Rare condo project in Falmouth aims to provide homes to ‘workforce’ earners

rendering of a condomium townhouse development

Rendering / Courtesy of Scittery Woods Partners LLC A rendering of the 48-unit condominium development underway in Falmouth.

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By Tina Fischer

Home prices in the town of Falmouth attainable to middle-income — or what’s often referred to as workforce — earners are uncommon; the Portland suburb has some of the highest real estate prices in the state.

But a new development has just broken ground that will offer 48 two-bedroom condominiums at prices ranging from $378,000 to $425,000 to eligible buyers — households who make no more than 120% of the area mean income.

In Cumberland County the AMI currently ranges between $109,032 for a one-person household and up to $155,760 for a household of four, according to MaineHousing.

The project is located off Woods Road behind the Falmouth police station on Marshall Drive.

It will consist of 48 townhouse-style homes spread over 13 buildings. Each unit will be 1,110 square feet and will have a first-floor, one-car garage.

Development team

The Scittery Woods development team is made up of Portland-based Boulos Co. commercial broker John Finegan, Port City Architecture owner and principal architect Andrew Hyland and Mike Manning, founder of Windham-based MGM Builders.

The team won a competitive bid to build workforce housing for Falmouth last year and were able to purchase the 25-acre parcel from the town for $500,000.

The team finalized the deal with financing from MaineHousing’s Affordable Home Ownership. It received a $1.5 million loan with 0% interest, which stipulates that 20 of the 48 units must be sold at $378,000 to eligible buyers and the loan is forgiven upon the sale of those 20 townhomes.

The 120% AMI deed restriction lasts for 15 years, so any units that are resold carry the same requirements for that period, in order to make the homes continue to be affordable for future buyers.

The other 28 units will be sold at $425,000, and will also be sold to households earning at or below 120% AMI, but these units will have a five-year deed restriction, meaning, Finegan said, “If you purchase a unit at $425,000 and live there for five or more years, when you sell the townhome it can be sold at fair market value. This is a huge benefit to the buyers as it allows them to participate in the home equity market.”

A partnership with Norway Savings Bank allows for what Finegan termed, “an extremely aggressive portfolio loan product with a very low down payment and no private mortgage insurance, to make these units attainable to a wider range of buyers.”

“The reason we set out on this development was to help solve a societal issue; that people who can’t afford homeownership are caught in a perpetual cycle of rent, student loans and ever-increasing living costs, all of which can make attaining home ownership very difficult.

“Once you get into home ownership, your monthly costs are generally fixed, you are paying down your mortgage, and are able to benefit from real estate appreciation.

“My partners and I see this as a steppingstone into home ownership that will help 48 individuals or families to build wealth and escape the perpetual cycle of being trapped in a rental.”

Finegan said he expects to begin pre-selling soon.