Gov. Janet Mills, second from left, and David Pelton, director of real estate development for Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, walk past the site of an affordable housing project in Skowhegan in 2021. KVCAP this week announced it plans to break ground on a 37-unit apartment complex this winter in Waterville, with a tentative opening slotted for spring 2026. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — Plans were announced this week for a new apartment complex on King Street with a groundbreaking planned for December.

The Kennebec Valley Community Action Program, or KVCAP, said it intends to break ground on a 37-unit apartment complex this winter with a tentative opening slotted for spring 2026.

The three-story development will be located beside KVCAP’s Waterville location on the corners of King and Gold streets, encompassing 52 and 54 King St. and 24 and 26 Gold St., the organization said.

The units will help alleviate Maine’s housing shortage, according to KVCAP development director Andrea Pasco, which is one of the most acute in the nation. A statewide survey last year found that the state needs to build 84,000 new homes in the next seven years to accommodate rising demand.

“Even for folks who might be able to pay market rate, it’s very difficult for them to find a place to live,” Pasco said. “It’s not just an issue of affordable housing, it’s an issue of literal housing units.”

Waterville in particular is seeing a lack of available rental units. The new units will be “workforce” housing, according to KVCAP real estate development director David Pelton. Rental costs for “workforce” housing are determined based on the median income in the community.

A rendering of the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program’s proposed three-story, 49,500-square-foot building that would provide 37 affordable “workforce” housing apartments in the South End of Waterville. Courtesy of Whipple | Callender Architects

KVCAP initially filed plans for the complex through the Waterville Planning Board last year before approving the project in January. Pelton estimated at the time that the project would cost at least $12 million.

“This crisis did not happen overnight, and it will certainly take some time to fix,” Pelton said in a release announcing the plans for the Waterville complex. “It is going to take a concerted effort by numerous entities across the state to resolve the lack of available housing.”

KVCAP’s proposal aligns well with the Waterville city government’s recent initiatives, which include allocating about $550,000 in funding for housing organizations and plans announced last year for a $35 million 63-unit apartment complex downtown.

Many of KVCAP’s recent projects have focused on building affordable housing and making units available for working-class and low-income Mainers, according to Pasco.

KVCAP has also renovated several single-family homes in Waterville in recent years to resell at affordable prices, the company said. Other recent KVCAP housing projects include the construction of 40 workforce apartments in Skowhegan and six condominiums in Augusta.

“Our overall mission is to address the barriers to economic security,” Pasco said. “It’s very difficult for people to think broadly about life goals and moving forward when really you’re spending all of your time in crisis mode.”