said. That includes a condominium project, mixed-use buildings with ground-floor restaurant and retail space, a grocery store and other services that are expected to be convenient and accessible to Sturgeon Place residents, Bacon said.
Also in development are a medical center and a town square, he added.
M&R has already installed key infrastructure that will serve Sturgeon Place, including utilities and paved roadways.
“So when 3i is ready to go base on funding, it will be an efficient construction process,” Bacon said.
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