Maine Housing Provides Funding for 184 New Apartments

Maine Housing has approved allocation of nearly $30 million in federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) to finance construction of 184 new privately owned apartments in six Maine cities. The LIHTCs will provide “some badly needed affordable rental housing in several Maine communities, and give Maine’s economy a boost,” said Maine Housing Director Dale McCormick. “We expect the housing will generate several hundred jobs just in construction alone.”

The six housing developments slated for funding and tax credit amounts are:

• 29 units for seniors in Ellsworth, $5.8 million;
• 24 units for seniors in Biddeford, $4.8 million;
• 48 units for families in Lewiston, $5.2 million;
• 34 units for families in Berwick, $3.31 million;
• 25 units for seniors in Freeport, $5.5 million; and
• 24 units for families in Portland, $5.28 million.

Maine Housing uses criteria such as need for affordable housing, location close to downtown and transportation, leveraging of other funding sources, and several others in determining which proposed developments to finance. The developments in Biddeford and Berwick, for example, involve adaptive re-use of historic school buildings, while the Lewiston development involves converting a portion of an historic mill.

Most of the new apartments will be restricted to households earning 50 percent of the median income or less.