AUBURN – Madeleine Cloutier hopes she won’t have to wait too long for a unit in the new Bates Street Senior Housing project.

She has her heart set on one of the third floor apartments in the newly opened 30-unit project on the former site of St. Dominic Regional High School.

“At first I kind of hesitated, because everyone was telling me that the rooms were going to be so small,” Cloutier said. “But once I got to see the building, I changed my mind. And I want to be here.”

She immediately put her name on the waiting list and crossed her fingers.

She’s not alone. Representatives from Community Concepts say they expect the last of the units to be taken this summer. They officially opened the doors to the apartment building over lunch Friday, hosting a grand opening ceremony and then giving tours.

The three-story building features 26 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom units. Each unit features extra wide doors, huge bathrooms and handicap accessible kitchens. Each floor has an open community space, with a laundry room on the first floor and storage areas in the basement.

Units in the building will be available for people 62 and older who make no more than 60 percent of the median income for the Lewiston-Auburn area. That’s about $31,000 per year.

So far, 15 people have confirmed units and plan to move in as soon as they can. Another 20 are being interviewed for the spaces.

Lorraine Raymond said she and her husband, Henry, have already confirmed their first floor unit, and plan to move in next week.

“We’re all packed,” she said. “We’re ready to go. We’ve been ready for the past month.”

Jim Wilkins, director of corporate advancement for Community Concepts, said the building should be ready to go next weekend. Workers are putting some finishing touches on the building’s front door intercom.

Work on the second phase of Community Concepts Bates Street project should begin this summer. That calls for an 18,000-square-foot office building with meeting space across the parking lot from the apartments.

The project was financed with state and federal money and $3.16 million from the New England Housing Investment Fund.

The City Council approved a tax incentive for the project in 2005. According to the deal, the project will generate about $900,000 in property taxes over the next 20 years. The city will return about $500,000 to Community Concepts, keeping the rest.