Ahmed Abbas puts together food orders at his Middle Eastern restaurant, Mr. Chickpea, at the Thornton Heights Commons affordable housing development on Wednesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

SOUTH PORTLAND — Three years after residents moved into Thornton Heights Commons, “open” flags are finally welcoming customers to street-level retail spaces in the 42-unit apartment building developed by the South Portland Housing Authority.

Mr. Chickpea, a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurant, opened at 611 Main St. one month ago and its freshly made falafel, shawarma, naan and hummus are already drawing rave reviews on social media. Right next door is Island Affairs, a Jamaican grocery store that opened Tuesday and is attracting customers of all backgrounds from the neighborhood and beyond.

Both aim to fill growing demand in Greater Portland for healthy, ethnic foods and businesses that cater to expanding immigrant groups and more adventurous shopping and dining habits. Island Affairs is stocked with fresh dasheen and plantains, frozen whole red snapper, canned ackee and callaloo and Jamaican-style bread baked in New York City.

“I saw a need for a Jamaican market,” said Carey Robinson, 35, owner of Island Affairs. “It’s always a challenge to find Jamaican or Caribbean products around here.”

Carey Robinson organizes the shelves in his Jamaican grocery store, Island Affairs, at the Thornton Heights Commons affordable housing development in South Portland on Wednesday.

Including first-floor retail in the four-story building was an important aspect of the $9.4 million subsidized and market-rate housing project, said Brooks More, the authority’s development director.

The development was built on the site of the former St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, which closed in 2013, and the authority wanted to preserve the location as a community gathering spot. It also wanted to further the city’s efforts to promote a walkable village feel in Thornton Heights, a neighborhood of bungalows and other single-family homes that straddles Route 1.

But turning the plan into reality was a challenge, even after More found tenants in early 2023. The retail spaces still had gravel floors and had to be finished according to building codes and tenant needs. The tenants were small-business owners who had little experience developing a retail space from scratch. And More had never done retail as a part of a housing project.

“It was way more work than I anticipated,” More said Wednesday. “We’re a small housing authority. They’re small business owners. When you’re dealing with a national chain, they have a whole team that comes in and builds a store from the ground up. We didn’t have that, so it took some time.”

INVESTING IN COMMUNITY

The apartment building was completed about a year later than expected because of worker and supply shortages during the pandemic. More and the retail tenants faced similar challenges in recent years as they struggled to find contractors willing to do smaller jobs.

“I am handy so I did some of the work myself, including these countertops,” said Ahmed Abbas, 40, owner of Mr. Chickpea, pointing to the pine counters with stools that line the shop’s windows overlooking Main Street.

Contractor and supply shortages delayed the opening of Island Affairs. Carey Robinson, the store’s owner, decided to open a shop in Greater Portland because the area’s growing Jamaican community was traveling to Wells, Lewiston and Damariscotta for products they wanted. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

More sought out Abbas to be a tenant because he has been a longtime customer of Abbas’s first restaurant, Dina’s Cuisine, on Forest Avenue in Portland.

“I’ve been going there for years,” More said. “The food is amazing. I thought this would be the perfect restaurant for Thornton Heights.”

Abbas didn’t have to think twice. “He asked if I wanted to open another shop and I jumped at the chance,” he said.

Chicken Shawarma from Mr. Chickpea at Thornton Heights Commons in South Portland.

In addition to securing their own financing, the store operators each received no-interest loans from the housing authority that are to be paid off during their five-year leases. Abbas got $40,000 for ventilation and fire suppression equipment. Robinson got a $30,000 loan for similar purposes.

“This is an investment in them. This is an investment in the community,” More said.

Mr. Chickpea’s space is 930 square feet; Island Affairs is 1,557 square feet. A third retail space – 3,344 square feet including a loading dock and back-door access to the building’s parking lot with 27 commercial parking spaces – is still available.

STRONG WORK ETHIC

Robinson came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 2017. By 2019 he had started his own business, Prolines Painting, which has since evolved into a construction company.

Soon after he decided to open a store in Greater Portland because the area’s growing Jamaican community was traveling to shops in Wells, Lewiston and Damariscotta for products they wanted.

Carey Robinson in his Jamaican grocery store, Island Affairs, at the Thornton Heights Commons in South Portland on Wednesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Robinson said in the last decade, many Jamaican migrants have been recruited to work in area hotels because they have a strong work ethic. Some decided to stay, fell in love and settled in South Portland, he said.

Now, he and his partner, Abigail Clark, who also is from Jamaica, are expanding their business ventures into buying, flipping and leasing real estate. They’re juggling a lot. The couple sits down together each Sunday and plans the week ahead.

“It’s all about understanding what you want to achieve and identifying the steps you need to take,” Clark said. “This has been a dream he has wanted to do for a while and it’s finally coming to life.”

Carey Robinson organizes the shelves in his Jamaican grocery store, Island Affairs in South Portland. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Robinson credits a boss and mentor in Jamaica with setting him on the path to success.

“He told me that in order to be successful in business, you need to have more than one business,” he said. “That way you can weather whatever comes.”

BLUEPRINT FOR SUCCESS

A former electronics engineer, Abbas came to the U.S. from Iraq in 2012 and is married with four children.

In 2019, Ameera Bread, the precursor to Dina’s Cuisine, was named Maine Minority Owned Small Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. That same year, Ameera’s sales topped $500,000.

The response to Mr. Chickpea has been so strong, Abbas sees it as a blueprint to remake Dina’s Cuisine and open additional stores.

“I’m going to make it into a chain,” he said. “All I need is more financing.”

Ahmed Abbas, right, serves Louise Smith, of Yarmouth, at Mr. Chickpea in South Portland on Wednesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

He also needs continuing great reviews from customers like Clayton Rauscher, who works nearby at a truck leasing company. He’s been stopping in about twice a week for lunch.

“It’s really good, it’s healthy and it’s affordable,” said Rauscher, after finishing a chicken shawarma wrap in a window seat. “When I called ahead with my order today, Ahmed recognized my voice, so I’m probably coming here too often.”

Jake Fahey stopped in Wednesday after he got a call from his wife, who was at home in South Portland. She had heard about about Mr. Chickpea and asked him to pick up lunch on his way home from running errands.

“We’re both home with a newborn now, so finding good healthy food is important,” Fahey said. “I’m vegetarian and we love trying new foods, so it’s important for us to support diverse food options in our community.”

Louise Smith, of Yarmouth, went out of her way to stop at Mr. Chickpea on Wednesday after reading about it in the Portland Press Herald’s The Wrap column.

She picked up chicken shawarma dinners to share with her husband. They included falafel, cabbage salad, tzatziki (yogurt sauce) and hummus.

“It was all very flavorful and fulfilling,” she reported later. “I only wish I had gotten the naan (flat bread). Next time!”

Positive feedback like that just fuels Abbas’ dreams.

“The horizon is very wide and bright,” he said.