Elderly low-income housing complex
opens in Fort Fairfield
FORT FAIRFIELD — Current tenants, town residents, investors, management agents and political supporters celebrated the grand opening of “The Meadows” with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 25.
Photos courtesy of the Fort Fairfield Journal
PRESENT FOR THE RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY at The Meadows, a 25-unit elderly low-income housing complex located in Fort Fairfield, were, from left: Willis Adams, Fort Fairfield Residential Development Corp. (FFRDC) board member; Sandra Durepo, FFRDC; Mandy Hall, B.R. Smith and Associates; Roma Higgins, Fort Fairfield Housing Authority and FFRDC; Dan Brennan, director of development for the Maine State Housing Authority; Jim Martin, J.P. Martin & Sons; Greg Murchison, FFRDC president; Dan Foster, Fort Fairfield town manager and project developer; Kim Twitchell, TD Bank; Phil Bosse, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office; John Herold, town council member and FFRDC; and David Ricker, Fort Fairfield Housing Authority and FFRDC.
THE GRAND OPENING of The Meadows was celebrated Oct. 25 in Fort Fairfield. Owned by the Fort Housing Development Limited Partnership, The Meadows is a 25-unit complex that is open to elderly tenants who meet low-income requirements. Located at 16 Harmony Lane, The Meadows has five two-bedroom units and 20 one-bedroom apartments. Fourteen of the units in the building are ADA accessible while the other 11 are ADA adaptable.
Owned by the Fort Housing Development Limited Partnership, The Meadows is a 25-unit elderly low-income housing tax credit complex that is open to tenants age 55 and over, who meet the income limits at 60 percent area median income (AMI).
“The involvement and planning of the development team and the community has been instrumental in achieving this long awaited goal,” said Wayne Troicke, executive director of the Housing Authority of Fort Fairfield. “The planning that went into ‘The Meadows’ will also increase the accessible housing stock in Aroostook County as every apartment is designed to meet requirements for accessibility.”
Any apartment in the building not already fully accessible can easily be adapted to fully accessible within a two-day period. The apartments feature 34-inch countertops, lower kitchen cabinets, ADA flat top stoves with convection ovens, pullout lower cabinet drawers and lazy susans.
The open apartment design allows for easy movement within the unit. The bathroom features roll-in shower units in 14 apartments and 11 units have bathtubs with transfer seats. All apartments have required grab bars and other accessible features. All common areas are designed for accessibility to include mailboxes, community room, ADA picnic area, laundry room, hallways and entry system.
“The Meadows was built to be an energy efficient building utilizing state-of-the-art pellet boiler systems to take advantage of the renewable energy resources of The County, and built to Maine State Housing Authorities green building standards,” Troicke said. “It has a backup generator system to protect critical systems of the building and to maintain heat and emergency lighting during power outages. All outside lighting for the building uses LED technology to reduce power use and cost. A lot of planning went into the building to save money and to reduce its impact on the environment.”
The project, which had been approved by Maine Housing in their 4 percent tax credit application process held in September 2011, is located off of Presque Isle Street at 16 Harmony Lane in Fort Fairfield. It has five two-bedroom units and 20 one-bedroom units. Fourteen of the units in the building are ADA accessible while the other 11 units are ADA adaptable. The building is designed as a location that residents can age in place and have the necessary features needed for that purpose. These apartments are for independent living, but as long as services can be provided in place the tenants can live there. The units are not designed for those that need 24-hour care.
Funding for the project came from several sources. Maine State Housing Authority invested $3 million into the project in the form of a $1.3 million grant and a 30-year $1.7 million, deferred, 0 percent interest loan. The Northern New England Housing Investment Fund is investing $1.1 million to support the development. Coastal Enterprises Inc. has loaned $117,500 to the project, and the Housing Authority of Fort Fairfield loaned $80,000. TD Bank purchased the tax credits for the development and provided the construction loan financing to have it built. The total development costs for The Meadows is $4.3 million.
“This is a significant investment into Aroostook County and in Fort Fairfield as a community,” said Troicke.
The engineering firm B.R. Smith and Associates of Presque Isle were the designers, and J.P. Martin and Sons Construction was the general contractor for the project. The total project cost includes a construction cost of $121,318 per unit. The remaining $1,247,755 includes all land purchases, infrastructure, architectural and engineering, environmental, legal, pre-development costs, development fees and initial operating reserve costs.
The developer for the project was the town of Fort Fairfield, which engaged Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) as a consultant on the project. CEI was the developer for the Houlton tax credit project, Market Square Commons, which opened July 2010.
The current income limits are $22,380 for a single person or no more than $25,560 for a couple. Rents are $507 for a single unit and $600 for a two bedroom.
The project does accept Section 8 housing choice vouchers if the person has one. The Housing Authority of Fort Fairfield is currently working on placing project based vouchers with the project to make it affordable for individuals with very low (50 percent AMI) to extremely low income (30 percent AMI).
The property is being managed by the Housing Authority of Fort Fairfield. Applications are available at the office in Fields Lane or online at www.ffha.org. For more information, call 476-5771.
