No Vacancy
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
History of a house tracks ups and downs of Munjoy Hill, now Portland’s hottest rental market
Story by Leslie Bridgers/ Staff Writer Date 2015, photo by Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer; 1924 photo from the Collections of the City of Portland – Planning and Development, Courtesy of www.MaineMemory.net item #37770 F ifty-seven feet northeast of a stone monument on the corner of Congress and North streets is a certain lot of land on […]
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Rents are on the rise
in cities across the countryC ities across the country are experiencing rising rents and shortages of affordable housing, similar to what Portland is going through. The trend, which also reaches other countries, is at least partly the result of an economic and social shift as people seek to live in urban neighborhoods, whether to reduce transportation costs or enjoy […]
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Developer who experienced housing problem now turning offices into apartments
Developer Josh Benthien in the Clapp Memorial Building. The 1920s-era, seven-story office tower diagonally across from Monument Square is being converted into apartments. Photo by Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer Story by Edward D. Murphy/ Staff Writer J osh Benthien knows the difficulty in finding housing in downtown Portland for middle-income earners, a lesson he learned first-hand […]
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Pressures of housing market shape Portland politics, fuel recurring clashes over development
A prime solution to the rental crunch – build more living units – often draws opposition from critics worried that the city will lose its small-town feel.
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Portland jumps aboard a hot affordable-housing trend – inclusionary zoning
Developers get incentives in exchange for building a percentage of middle-income units, a strategy that has had mixed results in other cities.
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Tenants’ perspective: Sudden ouster, desperate search, hope to avoid a repeat
Story by Kelley Bouchard/ Staff Writer Photos by Whitney Hayward/ Staff Photographer C hris and Jessie Kessler know just how precious apartments have become in the Mill Creek and Knightville neighborhoods, just across the Fore River from downtown Portland. After living in a Cottage Street rental for four years, the Kesslers received notice in July […]
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Influx of affluence a two-edged sword, but end result is neighborhood transformed
Well-off newcomers transform some city neighborhoods with their desires for improved housing and 'hip' businesses, but that also can make it too costly from some long-timers to live there.
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
In wake of tragic Portland fire, landlords and cities break out of safety lethargy
Story by Tux Turkel/ Staff Writer A fire last fall in this multi-unit building on Noyes Street in Portland left six people dead. The incident focused a critical eye on the city’s lax fire inspection program for its thousands of rental apartments. Emulating the way the city addressed the issue, the town of Brunswick is […]
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
Developer’s perspective: Demand from Portland and elsewhere helped gamble on Biddeford mills pay off
Story by Kelley Bouchard/ Staff Writer Photos by Whitney Hayward/ Staff Photographer A t first they called him crazy. Now “lucky” is the adjective that Doug Sanford hears most often when people talk about his multimillion-dollar transformation of the former Biddeford and WestPoint Stevens textile mills. Sanford accepts the lucky label because his gamble on […]
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PublishedNovember 15, 2015
What does it mean to be ‘affordable’?
Source: MaineHousingInteractive: Christian MilNeil W hen it comes to housing, the term “affordable” has long been used as a euphemism for low-income or subsidized. But everyone, no matter their salary, has a limit to what they can reasonably afford in monthly housing costs. That limit was defined by U.S. National Housing Act of 1937 as […]