Bath residents turn out for the grand opening of the new housing redevelopment on Summer Street. Courtesy of Maine Senate Majority Office
The Midcoast’s housing crunch eased slightly this month, as developers unveiled 60 new Bath apartments geared toward senior residents.
The new apartment complex, called The Uptown, features 60 mostly one-bedroom apartments for tenants aged 55 and older. The apartments are for mixed-income households with rents ranging between $794 and $1,495 per month. Around 42 apartments are classified as low-income, according to developer The Szanton Company.
A large crowd gathered for the grand opening of the redeveloped Moses and Columbia Block Buildings on the corner of Front and Summer streets on May 8.
“There’s a housing shortage here and everywhere in Maine, so the fact that we have one unit still available before we even open our doors speaks to the need for housing,” said The Szanton Company Vice President Amy Cullen.
Around 10 existing units were already open in the Moses and Columbia building, with Szanton adding four more units there, Cullen said.
Applications for The Uptown opened in January, with the apartments filling up in about one month, leaving just one unit available at the time of the grand opening. The new tenants started moving into The Uptown on May 10.
“There is a housing crisis in the state and Bath is no exception,” said Bath City Council Chairperson Mary Ellen Bell. “The Uptown project builds density in the downtown, recreates underutilized space and provides attainable housing for some of our older residents.”
The newest addition of the building that connects to the renovated Columbia and Moses housing block sits on what used to be an empty lot that was once home to the Bath YMCA. Szanton bought the historic Moses and Columbia blocks back in 2020, with construction beginning in the summer of 2022, according to Cullen.
“The rehab of the existing historic building Moses and Columbia block that this project contains had a lot more work than we expected,” Cullen said.
Most of the new tenants come from the Bath area with some coming in from out of state.
“For years to come, these affordable homes are going to be a remarkable and lasting tribute to those who have worked so hard for affordable housing in this City of Ships,” said MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan.
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