AUBURN – Taking a loss on a $20,100 Hampshire Street lot by selling it to Habitat for Humanity is a no-brainer, councilors said Monday.

“It’s a win-win situation for the city,” Councilor Dan Herrick said. “We start getting property taxes from something that’s doing nothing for us now.”

Councilors discussed Habitat For Humanity’s plans for a 0.11 acre lot at 133 Hampshire St. during their workshop Monday. They’re scheduled to vote on the plan at the Nov. 17 meeting.

City Manager Glenn Aho said the city plans to sell the lot to the charity for $3,000. Allen Sterling, president of the local Habitat for Humanity chapter, said the group hopes to begin work on a single-family home next spring. The end result will be property worth $120,000 paying property taxes – about $2,000 in taxes per year, Aho said.

“It’s an outstanding idea, and real no brainer,” Councilor Bruce Bickford said. “Let them have it.”

The lot was taken over by the city for past due property taxes several years ago. An abandoned building on the lot was demolished six years ago.

It would be the 15th project Habitat for Humanity has built in Androscoggin County in the past 19 years. Most recently, the group built a home on a vacant Golder Road lot in Lewiston. The project drew 100 volunteers last year, with work finishing and a family occupying it in December.