A pair of local developers is still looking to bring hundreds of new apartments to Bangor, but is waiting for the city to complete sewer improvements before they can break ground.
Justin and Nicole Freeman worked with Haley Ward to design an apartment complex off Stillwater Avenue with at least 300 units, most of which would be one-bedroom with some two-bedroom options.
The campus would contain eight two-story buildings with facilities for laundry and mail services for tenants. The apartments are intended to be rented as workforce housing and cost roughly $1,100 to $1,400 per month, depending on their size, according to Justin Freeman.
If created, the project would be the largest apartment complex in Bangor and come at a time when the region is desperate for more housing. It would also follow a period of sluggish housing growth locally, as a new wave of state data found Bangor approved just 32 new units in 2025.
The development would sit off Stillwater Avenue between Chase Road and Longview Drive, just north of BJ’s and Marden’s. The couple plan to name it LuBen Village, after their children, Freeman said.
While it has been two years since the couple announced their intention to build hundreds of units in Bangor, Freeman said their plans haven’t wavered. The developers are waiting for the city to update aging sewer equipment before submitting an application to get local approval for the project, he said.
That’s because Bangor requires that construction begin on a project within one year of the Planning Board’s approval and be completed within two.
“The reality is right now we’re stuck,” Freeman said. “The city has no sewer capacity up here, and that’s the issue right now. I’d have an excavator on the ground tomorrow if I could.”
The existing pump station that serves that area is at capacity and can’t accept additional flow from new homes, said David Warren, spokesperson for the city. The equipment is also “operating beyond its anticipated service life” and the pump station needs to be resized and placed.
Much of Bangor’s sewer infrastructure in that area was installed in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the city received an outpouring of federal funding, Anne Krieg, Bangor’s community and economic development director, told the Bangor Daily News.
“They’re 50, 60 years old and at the end of their life, so we’ve got to replace them,” Krieg said.
The city’s wastewater and engineering departments are working on a phased approach to grow sewer capacity in the area, Warren said. City councilors recently approved two contracts for work slated to be the first step of the upgrades. City officials then hope to launch the next steps of the project in 2027.
A preliminary engineering report completed in 2024 estimated the necessary upgrades would cost $4 million to $6 million, according to Warren.
With the site plan for the apartments finished, Justin and Nicole Freeman are now gathering bids from contractors interested in performing the groundwork. They’ve received quotes from four or five companies, but haven’t yet selected one, Justin Freeman said.
If approved, crews would likely construct the complex in phases and work on two to three buildings at a time.
The family aims to complete the job in less than five years and hopes to keep the total cost of the project under $40 million, Freeman said.
“We’ll see if we can get there,” Freeman said. “It’s going to be an uphill struggle, but we’ve done a lot of work and gotten to the point where we could bring it to the planning board. It’s just now a matter of getting the right services there.”
The couple initially hoped to build 500 units, but had to scale back the plan due to acreage and cost constraints, Freeman said.
Aside from adding housing the region needs, Freeman said the complex is so large because developers must build many units in order to make any profit. That’s because the rising prices of construction materials, labor and other necessities has made the cost to build new units exceptionally high.
“At this point, quantity is the answer to driving down price per unit,” Freeman said. “If we’re building over $150,000 a unit, you’re not making any money. You’re going to have a hard time breaking even and your return on investment is nothing.”
The family has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the land, permitting, engineering and architecture work, Freeman said, meaning they’re determined to bring the project to life.
“It’s a project we still want to do and we’re excited about it,” Freeman said. “We think it’d be a heck of an addition to the city. The city is still held up for housing, there’s no question about it.”