Andy Jackson of Dovetail Consulting in Portland addresses Oxford selectmen and residents Thursday evening on the $32 million senior housing project at the former Robinson woolen mill next to Thompson Lake. Representing the developer, The Caleb Group of Massachusetts, at the public hearing at the Town Office on Pottle Road, he said demolition of some buildings will begin in February. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

OXFORD — Demolition of some buildings at the former Robinson woolen mill and cleanup of others will begin in February, a consultant on the $32 million housing project told selectmen at a public hearing Thursday night.

An architectural drawing depicts the redeveloped Robinson woolen mill at 283 King St. in Oxford into up to 80 apartments for seniors. The Caleb Group of Lynn, Massachusetts, bought the 5-acre property next to Thompson Lake on Nov. 9, 2023. INVIVID Architecture drawing

Andy Jackson of Dovetail Consulting in Portland, which specializes in affordable housing grants and financing, represented developer The Caleb Group of Lynn, Massachusetts. He said demolition and abatement work is estimated to cost $1.6 million.

“We applied for $500,000 in federal funds through the Environmental Protection Agency, and have been awarded that,” he said. “We applied for another $500,000 from the state of Maine Community Block Grant program, which has also been awarded.”

The Caleb Group applied for a $400,000 revolving loan through the Department of Economic and Community Development but missed being approved by one point in the rating process. Another application has been submitted for the next round of funding, and Jackson said they are confident the money will be awarded within a couple of months.

The Caleb Group, a nonprofit affordable housing organization that serves people with low-to-moderate incomes, is contributing the final $200,000 as development investment, he said.

The Caleb Group first announced its plans for the nineteenth century brick mill at 283 King St. during a selectmen’s meeting a few weeks after purchasing the 5-acre property next to Thompson Lake in November 2023.

In January, Acquisition Director Suzanne Decavèle presented The Caleb Group’s application to the Planning Board, which rejected it because the town ordinance limited multiunit properties to 50 or fewer. In February, the Board of Appeals granted a variance to allow up to 80 apartments.

Following a public hearing in March, the Planning Board approved the application.

Thirty units will be built first, with another 47 to follow later. Twenty-one units will be handicap accessible. The project is expected to take up to five years.

To qualify, renters must be over the age of 62 and earn no more than 60% in area median income. Using current data, for a single person’s annual income cannot exceed $31,860; for a household of two, the maximum income would be $36,420. Monthly rent is projected to be $853.