Developer Rob Nelson (right) and his wife, Stephanie Nelson, symbolically break ground on an affordable housing development at 16 Mills Road in Newcastle on Monday, Oct. 28. The couple and roughly 45 others gathered at the property to celebrate the start of work on the development. (Piper Pavelich photo)
Development of an affordable housing project on Mills Road in Newcastle is underway, as Rob Nelson and his team celebrated the start of construction with a ground-breaking ceremony the morning of Monday, Oct. 28.
The crisp Monday morning drew roughly 45 people to the site at 16 Mills Road to see and learn more about the project. Attendees included Nelson’s family and friends, community members, contractors, development partners, Maine State Housing Authority officials, state representatives, and Newcastle town officials.
The project, designed by Nelson, is a 16-unit affordable housing development, which features two 1,920 square foot buildings, each containing eight one-bedroom apartments.
The project, which was approved by the Newcastle Planning Board in October 2023, is inspired by the need for affordable housing in the state and in Newcastle specifically, according to Nelson, of Newcastle. He decided to pursue it because he thought “housing of some kind” belonged on the property he has owned for roughly 15 years.
“Sixteen units is a tiny drop in the bucket, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said Nelson.
The buildings will be set close to the street, with front porches and parking off to the side.
According to Nelson, the buildings will be energy efficient with electric heat pumps, solar arrays on the rooftops, and wood-fiber insulation.
Nelson and his team, which includes 55 Weston Avenue LLC developer Sam Hight and architect Kara Wilbur; Nickerson General Contracting, of Norridgewock; and KBS Builders Inc., of South Paris; officially began work at the site on Oct. 14, starting with clearing brush.
The roughly $5 million project is financed by the Maine State Housing Authority’s Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program, which provides funding for the development of five to 18-unit affordable rental housing projects in rural areas, according to mainehousing.org.
Erik Jorgensen, senior director of government relations and communications for the Maine State Housing Authority, said an aspect he appreciates about the team members working on the development at 16 Mills Road is their eye for design.
“All these folks put tremendous care into thinking about how a development will fit into a place. These buildings are going to look like they’ve belonged here from day one,” he said. “They’re designed to fit into Newcastle; it’s not a project for Scarborough, it’s not a project for Brewer, or for York. It’s a project for Newcastle, and it was designed that way.”
A rendering of the 16-unit affordable housing development at 16 Mills Road in Newcastle. Developers broke ground on the project Monday, Oct. 28. (LCN file)
Nelson received a $48,000 grant from the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission in February. The Lincoln County Commissioners allocated $1.5 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to assist with increasing affordable housing in Lincoln County in June 2023.
Nelson said the project would not be attainable without support from local and state entities, and that the perfect storm of comprehensive planning and zoning changes in Newcastle, a long-term vision for housing in the state, and the establishment of the state’s rural affordable housing program made his vision possible to achieve.
“I really see this project as the combination of local planning efforts and good public policy at the state and county level that enable us, as a community, to meet our needs and address the problems that we face,” Nelson said.
Nelson said the project follows the model created by 55 Weston Avenue LLC, which built a similar development with support from the Maine State Housing Authority in Madison. The $5 million 18-unit affordable housing project opened in May.
Both projects are built using modular construction, with buildings provided by Dooryard, a Maine-based modular home company. The buildings are constructed off-site at KBS Builders Inc., a modular home manufacturer.
KBS Builders Inc. announced a $1.6 million contract to manufacture eight modules for the construction of the 16-unit development on Oct. 2.
Nelson said the buildings are tentatively expected to come to Newcastle in December and the units will be habitable in spring 2025.
