Workforce Housing is Topic of Local Radio Talk Show
Housing was the topic of a recent show on local radio station WERU-FM (89.9). Among the panelists talking about workforce and affordable housing was IHT Executive Director Chris Spruce. He was joined on the panel by Amanda Charette of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bangor and Tom Martin of the Hancock County Planning Commission. The show's host was Ron Beard of University of Maine's Cooperative Extension Service. To hear a webcast of the program, which was originally aired at 10 a.m., August 13, 2010, click on the link below or copy and paste it to your web browser. Scroll down to the Public Affairs and Live Call-in program for 10 a.m. and click on the forward arrow.
Ripples Hill Update
Construction is well underway on the fifth house in Phase 1 of the Ripples Hill development in Somesville. The fourth house was completed and occupied in early May and the fifth house is about 60% complete with occupancy expected in late September. Three other houses, two built early in 2009 and one completed last January, are already occupied. One lot remains to be sold to complete Phase 1. For more information about the development, please contact IHT at 207-288-4496.
First Sabah Woods House Sold
A working couple that owns a Bar Harbor business have purchased the first house at the Sabah Woods Subdivision in Bar Harbor. J.J. Zeph and Maureen Cosgrove have purchased the property from Mrs. Emily Sabah-Maren, who is developing the four-lot subdivision in the Thomas Bay area of Bar Harbor for working individuals and families. The couple and their pre-school child moved into the house in December 2009.
Working through Island Housing Trust, Mrs. Emily Sabah-Maren sold the first of four houses she is planning to build in Sabah Woods to the couple. In addition to qualifying applicants, IHT also has assisted in developing the affordability easements and equity-sharing formula that will be used to keep the property permanently affordable to employees of MDI businesses and institutions. Mrs. Sabah-Maren, whose late husband, Dr. Thomas Maren, was affiliated with MDI Biological Lab, recently placed a second custom-designed modular house on another lot at Sabah Woods and once again will offer it for sale to applicants pre-qualified by Island Housing Trust.
Mrs. Sabah-Maren has created a four-lot subdivision on an approximately 8-acre piece of the property she owns between Route 3 and Bay View Drive. The four lots range in size from 1.3 acre to 1.53 acre and are located toward the middle and rear of the development. Approximately 3 acres of open space separate the lots from Route 3.
It is Mrs. Sabah-Maren’s intent to offer some, if not all, of the houses she is designing and placing on the lots for sale to applicants pre-qualified by Island Housing Trust. The first house sold was a brand new Jonesport Cape on a 1.4 acre lot. Income guidelines and other qualification criteria determine eligibility of applicants. The second house should be ready for occupancy by August 2010.
Qualified purchasers must have at least one household member employed on MDI and agree to live in the house as their primary residence. In return for the below market rate purchase price offered by Mrs. Maren and her willingness to absorb much of the infrastructure costs of the development, the purchaser must also agree to affordability easements that are intended to keep the property affordable to future applicants with similar household incomes adjusted for changes in wages over time, he added. The easements are designed to allow the homeowner to get a limited return on investment in the property as well as on the value of improvements over the period of ownership, he said.
Those wishing more information about the Sabah Woods house or how to apply for pre-qualification should contact Spruce at 288-4496 or via email at director@islandhousingtrust.org
IHT Issues 2008 Annual Report
Island Housing Trust has published its 2008 Annual Report. It is available here for downloading in the PDF format. Please note that financial numbers were compiled by our accountants, but are unaudited.
