Augusta Housing seeks to address housing shortage with 3 projects

A rendering of the Sturgeon Landing family housing complex proposed for Park Street in Augusta. Construction of the 32-unit apartment building is expected to begin soon, but tenants will not be able to move until 2025, according to Norman Maze Jr., executive director of the Augusta Housing Authority. Courtesy of Ryan Senatore Architecture

AUGUSTA — The Augusta Housing Authority has multiple developments in the works as it seeks to build more rental units to help address an ongoing housing shortage. But none are likely to be ready for occupancy until 2025.

The project closest to starting construction is Sturgeon Landing, an apartment building on Park Street — just off Bangor Street — that would have 32 rental units for families. Officials said they are close to closing on a construction loan and thus being able to break ground.

Norman Maze Jr., new executive director of the quasi-governmental housing authority, told Augusta City Councilors on Thursday that construction on Sturgeon Landing should start soon and take about 14 months to complete. That would mean the housing would be ready for tenants in early 2025, he said.

The city sold the Park Street lot to the housing authority for $1, in hopes that it could be developed to help address the shortage of housing in the area.

State housing data indicates Augusta needs 870 additional affordable housing units, a number that swells above 1,000 if Gardiner is included, and above 2,400 if the Waterville and Winslow areas are included.

Maze said a plan to submit an application for tax credit financing in October to build 34 units of senior housing on Malta Street didn’t work out, but the authority plans to seek funding for that project from a different tax credit program that began taking applications in November.

He said the authority is working with Developers Collaborative, a statewide housing developer, as a consultant on the Malta Street project in hopes of applying for funding in early 2024 which, if secured, would allow construction to start in early 2025.

The Augusta Housing Authority is working to secure funding for a 34-unit senior housing facility on Malta Street in Augusta. This rendering, showing what the building could look like, was submitted as part of a site plan application in August 2022. Courtesy of City of Augusta

Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Judkins said he was “a little taken aback” to learn the Malta Street project didn’t make the October round of funding but said he was glad the authority was still pursuing funding for it.

The authority’s largest project in the planning stages is for the development of up to 50 units of senior housing and up to 50 units of family housing on the Union Street site currently occupied by the Augusta Police Department and the offices of the housing authority itself.

A new police station is under construction on Willow Street and expected to be ready for police to occupy in March. City and authority officials have discussed the city selling the property to the authority to be developed as housing.

Maze told city councilors, in an update on authority activities, that the project is likely three to four years away from completion and would start with having a civil engineer go in and do a concept plan and see how much of the site is developable and how many units it could support. He said that work may not start until 2024.

Norman Maze Jr. is the new executive director of the Augusta Housing Authority. Courtesy of Augusta Housing Authority

Maze said the Union Street project, which would have to go before the Planning Board for approval, would likely be built in two stages, over two years, with senior housing to be built first, followed by the family housing units. He said the authority is in talks with the Kennebec Valley YMCA, the headquarters of which abut the Union Street site, to potentially provide child care at the housing development.

He said the housing authority would likely relocate its offices to temporary quarters, then build new offices into the senior housing complex proposed to be built on the Union Street site.

Those three projects were initiated under Amanda Olson’s decadelong tenure at the authority. Olson stepped down as the group’s executive director in April to become the chief operating officer for Developers Collaborative.

Maze comes to the Augusta job after working the last 25 years for social service agency Shalom House in Portland, most recently as its deputy director and housing director where he oversaw building maintenance, capital improvements, leasing, program administration, information technology and development of the organization’s portfolio of commercial and affordable housing projects.

He said he managed 27 buildings for Shalom House, 12 of which he oversaw the development of. Most of those buildings were dedicated to housing people with mental illness, and one was developed with low-income housing tax credits.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot over the years, and I’m looking forward to expanding on that experience and coming to the Augusta Housing Authority with these projects lined up,” Maze said. “I feel very fortunate to be able to move forward with more housing, which is so sorely needed here, and across the state.”

The Augusta Housing Authority was established in 1979 with a mission to assist low-income families with finding and maintaining decent, safe and affordable housing opportunities.