A new affordable housing development designed to serve people who are chronically homeless is coming to Bangor.
The Queen City is one of five communities the Maine State Housing Authority selected to receive continuous funding to create housing with 24/7 on-site services for tenants.
The Bangor Housing Development Corporation, a partner agency of the Bangor Housing Authority, and Preble Street, a Portland-based organization that runs multiple shelters and housing developments across the state, received the award.
The Bangor Housing Development Corporation will develop the property, the Bangor Housing Authority will manage it and Preble Street will provide the 24/7 on-site services for residents, according to Mike Myatt, executive director of BangorHousing.
Once built, the 30-unit development will be the first housing of its kind in Bangor, according to Myatt. It will house people who have struggled with chronic homelessness and may be grappling with other issues, such as substance use and mental health challenges.
The project will serve a population that city officials have been trying to house since closing Bangor’s largest homeless encampment earlier this year. While the city was able to house some of the people who were living there, most weren’t connected to permanent housing.
“We know that we have a lot of folks in Bangor who continue to be chronically homeless and we know this will have a profound impact on the community once we get it up and running,” Myatt said.
The new housing could also lead to fewer people who are homeless visiting hospital emergency rooms, interacting with police or winding up in jail. That’s what happened in Portland after Preble Street opened Logan Place, its first of three housing developments with 24/7 services, said Ali Lovejoy, Preble Street’s vice president of mission advancement.
Creating housing with staff constantly available to help residents also serves the greater community “because these were the folks who were using up a considerable amount of local resources,” Myatt said.
While the building hasn’t been designed yet, Myatt said he believes the site will have 30 efficiency apartments, meaning each one-room unit will have a private bathroom and kitchenette.
Tenants’ rent will be 30 percent of their income, and a voucher will cover the rest, Lovejoy said.
Myatt was not able to provide an exact dollar amount of the award, but said the Maine Housing Authority will provide a 4 percent annual tax credit allocation with state subsidy. The amount of funding will depend on the cost of the project, he said.
The money for the project comes from the proceeds from the state’s Real Estate Transfer Tax, which goes into the state’s general fund, Myatt said.
The first few years of funding will support the construction of the building, then the money will fund the supportive services Preble Street will provide, Myatt said.
“The difference is having that steady stream of revenue that Preble Street can rely on,” Myatt said. “Otherwise, we could never do it.”
Myatt said he wasn’t told when the funding stream will end.
“No deadline was given, but the compliance period of tax credit projects is usually a minimum of 30 years,” Myatt said.
With the award secured, Myatt said BangorHousing is looking for a site near downtown Bangor to build the project. Next, the agency will hire an architect to design the building.
The agency aims to find a property this summer, begin construction early next year, and welcome tenants by the beginning of 2027, Myatt said.
There will be a minimum of two staff members available in the building at all times to assist tenants, Lovejoy said. This could include helping residents sign up for benefits they qualify for, create a budget, clean and maintain their units, and deescalate conflicts between neighbors.
Staff will also offer activities in the evening for residents to help build community and prevent people from isolating, which can worsen mental health symptoms and substance use, Lovejoy said.
The services are intended to keep guests housed by helping them overcome issues that may have previously caused them to lose their housing.
“Most of the things that lead to people getting evicted probably happen in the evening and overnight,” Lovejoy said.
Preble Street also hopes to connect with local medical providers and invite them into the building regularly to offer residents care they need and might have neglected when they were living outside, Lovejoy said.
“Those are impossible things when you’re living on the street or in the woods,” Myatt said. “You’re worried more about staying alive, and not about the benefits you used to have.”
The services are voluntary for residents, but Lovejoy said all tenants in Preble Street’s other permanent supportive housing projects eventually choose to engage with staff and receive help.
There are now only three housing buildings with constant on-site support in Maine, all of which are in Portland and created by Avesta Housing and staffed by Preble Street, Myatt said.