PORTLAND –– Avesta Housing celebrated a milestone project in Portland Tuesday, drawing praise from public officials for its planned 201 units.
“This is a great addition to Portland, very, very much needed,” said Dan Brennan, director of MaineHousing, which helped finance the $88 million project.
Avesta held a “topping off” ceremony at its latest project, called “The Bellwether.” The six-story work in progress sat in a former parking lot in the city’s Bayside neighborhood, just behind Avesta’s offices on Cumberland Street.
When completed sometime next summer, the project will offer 201 one and two-bedroom apartments for individuals and families making 60% or less than local area median income.
Jennifer Hawkins, President and CEO of Avesta Housing, said it’s the largest affordable housing project in the organization’s history.
“Usually we’re developing projects (that are) 50 and 60 units, but 201 new gorgeous apartments for low-income Portland residents is a huge accomplishment for the organization,” she said.
The “topping off” ceremony featured a crane hoisting a ceremonial metal beam up to the top of the building, adorned with an evergreen tree branch and a broom. The ceremony is a tradition dating back centuries. It is based on the belief in European culture that protective spirits live in trees. The broom, officials said, represents a “clean sweep,” meaning there have been no accidents on the project so far.
Hawkins estimated that the building will provide housing for at least 300 people. She said the available space, along with changes to the city’s zoning laws through the recent ReCode project helped make it happen. She also credited state legislators for helping to secure more than $20 million in American Recovery Plan funding to go to the project.
Among officials lending support to the project Tuesday was U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson. The Democrat did not give remarks, but said after the ceremony that he recalled efforts while president of the Maine Senate to secure the funding. He also said he was proud that union workers were able to participate in the building’s construction.
“Obviously, housing is the goal, but making sure that housing is built with people that can make a living in Maine is a big deal for me also,” he said.
Hawkins noted that a 2023 report from MaineHousing predicted that Maine would need to. Construct 84,000 new units of housing by 2030 to keep up with growing demand. She said she hopes this project will contribute to that goal.
“The need is unrelenting,” she said. “There’s individuals who maybe are living in housing but are paying far more of their income towards rent and housing costs than they can, really forcing them to make hard decisions.”
Hawkins said it might be difficult to pull off a project of a similar size outside of Portland, but she hopes to see Avesta doing more large projects in the future.
“It’s really just a matter of finding the right size and a municipality that is looking to maximize density,” she said.
