CUMBERLAND — An apartment complex with 96 units in eight buildings on U.S. Route 1 could be ready for occupancy next year, according to developer David Chase.

A neighboring development with 45 single-family homes, which is also part of Chase’s Foreside Village project, should be complete next year, too, he said in an interview at the site Aug. 26.

As he develops the property, which he has owned since 2006, Chase is gradually selling it to Loni Graiver, president of the Maine Real Estate Network, who is marketing the homes and apartments.

The Town Council granted Chase a contract zone agreement in January 2015 for the Foreside Village project, a 46-lot subdivision to be built in two phases. The first, with 45 single-family homes, included an access road from Route 1 and the subdivision road.

The second phase had plans for 32 senior apartments on the 46th lot. But the plan changed in the past year, requiring the contract zone amendment. When funds from a $65 million state bond program for commercial development evaporated, Chase set his sights on market-rate apartments, proposing 96 units housed in eight buildings.

“I gave commercial a pretty good shot,” Chase said. “Residential has definitely been a stronger market.”

The housing portion of the project – with prices starting at $300,000 – is already underway, with 99 percent of its first 22 homes complete, and almost 50 percent of the final 23 buildings finished. That entire phase should be complete by the middle of next summer, Chase said.

Of the 45 homes, 38 are sold or have sales pending, Gravier said Monday.

Gravier has “done very well” (selling the homes), Chase said, adding, “I think he hit the market really well.”

The Planning Board on Aug. 16 also approved the apartment complex. Per the terms of the contract zone agreement, 20 percent will be reserved for people 55 and older.

Rents will range from $1,200-$1,250 for one-bedroom apartments, and $1,500-$1,550 for two bedrooms, all with heat included, according to Gravier.

Foundations for the $10.6 million project should go in by November, with four months of construction to follow, Chase said. He’s hoping for full occupancy by this time next year.

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

Thirty-eight of the 45 single-family homes in the first phase of the Foreside Village project in Cumberland have been sold or have sales pending, according to developer David Chase.

With approval Aug. 16 from the Cumberland Planning Board, land work for the apartments portion of the Foreside Village project is underway.

This visual shows the Foreside Village development’s proximity between Interstate 295 and U.S. Route 1 in Cumberland. The 45-home portion of the project is to the left, and eight apartment buildings will sit to the right.

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