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A newly proposed affordable housing project could eventually bring 60 new rental units to Belfast.
Waldo Community Action Partners, a nonprofit that provides a mix of services in the region, has proposed the new apartment building off Route 3, which is also Belmont Avenue. It will get a preliminary hearing before the Planning Board on Wednesday.
It’s part of a larger effort by Waldo CAP to centralize some of its services in that part of Belfast, after it purchased 78 undeveloped acres at 45 Belmont Ave. in 2021 for $895,000. The housing project would take place on four of those acres, which are just west of the Tractor Supply Co. store, near the intersection with Crocker Road.
That’s just a half mile east of the Hutchinson Center, the facility along Route 3 that the University of Maine System has agreed to sell to Waldo CAP so that it can move its headquarters there, although that deal has been held up by a lawsuit from a church that also hopes to buy the center. Waldo CAP has offered to pay $3.06 million for the facility.
If the new affordable housing project moves ahead, it would be one of the biggest to come to the region in recent years. It would also help to tackle a great housing shortage in Waldo County, which is projected to need 3,200 new units by 2030 to meet the state’s housing goals. Another new affordable housing project with 48 units recently opened at the site of Belfast’s former public works garage.
It’s unclear how Waldo CAP’s proposed project would be funded. Waldo CAP could not be reached for comment.
The new apartment building would be three stories and include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with deed restrictions for affordability so that the project can receive funding through the Maine State Housing Authority, according to Waldo CAP’s application to the Planning Board.
The site would be accessed through a shared driveway with Tractor Supply.
“We’re excited to put forth this important project which will bring much-needed affordable housing to Belfast,” Waldo CAP officials said in the application.
