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6 hours ago

Freeport approves TIF funding for senior affordable housing 

housing complex Courtesy / Freeport Housing Authority A rendering of Varney Heights, which will add 42 housing units.
By Tina Fischer

Freeport Town Council has approved tax increment financing to support a 42-unit affordable housing facility off U.S. Route 1.

Varney Heights Senior Apartments will be built on a 9.2 acre lot at 22 Varney Road.

It will be a joint project between the Freeport Housing Authority and Augusta-based developer Timothy Gooch.

The housing authority is leveraging town TIF funding with MaineHousing grants and loans and low income housing tax credits to fund the $16 million project budget. 

The town projects the development will generate approximately $53,000 annually in tax revenue and the town will rebate 50% of the revenue to Freeport Housing Trust for a 30-year term, to support project capitalization and operational costs. The trust is required to maintain Varney Heights units at affordable rents for 45 years. 

Varney Heights was approved in November 2024 and is expected to break ground this summer. New residents are expected to move in in Fall 2026. 

Freeport Housing Trust currently owns 183 senior affordable units in eight properties. The most recent project was built in 2012, Oakleaf Two.

Developer Tim Gooch built a similar project in Augusta, Senior Living at the Marketplace. The contractor for the Freeport project is Augusta-based LaJoie Brothers.

“Expanding and diversifying local housing options, especially near downtown and existing infrastructure, is a top priority in Freeport,” said Town Council Chair Joanna Benoit.  


 

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