The quasi-governmental agency that provides affordable housing in Bangor is working to renovate its properties as part of a federal push to convert public housing to voucher-based contracts.
The planned improvements come at a time of “aggressive” development for BangorHousing, which is also working to open new apartments for seniors and a permanent supportive housing facility for homeless people.
“We’re doing more development work than we’ve ever done ever right now,” said Executive Director Mike Myatt.
The improvements will start with the agency’s Birch Circle property on Ohio Street and the Griffin Park property on Griffin Road. Birch Circle units will get new doors and heat pumps, and Griffin Park units will get new kitchen cabinets, countertops and sinks, and some landscaping improvements, Myatt said.
The renovations for these units, which total 75 between the two properties, will cost about $1 million, according to Myatt. BangorHousing is working to close on a loan by the end of this year and do the renovations in the first quarter of 2026.
After those fixes are complete, the agency will turn to making substantial renovations at Nason Park Manor on Hancock Street, which provides housing for older or disabled residents. “The building is 50 years old and all the internal pipes and plumbing essentially all need to be replaced,” Myatt said. The agency hopes to start this construction in the second half of 2026.
While the Birch Circle and Griffin Park renovations won’t require tenants to relocate temporarily, that may be necessary for the more extensive rehab at Nason Park. The agency is planning to hold resident information sessions to keep everyone in the loop as it figures out the details, Myatt said.
Converting the funding stream for these properties to a voucher-based system through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allows BangorHousing to privatize them, which opens up more options for private investment that can help the agency renovate properties, according to Myatt.
“We’re trying to preserve what we have and ensure that the units are sustainable long term,” he said.
The federal housing department has pushed for these changes for years, and other towns in Maine have already made the switch.
BangorHousing gets about $2 million per year for deferred maintenance and capital improvements under the current public housing funding model, which “doesn’t go very far” in a city with 567 public housing units, Myatt said.
Not much will change for tenants in the properties that are being converted and renovated, he added. Rent will stay the same, and the properties will continue to be managed by the same people. The biggest difference Myatt expects tenants will notice is that their units will be in better shape.
