WESTBROOK – A regional nonprofit affordable housing company has acquired key credits from the state housing authority, clearing the way for a new development project to occupy former church buildings in Westbrook that have stood empty for years.

Avesta Housing, based in Portland, is planning to renovate two buildings once used by St. Hyacinth Church, turning both into complexes offering one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments to lower-income families, according to Deborah Keller, director of programs at Avesta.

“We’re still very, very early in the process,” Keller said.

The Roman Catholic Church once used the two buildings as a school and a parish center and convent for the Brown Street parish, but in 2005, the church consolidated St. Hyacinth with two other churches in the city, St. Edmund and St. Mary, under a new parish named St. Anthony of Padua Parish, which it still uses today.

As part of the consolidation, the church closed down the St. Edmund and St. Mary buildings, and put the former St. Hyacinth school and center/convent buildings up for sale. A recent drop in the $3 million asking price has made it more attractive to Avesta.

“We’ve had our eye on it for a while,” Keller said, noting the property is right next to Steeple Square, another complex Avesta owns and operates.

Right now, Avesta’s involvement in the project is minimal. The company is buying the property, at an undisclosed price, and expects to close on it within the next few weeks. But the details of the renovations, including plans for what the new buildings would look like, are being left up to the Developers Collaborative, a consortium of private, for-profit developers who seek out projects that will make money as well as benefit the community.

Basically, the collaborative is putting together the plans, outlining what will be done with the project and getting all the necessary permits to do the work, then handing the project off to Avesta to actually build, own, manage and maintain, according to Kevin Bunker, who is representing the collaborative in the project.

“We’re basically working for Avesta,” he said.

Regardless of the process, the project almost didn’t happen at all. Keller said project managers were holding their breath on whether the Maine State Housing Authority would approve the housing credits. Avesta will “sell” the credits, Keller said, meaning the company will offer them as incentives to investors who agree to fund the project. Without those credits, Keller said, Avesta would not have been able to afford to complete the project itself, and the sale would not have happened.

Bunker confirmed this week that the state has agreed to issue the housing credits the project needs, which has given the green light to the initial planning process. Bunker said the overall plan is to gut and rebuild both buildings, while adding onto the rear of the parish center building to create a 37-unit housing project marketed toward families.

The project also involves doing little to no renovations to the outside of either building. That will make the project eligible for additional historic building tax credits from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Keller said. Bunker said the project will also receive historic tax credits from the state, administered by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

Bunker said Avesta hopes to begin construction later this summer.