A crew cleans up debris May 4 from demolition of the former Martel School on Lisbon Street in Lewiston. Construction on a 44-unit senior housing development is planned to begin in the spring despite an issue with the title that is delaying a sale from the city to Lewiston Housing. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — An issue with the title is holding up the sale of the former Martel School property to Lewiston Housing, but officials behind the development say the 44-unit senior housing project is still on track.

The City Council last week agreed on a third extension of the city’s option agreement with Lewiston Housing due to what city staff described as an issue with the title.

When asked for further details on the cause of the issue, city staff declined to comment, stating that all recent discussions with the council on the Martel sale have been in executive session.

However, city staff and officials from Lewiston Housing said the project is still on track, with Lewiston Housing having recently secured funding in the form of low income housing tax credits to move forward with construction.

Chris Kilmurry, executive director of Lewiston Housing, said Monday that the organization is planning for a spring start for the Martel project with an approximate 12-month construction schedule.

“This has been the expected timeline for the project since we applied for funding,” he said.

The plan to turn the former school property into senior housing has faced a number of complications and delays since it was first proposed, but according to city staff, Lewiston Housing is “moving toward exercising their option and closing on the real estate.” The project received a $5.4 million subsidy from MaineHousing in May.

A requested extension of the agreement until Aug. 15 was granted by the City Council last week, but not before some councilors shared concern over yet another delay for much-needed senior housing.

Some questioned why the issue was not known by either city staff or Lewiston Housing officials until now, but the details causing the delay are unclear.

Lincoln Jeffers, director of economic and community development, told the council that as the seller, the city is looking for the extension, and that the issue does not stem from Lewiston Housing. Some, however, criticized Lewiston Housing officials for not being in attendance during the meeting.

“We’ve already extended this multiple times,” said Councilor David Chittim. “I’m wondering if this is getting to be a habit.”

Mayor Carl Sheline pressed that since the issue is with the title, it’s not something Lewiston Housing can control. The city received the property after the Lewiston School Department closed the school in 2019.

Councilor Josh Nagine said that in the future, if the city is putting a piece of land out to bid, part of the process should include making sure there are no encumbrances on the property.

During public comment, Lewiston resident Matt Roy said that between the city and schools, Lewiston has owned the property for decades, and that whatever the issue is should’ve been known before the closing of a sale.

“This is an issue that’s been there for years,” he said, adding that he’s concerned it will end up costing the city money more money.

Lewiston Housing entered into an option agreement to purchase the property from the city in May 2023, and later received Planning Board approval to build 44 units on the site.

The agreement was previously amended to allow Lewiston Housing more time for demolition after engineers discovered that there was significantly more asbestos in the building than previously thought when the option was first agreed to. It was later amended again to extend the timeline to complete the demolition, but the work was ultimately completed earlier than planned.