TOPSHAM

After a “whirlwind” couple of months preparing and submitting plans, the applicants of a proposed senior affordable housing facility on Elm Street received the last of their approvals Tuesday.

The Topsham Planning Board granted unanimous approval with 5-0 votes on the final subdivision plan and the site plan submitted by Seacoast Management Co. and Developers Collaborative.

The board determined the applicant didn’t require a shoreland zoning permit.

Seacoast Management Co. will tear down the former Amenity Manor nursing home at 29 Elm St., and replace it with a 2.5-story, 11,000- square-foot building with 36 apartments. The new building, River Landing senior community, will have half the footprint as that of the existing building.

No one spoke Tuesday during a Planning Board public hearing on the subdivision application.

The former nursing home has been vacant for a number of years. Matt Teare of Seacoast Management said Tuesday it has “been great working with the town to make it happen.”

Since they first went to town officials with their proposal in March and before the Topsham Board of Selectmen in June, “it has been a whirlwind,” he said.

Seacoast Management is affiliated with The Highlands, which is located off Elm Street nearly across the street.

Teare said “we would drive by it every day and there it sits, and starts to look worse and worse, and eventually we said, ‘we can solve that problem.’”

Teare said “everybody understood that this is a good project for the town and for the neighborhood. The neighbors have been great, we’ve talked to them quite a bit.”

There was some concern about the size of the project among some neighbors.

“Unfortunately, for us to have a chance at funding through Maine State Housing Authority and the (Low Income Housing Tax Credit) program, we need a certain number of units,” Teare said.

Seacoast Management also is seeking establishment of an “affordable housing tax increment financing district” in town, which is slated for a public hearing at the Board of Selectmen on Thursday and may be placed on a warrant for a special town meeting on Sept. 25.

The TIF is also part of the criteria that gets scored by the Maine State Housing Authority.

Teare said the TIF would support operations at the facility, not the developer, and would be overseen by Maine- Housing.

Without the state subsidy for “affordable housing” projects, such projects are not financially feasible, Teare said.

dmoore@timesrecord.com