By Robert O'Malley

As in many New England communities, the need for affordable senior housing in Brunswick, Maine, has been growing.

“For us it was a question of finding the right kind of project to meet this need,” says John Hodge, executive director of the Brunswick Housing Authority.

With major funding from Low Income Housing Tax Credits and additional funding from MaineHousing, the Brunswick Housing Authority developed Creekside Village, a 40-unit development for low- to moderate-income seniors about a mile from downtown Brunswick.

“We were very happy to find a location next to a geriatric health center,” says Mr. Hodge. “So if any of our residents should require nursing care in the future they would just have to move next door to receive care.”

The cost of building affordable senior housing is always high, says Mr. Hodge, who adds that the site alone cost about $500,000 while construction expenses were about $4 million. “Unless you have subsidies, the only way to recoup those costs is through higher rents.”

One key subsidy was a $400,000 grant and a $495,000 subsidized advance from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) through member Bath Savings Institution. “The AHP was vital in helping us keep these units affordable,” says Mr. Hodge.

In addition to providing much needed senior housing in Brunswick, Creekside also served as a test case for MaineHousing’s recently introduced Green Building Standards. The standards were introduced to ensure that all projects funded by the authority are energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

In the testimonies that follow, the developer, the architect, the member banker, and the builder discuss the impact of the new green standards on the construction of an affordable development.

Next: The Developer >