AUBURN — It’s the site, near the southeast corner of Spring and Court streets, that’s attractive to Portland developer Ethan Boxer-Macomber of Anew Development — not the building.

“It only took one visit to the site and one conversation with a city staff person for me to realize this is a very exciting opportunity,” he said.

Boxer-Macomber joined city and local housing officials Tuesday to provide details of his planned redevelopment of the Dillingham & Son Memorial Chapel. The funeral home buildings, on the northern end of the lot, would be removed, according to plans.

The brick wall that runs along Spring Street is a facade, he said. Richard Whiting, executive director of the Auburn Housing Authority, called it a veneer covering a much older building that’s in great need of repair.

“It is very visually interesting from the street, very attractive,” Whiting said. “But the building is not economically viable beyond that veneer.”

Boxer-Macomber said he hopes to close on the purchase of the property later this year and to begin work on a $6 million to $7 million housing and retail development early in 2015.

“And hopefully we can see all of you back here in the spring of 2016 for a ribbon-cutting,” Boxer-Macomber said. “You’re all invited.”

The L-shaped lot runs along the back of the Engine House building from Spring to Pleasant street and then back along Spring Street and the funeral home’s parking lot to the KeyBank ATM.

Boxer-Macomber said he’d like to turn the space immediately behind the Engine House into a small, open-air plaza. That would make that building and his proposed project more valuable.

“Rather than presenting the street with blank walls and garage bays and things of that nature, we’d like very much to activate the street, with active entries and light and trees,” he said.

He envisions a project of 30 to 35 rental units with retail, community space or office space on the first floor. The new building would be no more than four stories high, he said.

It’s in a great spot, he said, with groceries, the public library and the rest of the downtown within close walking distance.

“My perception, as developer, is there is a wave of opportunity going on in the market now,” he said. “Folks are looking for a decent community to live in, where they can walk to amenities. The studies show it’s places like downtown Auburn they want. You’ve got it all here — connectivity, amenities and a great fabric.”

At least eight of the apartments would rent for a market rate and the rest would be subsidized.

Whiting said plans call for the housing authority to manage the property when the work is done.

“There is an under-served segment of the population, which is the lower-wage workers,” Whiting said. “For them to succeed and move on to home ownership, they need housing they can afford.”

The idea is to subsidize some of the rents by selling tax credits on the property. To do that, the project would need support from the city and that usually comes in the form of a tax-increment financing district, but Mayor Jonathan LaBonte said he wants to consider different ideas.

“As mayor, I’m not a fan of tax-credit projects as stand-alone projects,” LaBonte said. “As it stands now, Auburn is an affordable market, so we have an opportunity to think about how new capital could be deployed, what tools are out there to find it and how the city plays a part to mitigate risk.”

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