Several of the eight buildings in the Wedgewood housing project, seen in April, begin to take shape in Lewiston. In addition to the new structures, which will provide 82, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, the historic Wedgewood House is also being restored. The apartments, part of the Choice Neighborhoods initiative, are expected to be ready for occupancy this fall. Visit sunjournal.com to watch a short flyover of the site. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — The city’s Housing Committee has urged officials to create a City Hall position dedicated to housing issues due to continuing negative trends in the local market, and the amount of work it will take to tackle them.

Among the bad news highlighted in the committee’s annual “housing scorecard” is stubbornly high housing costs, and increases in youth homelessness, childhood lead poisoning, public housing waitlists, and the number of housing vouchers that expire due to people not being able to find available apartments.

During a presentation in late June, former committee Chairperson Cara Courchesne said the high cost of homes is keeping people in the rental market longer, which in turn increases the cost of rent because of a lack of turnover and available units. It’s many of the same issues that have plagued much of Maine since the start of the pandemic, and continue to grow.

“We don’t have what we consider a healthy market right now,” she said.

There was some positive news within the dour tone of the report, however, including that the total value of residential construction permits issued by the city in 2023 increased by roughly $10 million, signaling more housing being built. Also, hundreds of new housing units are planned to be built over the next few years.

Either way, the committee said, the city will need all the help it can get to address the rising complexities of the housing market. Because of the continuing challenges, and the amount of time currently devoted by the all-volunteer Housing Committee, the committee said the city should create a housing-specific position that could help Lewiston catch up.

The report also says the committee has seen “several opportunities pass us by” because there isn’t capacity to take advantage of them.

“There are historic investments in housing at the state and federal levels, and our residents and business owners consistently note the need for action. We cannot leave money on the table, and that is what we will continue to do without a position dedicated to holding all of these pieces,” the report said.

Courchesne said she has spent “many, many hours” on the committee “doing staff-level work, with staff-level expectations.” She also told the City Council in June that she would be stepping down from the committee.

Craig Saddlemire, who was named the new chairman, said this week that the increase in the amount of investment in housing in Lewiston is a good sign, but that a massive shortage remains relative to demand, and the affordability of homes in particular is getting worse.

“It’s a bad trend in terms of homeownership,” he said, and despite some small positive signs in the scorecard, “things have not gotten better for renters.”

The committee’s report said it believes the housing position at City Hall could be primarily funded through grants. While the fiscal 2025 budget was recently approved, councilors appeared to support the addition of the staffer for the fiscal 2026 budget, especially if it is grant-funded.

Asked this week, Council President Scott Harriman said such a position could add “a lot of value” to the city’s effort to improve and expand its housing stock.

“This responsibility currently falls to our Economic and Community Development department, which does great work, but they are understaffed for a city of our size,” he said. “Having someone to focus exclusively on housing could be a game changer when it comes to making living in Lewiston more attainable and affordable.”

NEW HOUSING

According to the report, the city has struggled to bring new housing units online, but there is some relief on the horizon. The report also states that the majority of housing being constructed is affordable rental housing. While many of the units are not available yet, “we should start to see the impact of the new housing being constructed by 2025 and 2026,” it states.

Data provided to the Sun Journal from the city says 36 housing units — either single-family homes, or condo or apartment units — were built in the past 12 months in Lewiston.

But, in the next 12 months 82 more units are set to come online. Those units are from the Wedgewood development in the Tree Streets neighborhood, phase 1 of the Choice Neighborhoods initiative. Most will be limited to a mix of income levels between 50% and 80% of area median income, with 21 market-rate units.

According to city staff, over the next two years, there are 426 units planned, but not yet permitted. Beyond two years, that number increases to 519, but those additional 93 projects have also not yet been permitted, and staff emphasized the figures are just estimates.

The Picker House Lofts apartments in the center of the former Continental Mill, middle, is seen in June between Cedar Street and the Androscoggin River in Lewiston. Of the 72 new apartments expected to be ready next year, 46 will be workforce and 26 will be market rate. The remainder of the mill will be developed by Chinburg Properties into 377 market-rate apartments, along with commercial space. That phase is expected to be ready by early 2027. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Among those figures is 377 market-rate apartments planned for the Continental Mill, which was approved in June by the Planning Board. The Picker House Lofts, at the center of the mill complex, will be finished first, adding 72 mixed-income units. There are also market rate units planned for Middle and Lowell streets near Central Maine Medical Center.

During the council discussion in June, Councilor Tim Gallant said he would support a new city housing position if it focused on market rate housing as well as affordable. He argued that Lewiston has focused too heavily on affordable housing.

“I look across the (river) and see tons and tons of market rate housing,” he said, referring to Auburn. “I know housing is important for everyone, but we seem to be the community that’s wrapped around one specific area.”

Courchesne said a takeaway from the report should be that Lewiston needs housing off all types.

“To me, if you have someone dedicated to making sure that we are attracting developers, investors, and people have a person to go to when they want to do that kind of investment, then you will see the market-rate housing you’d like to see,” she said.

Councilor Josh Nagine said he hopes that if a housing specialist position is created, the person could work to attract smaller developers to build in-fill development in vacant downtown lots that offered housing at one time.

He also believes the position could work if it also managed loan programs, which could potentially pay for the role.

Within the city of Portland’s Housing & Economic Development department, there are several staffers who coordinate federal funding sources such as the HOME program and Community Development Block Grant funds, as well as the city’s Housing Trust Fund and the Affordable Housing Tax Increment Financing and Lead Safe Housing programs.

Saddlemire said Lewiston has great employees who interface with housing from Code Enforcement and Economic Development, but doesn’t have anyone on staff “who is all day long thinking strategically how we best meet the housing needs for the city,” and how to coordinate the tools to do that work.

‘OUT OF REACH’

Last year at this time, the committee’s first “housing scorecard” showed many of the same problems reflected in this year’s report, including very low vacancy rates for homes and rental housing. Last year, it was essentially zero.

This year, the rental vacancy rate has increased to 2%, a welcome increase from the previous 1.1%, but still not in the desired range of between 5% to 8%.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s “Out of Reach” report, affordability for both rental and single-family homes remains a big problem, and the numbers have worsened for people seeking single-family homes.

Data from Maine Housing puts the average home price in Lewiston in 2023 at $285,000, up 9% from the 2022 average of $262,100.

The “housing wage,” which the NLIHC says is the 40-hour per week wage required to afford a two-bedroom apartment, is $20.38 for 2023, a 6% increase from the 2022 figure of $19.21.

According to the Maine Association of Realtors, both the median sales price and number of units sold in Androscoggin County has increased since last year.

The median sales price between March 1, 2024, and May 31, 2024, rose to $329,000, an 8.25% increase from the same period in 2023. However, there seems to be at least a little more movement in the market. The number of units sold in Androscoggin County during that period increased by nearly 30%.

Paul McKee, president of the association, said in a June report that the number of homes for sale in May was the highest number since August 2022, and the second-highest since September 2021.

There are also some items in this year’s report that are alarming committee members, including roughly 25% increases since the previous year in eviction rates and youth homelessness, and an increase in childhood lead poisoning.

The childhood lead poisoning rates from 2022, sourced from Maine Tracking Network, are the most recent data available. According to the data, the lead poisoning rate in Lewiston for children under 3 was 3.6% in 2022, up from 1.7% in 2021. In 2020, it was 3.1%.

Courchesne said the committee hypothesized that the dip in 2021 could have been a reflection of the pandemic, when families were perhaps skipping regular doctors visits, and that the 2021 rate could be more of a blip.

Craig Saddlemire, development organizer for Raise Op, a cooperative housing organization, is pictured in May 2023 outside Raise-Op’s new apartment complex at 198 Blake St. Saddlemire, now chairman of the city’s Housing Committee, said there’s been an increase in the amount of interest in local rental properties from non-Lewiston owners. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Saddlemire said that when you look at the long-term trend in Lewiston, childhood lead poisoning has decreased significantly. But, he said, “If that number continues or goes up, then I think it’s more cause for concern. At the moment, the data is still inconclusive.”

Another trend they are interested in keeping tabs on is an increase in housing units becoming owned by owners not based in Lewiston.

Saddlemire, who manages several properties as part of his role with the Raise-Op Housing Cooperative, said the increase is small but reflects anecdotal evidence they’ve seen that “something is changing.”

“As someone who manages property, I’m getting like never before tons of inquiries and cash offers for our properties,” he said.

He said Lewiston has always maintained a “remarkable” local ownership base of about 70%, especially for the large amount of rental housing it has.

“The shift is small, but it’s a new trend that will probably continue, and it could have effects on the local housing market,” he said.

The committee’s report said that as property values continue to hold steady or increase, “there will be continued interest in Lewiston housing stock from outside investors,” which will likely lead to increased investment in properties, but could also cause higher rates of eviction and homelessness.

Saddlemire said that since this is only year two of the “housing scorecard,” he’s hoping more years of data can help the committee identify more long-term trends.