Six affordable homes in Kennebunkport near completion, 19 more proposed
Courtesy / Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust Facebook
Six affordable homes have been constructed in the Heritage Woods subdivision in Kennebunkport. Seen here is the last house, delivered in November.
The construction of six affordable homes in Kennebunkport is nearly complete, with four sales scheduled to close in coming weeks.
Now the Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust has launched a campaign to raise $500,000 to develop 19 more houses designed for low- and middle-income residents.
The trust presented the progress of the project to the Kennebunkport Select Board at its regular meeting earlier this month.
“It’s all about people — the people who are able to call Kennebunkport home and contribute to this community,” the trust’s vice president, Patrick Clancy, told the board.
The six-unit subdivision, called Heritage Woods, is on a 4.6-acre parcel at 126 Main St.
The buildable lot sizes range from half an acre to 1.15 acres. An open space lot is just shy of one acre.
The homes include single-family residences and semi-attached duplexes ranging from 1,166 square feet to 1,688 square feet of living space. The prices range from $220,000 to $297,500, according to the trust’s website.
Four homes are under contract and two are sold.
Housing need
The idea behind the project was to create more affordable housing in one of York County's most expensive communities.
In 2017, the Board of Selectmen commissioned a housing needs study and later formed a committee to implement strategies from the findings. After an analysis, the committee recommended the board establish a stand-alone nonprofit housing trust, which would be modeled after trusts in communities like Bar Harbor, where the Island Housing Trust has developed a number of affordable housing projects.
The board approved the formation of the Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust in the fall of 2018 and donated the tax-acquired land at 126 Main St. to the trust for development of the first six homes. The trust was tasked with providing housing affordable for families and individuals with low to moderate incomes.
The trust subsequently secured support in the form of donations from grants, foundations and community fundraising, totaling nearly $400,000. That included the $160,500 value of the land, $135,000 through MaineHousing, and $75,000 through Federal Home Loan Banks, a government-sponsored enterprise to support housing finance and community investment.
The overall goal was to achieve a reduced sale price to the homeowner, according to the trust’s website. Heritage Woods homeowners will be responsible on average for approximately 71% of the cost of their home — ranging from $220,000 for a one-story to $297,500 for a two-story — financed by a mortgage with the Maine Housing First Home Loan Program and through Bangor Savings Bank.
Inclusive and low-barrier
The trust developed application materials designed to ensure the homeownership project was inclusive and low-barrier, Sarah Dore, a member of the trust’s board, told the selectmen.
Strong marketing outreach and virtual information sessions in 2020 resulted in strong interest when the application period opened in January 2021, she said.
Buyers include families, local business owner and employees, veterans and local professionals, she said.
Some are new to the community, others are long-time residents. Once the closings are complete in January, Dore said, the community will have 17 people all together, including seven children.
Construction of the houses began in April at KBS Builders Inc., a designer and manufacturer of modular structures in South Paris. Shipment of the homes to the site began in May, according to the trust’s website.
Those approved for housing own the homes and lease the land, which is owned by the trust.
Income gap
The goal is to increase the number of affordable homes in the face of soaring median home prices, to ensure local workforce can afford to live in the town where they work, and to balance the town’s aging population by attracting younger families, the trust’s board members said.
The data around affordable housing in the area was grim when the project started three years ago, and has been exacerbated by the pandemic, rapid in-migration that has depleted limited housing stock, skyrocketing development costs and supply shortages, Dore said.
In 2020, she said, Kennebunkport, Kennebunk and Arundel were three of the five least affordable towns in the county.
This year, she said, the median sale price of a non-waterfront home in Kennebunkport is $680,000, a 37% increase since 2019. The median sale price for a waterfront home is nearly $1.6 million, a 17.9% increase since 2019.
The median combined price is $900,000, up 50% since 2019.
Yet the income needed to afford a median-priced home is $15,000 more than the average household earns, she said, contributing to the decline in the area’s year-round population.
19 more homes
Although the first six homes are near completion, said Dore, "The work is far from done."
Now the trust is looking to build 19 more homes by 2025.
The Board of Selectmen agreed to start reviewing other town-owned lands at upcoming meetings, to see if the town can donate another parcel for affordable development.
“Land is the key element,” said Patrick Briggs, the trust’s president. “It is how you get going. We need to have it.”
“I’m all for it,” said Selectman Allen Daggett.
According to the trust’s December newsletter, the goal is to raise $500,000 for the 19 homes.
The trust noted the Heritage Woods project resulted in lessons learned to make the project a success. That included the need for the trust to provide a “significant subsidy to make houses affordable for the targeted households” and to leverage public support, institution grants and governmental sources. To maintain affordability, land will need to come either from a donation or be purchased with support from a major grant, or a combination.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments