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V O L . X X V I I I N O. X I V A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E 'Larger impact' in a smaller city Among projects under construction, Senior Living at the Marketplace is a $10 million project , financed through Maine State Housing low income tax credits. Located at 10 Civic Center Dr., the building will include 42 affordable rental apartments for tenants age 55 and older. e developer, Tim Gooch of Best Apartments Inc., aims to start leasing in December. Formerly based in Freeport, he prefers a smaller market like Augusta, where he can make a bigger impact. "Many areas get passed up for new rental housing because they are con- sidered rural," he says. "Yes, the capital of Maine is by HUD/Maine Housing standards rural." Another reason he likes Augusta, he says, is because he finds that capital cit- ies don't see a lot of ups and downs. He also has a personal interest in providing housing for older residents. "I am 57 years old and some of my friends' parents who worked in the mills around that area, who paid taxes to the state for many years, don't live in quality rental units,"says Gooch, who also devel- ops market rate housing. "I enjoy help- ing those people and providing quality housing for them." To developers not familiar with Maine's capital, he says. "Why would you want the star on a map to have such poor-quality housing? Augusta is a very convenient place to live and work. Augusta has a strong community, and the city government is willing to listen and work with developers like me." Projects by other developers cur- rently under construction include the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program's Cony Village development of single-family affordable homes, and Fieldstone Place, a higher-end single- family home subdivision near Cony High School. City officials are also reviewing an application for a subdivision of 14 lots on 8 Rod Road. Further evidence of a residential building surge is reflected in a rise in city-issued permits for new dwellings, from 33 in 2019 to 49 so far this year. If the rate of permitting continues apace in the second half of the year, that would put Augusta at 100 new permits in 2022. "It could happen," Luke says, "but I am concerned that supply-chain issues and contractor availability will present challenges to that." Augusta Housing also busy It's not only private developers who are seeking to add to Augusta's housing sup- ply. So is Augusta Housing, the city's public housing authority. "When I arrived at Augusta Housing in December of 2013, the housing author- ity was a bit anomalous as one of just a couple of housing authorities in the state that had never owned, managed or developed housing," says Executive Director Amanda Olson. at changed in 2015, when the organization signed a 90-year lease on a 1950s vacant school building—that otherwise would have been demolished — for a symbolic $1 a year. Augusta Housing then used historic preserva- tion and low-income tax credits to create 47 units of affordable senior housing, opening the Hodgkins School Apartments in 2016. Today, Augusta Housing has two projects in pre-development: 1 Park Street, with 34 one-, two-, and three- bedroom affordable workforce housing on a safe, dead-end street, and Malta Street, with 45 one-bedroom affordable apartments for adults ages 55 and older in a walkable, in-town location. e aim is to start construction on both projects next year and open in 2024, Olson says. She notes that adding 66 units falls far short of the 870 affordable units cur- rently needed in Augusta as reflected in Maine Housing data. Another 1,465 are needed in Waterville and Winslow, put- ting the three-city deficit at 2,300 units. "We know that we can't meet the need with just the work that we're doing," Olson says. "We're building » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 1 2 Any healthy community is diverse, both in terms of those that contribute to and invest in the community as much as those who live there. — Amanda Olson Augusta Housing F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Amanda Olson, executive director of Augusta Housing, at the Hodgkins School Apartments in August. She has helped push the agency into developing and managing housing. J U LY 1 1 , 2 0 2 2 16

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