AUBURN — Loring Avenue in New Auburn could see work begin on 48 affordable-rent townhouses next spring, according to a Portland developer, if city councilors approve.
Developer Matt Teare, of Developer’s Collaborative, will ask councilors to approve a tax-increment financing deal as well as money from the city’s federal HOME fund allotment for the Loring Farm project.
Teare said his group would file an application for tax credits through the Maine State Housing Authority.
“We’d find out if that’s successful in about November,” Teare said Thursday. “Then we could move forward with planning approvals and designs and we’d like to aim for a spring 2017 construction start.”
The project calls for building 48 townhouses on the 15-acre lot at 37 Loring Ave. The houses would be concentrated in a basin near the center of the lot and the land around them would be kept as open space.
“It lays out well,” Teare said. “By clustering and giving the development a smaller footprint, we think we can keep a lot of open space around the perimeter.”
He added, “It’s challenging in existing neighborhoods because there are already folks living there and they are concerned about new development. So you have to keep looking for ways to design the development so you are adding buffers and improving things in the neighborhood.”
Auburn Economic Development Director Michael Chammings said the project is set for public hearings and votes at the council’s Sept. 12 meeting. A meeting with New Auburn neighbors and abutting property owners is being planned for this week, he said.
The $3.8 million project would rely on tax credits from the Maine State Housing Authority. The authority reviews and grades projects on their viability and community support, with the highest-graded projects winning support each year.
Community support, in the form of tax incentives and grants, are important parts of the grade.
According to the terms of the tax-increment financing deal, the project would pay all property taxes on the current assessed value, $183,300.
Half of the annual property taxes generated by new development on the project would be returned to the developer for 30 years, according to the proposed tax-incentive deal.
Teare said his group is also requesting $250,000 in federal HOME funds from the city’s allocation.
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