File photo / COURTESY MAINEHOUSING
Daniel Brennan, MaineHousing
12 min ago
Three affordable housing projects get $13.4 million in state funding
MaineHousing has awarded $13.4 million in state subsidies to help create 129 new affordable rental homes in Lewiston and Portland.
The funding leverages low-income housing tax credits and will support the development of two apartment buildings in Lewiston and one in Portland.
The Lewiston projects are the Martel Phase II and the Soleil apartment complexes, which are being managed by the Lewiston Housing Authority and will each contain 44 units.
In Portland, the funding will go towards a 41-unit senior housing project to be built in the Time & Temperature building annex, which is off of Preble Street. Portland-based Developers Collaborative is leading the project.
The three projects are the last to receive additional state funding for affordable housing development, as resources approved by the Legislature have now been exhausted. Another seven proposals to create 264 affordable rental units across the state did not receive funding due to a lack of sufficient resources.
The program, along with the Affordable Homeownership Program and the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program, have over the past two years, funded 895 new affordable homes for rent or purchase in Maine, according to MaineHousing, and combined investments total $106 million.
“This state funding has allowed MaineHousing to significantly increase the production of affordable rental homes in Maine,” said MaineHousing director Dan Brennan in a statement. “Without additional state funding or an alternative to it, MaineHousing’s current production pipeline for affordable housing will begin to taper dramatically in the coming years.”
The Maine Legislature is considering several bills that could help refuel these subsidy programs and create additional housing opportunities. LD 1082 would create the state’s first dedicated funding for affordable housing through the real estate transfer tax. LD 1829 would reform zoning requirements to encourage housing creation in growth areas.
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