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 former Brunswick fire station will debut its new life this week as a local brewery with five affordable apartments on the second floor.
What was once Brunswick’s Central Fire Station at 21 Town Hall Place has been redeveloped by Portland-based Developers Collaborative to hold Moderation Brewing on the first floor and five studio apartments above. The building is set slightly back from Maine Street in downtown Brunswick.
The five units are intended for residents earning up to 60% of the area median income, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development sets annually. In 2026, this means one person earning up to $46,560 in Cumberland County can qualify to live there.
Rent, which includes hot water, begins at $918 per month, according to the Developers Collaborative website. The building also offers heat pumps, laundry facilities, an elevator and one parking space per unit. One of the units is also ADA-accessible, according to the company.
The new units highlight a unique way that groups are chipping away at Maine’s statewide goal of adding at least 76,400 new homes by 2030. That is the amount necessary to make up for historic underproduction and meet future need, the 2023 State of Maine Housing Production Needs Study found.
Cumberland County, where Brunswick is located, is expected to need the second-highest amount of new housing production — as many as 8,600 units by 2030 — due to significant population growth that’s expected to continue.
“This project preserves an important piece of Brunswick’s history while creating much-needed housing, supporting a locally owned business, and contributing to the continued strength of downtown Brunswick,” Mike Lyne, Developers Collaborative’s director of commercial real estate, said.
The property was built in 1919 and designed by Maine architect Edward Leander Higgins. It held the town’s fire department until a new station was completed in 2023.
Developers Collaborative, which offers both redevelopment and property management services, bought the building from the town in late 2023 for $200,000, then launched construction in spring 2025.
The company partnered with MaineHousing, Genesis Community Loan Fund, Bangor Savings Bank and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. to finance the redevelopment.
Developers Collaborative will hold a public ribbon cutting event at 4 p.m. Friday, June 19, at 21 Town Hall Place to celebrate the project’s completion and grand opening.