Courtesy / Westbrook Housing Authority
The Westbrook Housing Authority built two affordable apartment complexes for older Mainers, including the Robert L. Harnois apartments, shown here.
October 29, 2021
Westbrook opens 2 affordable housing complexes for older Mainers
By Jessica Hall
The Westbrook Housing Authority has opened two new affordable housing complexes for older Mainers, totaling 91 units aimed at addressing the community’s senior housing crunch.
The apartments include 81 subsidized units for tenants receiving Housing Choice Vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
The housing authority worked with Westbrook Development Corp. and Portland-based Anew Development on the buildings.
The new Robert L. Harnois Apartments feature one-bedroom, 600-square-foot apartments for persons 62 or older. Residents have access to off-street parking, onsite laundry, professional on-call maintenance, 2.5 acres of woodland with trails and benches, and community activities. Rents are subsidized at 30% of household annual adjusted gross income, and all utilities are included.
The new Lewis H. Emery Apartments share a parking lot with the Robert L. Harnois Apartments, and feature 30 units for persons 55 and older, including 20 subsidized units.
Both buildings are named in honor of former Westbrook Housing Authority Commissioners and former Board of Commissioners Chairpersons Robert L. Harnois and Lewis H. Emery.
The opening of these buildings marks the completion of a multiphase senior housing development on property owned by the Westbrook Housing Authority.
In 2020, the WHA completed construction on the 38-unit Dr. Arthur O. Berry Apartments and a $5.5 million renovation of Larrabee Woods and Riverview Terrace, a total of 83 units. WHA has also acquired an eight-acre parcel with long-term plans to develop more senior or family housing.
These projects were made possible by Low Income Housing Tax Credits through MaineHousing and used the HUD Housing Choice Voucher program to subsidize rents for eligible senior residents who are disabled, homeless or at risk of homelessness.
“Maine seniors are in the middle of an escalating housing crisis. Westbrook is fortunate to have a city government and a community that understands the need for senior housing and does what it can to support its development,” said Chris LaRoche, executive director of the Westbrook Housing Authority.
“While the pandemic created many barriers, and construction costs have continued to rise, we’ve managed to stay the course and bring new senior housing online year over year."
Ethan Boxer-Macomber, a principal at Anew Development, added, "Anew Development is proud to have assisted Westbrook Housing in raising over $21 million in combined private equity and sub-market debt to support the development of the Harnois and Emery Apartments."
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