Bucksport advances year-round rental housing proposal on Essential Avenue

The Bucksport City Council superior a proposal to construct market-rate, year-round rental models at 27 Essential St., simply outdoors the downtown core.

Patrick Kane, a challenge coordinator for Ellsworth-based Statewide Property Administration & Consulting, stated the proposal consists of 4 duplexes for a complete of eight rental models, plus two business enterprise models.

The parcel beforehand included 5 condominium buildings at 27, 31, 33 and 35 Essential St., Bucksport Group & Financial Improvement Director Wealthy Rotella stated throughout a presentation to the council.

In 2013, a fireplace broke out at 31 Essential St. and the construction was demolished after being declared a complete loss.

In 2014, the city purchased the 5 properties and a sixth on Federal Avenue with a watch towards getting ready them for redevelopment. The resolve authorizes the council to promote the property to Statewide Property Administration for $1.

The city marketed the 1.1-acre property as a improvement alternative with multi-use potential, with a chief Essential Avenue location that was accessible to downtown buying, eating places and the city river stroll. The positioning has entry to public water, sewer, three-phase energy and pure fuel is offered.

Quite a lot of proposed initiatives have been subsequently offered to the city however weren’t accepted or fell by, stated Rotella.

The council and the city’s neighborhood and financial improvement committee stated on a variety of events that they wished to see a mixed-use improvement of economic and residential use on the property, Rotella stated. The city’s 2017 complete plan and its 2021 housing market evaluation, he famous, help growing reasonable to high-end housing.

Like most of Maine, Bucksport is seeing rising demand for housing.

The 2021 housing evaluation was accomplished by a consulting group led by the Versel Group Inc., a nationwide actual property and financial improvement agency, for Forest Alternative Roadmap, referred to as FOR/Maine, established in 2016 to handle the wants of Maine communities that have been affected by the closure and downsizing of paper mills.

That features the 2014 closure of Bucksport’s greatest employer, the Verso Corp. paper mill, which resulted within the lack of 40% of its tax base and a whole lot of jobs.

In keeping with the evaluation, Bucksport “dedicated to reinvest in enhancements to its downtown and colleges as foundational items of its restoration.”

Since 2014, the city has attracted a number of new companies, together with a proposal to construct a land-based salmon farm on the former mill website.

Bucksport’s resident base contains these employed at native companies, in addition to commuters to Bangor, Bar Harbor, Belfast and different areas. It additionally features a rising inhabitants of retirees and distant staff, the evaluation says.

“The housing market within the Bucksport space could be very robust at current, with just about zero rental emptiness or accessible for-sale stock,” the evaluation says. “Industrial area in downtown Bucksport is sort of utterly leased, and there are few alternatives for renovations or adaptive reuse initiatives for housing.”

The city “acknowledges the acute want for brand new, high quality, market-rate housing locally to satisfy present demand and to supply housing to help future enterprise improvement actions on the Verso mill website,” the evaluation continues.

In keeping with a council resolve that licensed the sale of the property to Statewide Property Administration, the aim for the sale of the property is to extend business areas on Essential Avenue and the city’s “recognized want for market-rate rental housing.”

How the deal got here collectively

Statewide Property Administration submitted monetary and engineering assurances for the event.

Talking to Bucksport’s neighborhood and financial improvement committee assembly final month, Kane stated Statewide has accomplished initiatives all through Maine and New England.

“One of the vital interesting tracts of land and alternatives is 27 Essential St.,” he stated.

One of many issues that struck him in regards to the property, Kane stated, was the potential for multi-use improvement; the proposal would construct the duplexes first, then build-to-suit business models.

The proposal for the Bucksport website contains accommodating a hill that kinds the rear portion of the acreage. The three-bedroom, two-bath models, he stated, could be constructed into the hill.

The depth of demolition into the hillside would rely on its composition, Kane stated. However, he added, “I don’t anticipate the hill will probably be a show-stopper.”

The condominium models would have facilities similar to granite counter tops, high-end lighting fixtures and chrome steel home equipment, he stated. They’d be heated with warmth pumps, with baseboard warmth as a secondary supply.

The duplexes could be constructed from modular models and, relying in town’s approval course of, the aim could be to have the duplexes accomplished by this fall, he stated, and embrace parking garages on the lowest stage.

Statewide, stated Kane, is growing a challenge in Trenton that’s much like the one proposed for Bucksport.

The definition of market-rate varies by location, Kane famous: Statewide’s Trenton models are being rented for $2,395 monthly, plus utilities.

“Bucksport isn’t there but,” he stated.

The Bucksport leases may very well be $1,800 to $2,000 monthly, he stated.

Statewide provides one-year leases, however is shifting towards two-year, he stated.

“These will not be Airbnbs,” he added.

Councilors stated that, on the entire, they preferred the proposal.

“It’s the most effective factor I’ve seen for that lot,” stated one councilor.

One other added, “I do like that, on the subject of the housing piece, it’s extra high-end. I definitely see potential right here.”