Housing
This section of the BDN aims to help readers understand Maine’s housing crisis, the volatile real estate market and the public policy behind them. Read more Housing coverage here.
A local housing agency celebrated the completion of 50 new units of affordable housing for low-income seniors in Bangor on Wednesday.
The Bangor Housing Development Corporation, a partner agency of the Bangor Housing Authority, recently completed construction of the Sunridge Senior Housing apartments on Sunset Avenue off Union Street in Bangor.
The $20 million project offers 44 one-bedroom apartments, priced at $1,163 per month, and six two-bedroom units with a monthly rent of $1,395. All utilities are included in the rent fees.
“Our senior housing waiting lists are measured in years so to open a new state of the art facility in Bangor is something we’re very proud of,” said Mike Myatt, executive director of the Bangor Housing Authority. “Sunridge gives seniors a place they can afford that is accessible to them and can adapt as their needs change.”
The building opened as developers statewide are chipping away at a gaping housing shortage largely caused by years of underproduction. A Housing Production Needs Study, completed in 2023, determined that Maine needs at least 76,400 new homes by 2030 to close the gap and meet future need.
Roughly 40 residents have already moved into the building, according to Myatt. Another 10 units are available and the housing agency is accepting and processing applications.
“We all see how the lack of housing impacts us and our families,” Myatt said. “We see the lack of affordability for working families, kids living with their parents longer or even moving out of state. We see the lack of accessible homes for seniors and sadly see Mainers sleeping on our streets.”
The housing is reserved for people ages 55 and older whose income is up to 60% of the area median income, which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sets annually. For one person in Bangor, this would be an annual income of up to $43,440, or $49,620 for a two-person household.
The building’s amenities include an elevator, on-site laundry, community gardens and all utilities included.
The new building provides housing for some of the thousands of low-income seniors who have been on the housing authority’s waitlists for years, according to Myatt. On average, it takes three to four years for an older resident to receive a call about an available unit after joining BangorHousing’s waitlist.
The agency has closed some waitlists for its other senior housing developments as it was “giving people false hope,” Myatt previously told the Bangor Daily News.
Aside from adding to Bangor’s insufficient housing stock, creating homes for older residents creates a trickle down effect in the region and helps make other types of housing available.
“We’ve had people sell a house to move in here,” Myatt said. “Now that house that they couldn’t get out of is available for a young family and the family’s apartment that they were overgrown in is available for a new working professional.”
The Bangor Housing Development Corporation developed Sunridge Senior Housing and the Bangor Housing Authority manages it.
BangorHousing manages nearly 900 affordable and market rate apartments across 10 developments in the region. The quasi-governmental agency is also responsible for administering housing vouchers in Bangor and surrounding communities, including Hermon, Glenburn, Hampden and Veazie.
BangorHousing hopes to later build another 50-unit apartment building for families, called Conifer Ridge, on an adjacent piece of land the agency bought from the University of Maine in Augusta Bangor campus.