Eric Cousens, executive director of public services in Auburn, stands Tuesday on the city parking garage with the site of a housing project at 186 Main St. behind him. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal  

LEWISTON — Building permits are a leading indicator of economic activity and both Lewiston and Auburn are coming off a near record year in terms of number of permits approved and the valuation of the construction approved, with even more projects in the pipeline for 2026 and beyond.

Eric Cousens, executive director of public services for Auburn, says 2024 was a record year for the number of permits approved by the city: 1,369, with a total valuation of construction put at $74.64 million from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. Some of the projects are new construction, some are renovations, and the permit numbers include electrical and plumbing upgrades.

“We have had development sort of across the spectrum,” Cousens said Tuesday. “We had some big industrial expansions with Tambrands,” referring to an additional $15 million in upgrades at Proctor & Gamble’s tampon production plant on Hotel Road approved in December.

Cousens explained the company built out more room than it needed at the time a few years back, adding some 163,000 square feet to the Hotel Road plant for added production and warehouse space. Now it is fitting out that space, so it is technically a renovation for the permitting process.

John Connor is the director of planning and code enforcement for Lewiston, which is coming off what is likely a record year in the total number of permits at 2,162 with a total valuation put at $95.59 million from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

Connor said they saw a good cross section of commercial and a lot of residential applications. “The bulk of it is really the small, individual homeowners that are doing a lot of upkeep to their home, a lot of renovations — they’re putting in heat pumps, they’re putting in solar, they’re retrofitting and doing all new plumbing.”

Lewiston Planning and Code Enforcement Director Jon Connor discusses the surge in building permits from his office Wednesday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Connor said investors are also seizing the opportunities, buying, and refurbishing multifamily units. That’s good for improving the aging housing stock, but it inevitably leads to higher rents.

Auburn too has seen a jump in solar, heat pump and generator installations in the past year or two. “I tried to understand why we have such an increase in solar and I can’t,” Cousens offered, pointing out that the incentives have not changed much. “We’ve also had some companies come into town and get a license to solicit door to door. I think that sales effort is part of it.”

Both cities have at least 200 more housing units in the pipeline, meaning the applications have been filed and the permitting process is underway. Auburn’s planning board has 230 proposed housing units on the agenda for its upcoming meeting. Lewiston has 339 units in the pipeline, with 1,060 units approved and in various phases of construction or preconstruction.

Cousens admits it’s a bit of a head-scratcher considering the higher costs of construction and the high interest rates for financing the projects. Still, rents have risen since COVID-19 and as soon as a new apartment complex starts leasing, the units are gobbled up — and frequently before construction is even finished.

Cousens said there is over $15 million in housing projects under review presently, with most of them expected to start construction in 2025. The same developer behind the Mt. Auburn Apartments — AR Building Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — is proposing another 180 units on Stetson Road; 48 units were recently approved by the Maine Turnpike near Harriman Road.

It’s not just apartments. There are condominiums and single-family homes — 42 before the planning board in what Cousens calls a multifamily unit. “It’s shared ownership of the land, kind of like condo ownership of the units which is pretty unique. I think people are just getting creative with financing in different ways to deliver homeownership because it’s so hard to do on a single-family house.”

Lewiston certainly has more housing approved and on the way with 1,060 units between eight projects, including three senior housing projects accounting for 350 units. The biggest change will come as the Continental Mill project gets closer to fruition in the next two years, with 377 market rate apartments plus the 72 at Picker House Lofts, which is already being occupied.

Nate Libby is the city’s new director of economic and community development, promoted from assistant director with the recent retirement of Lincoln Jeffers.

“A lot of the downtown mill district was envisioned 20 years ago as commercial space, and we’ve seen the pandemic has turned the demand for the commercial market upside down, Libby said Wednesday. “And so we’re thinking about the mill district as new housing opportunities for folks that are looking at all income levels.”

That includes converting some of the Class A office space Libby predicted. “I think a lot of that Class A office space that’s recently vacated is primed for conversion to mid- to high-end residential. So, we’re talking with some of the owners and developers… a lot of work but there is money to be made.”