CUMBERLAND — Three developments along Route 100 are geared toward addressing the need for more affordable housing, and boosting commercial activity in the western part of town.
Two are between Mill and Wilson roads in the Village Office Commercial 1 Zone, at the former Castlerock commercial subdivision and across the street at Morrison’s Hill. Both will have 17 single-family homes.
The third – further north on Route 100, toward the Gray line – is Emerald Commons, comprised of two multiplex buildings with six units each, according to Assistant Town Manager Alyssa Tibbetts, who also functions as Cumberland’s economic development director.
“Among these three developments there will be 46 new residences in West Cumberland,” Tibbetts said, “and we’re hopeful that this will be a great asset to the community, particularly West Cumberland.”
The Town Council last August approved contract zone agreements for the first two projects. The panel last fall also OK’d a zoning change to add multiplex dwellings as a permitted use in Village Office Commercial 1, making Emerald Commons possible, Tibbetts said.
“The goal was not only to provide more affordable housing options in our community, but to create a demand for additional commercial uses by increasing the residential uses in the existing zones on Route 100,” she explained.
New Century Development of Portland is developing the former Castlerock site, while Walnut Hill Investments of North Yarmouth is developing the Morrison’s Hill project, according to Town Manager Bill Shane.
The contract zone agreements for both developments allow 17 single-family, detached buildings to be sold for no more than $225,000.
Five building permits have been pulled, with three buildings nearly complete and two under construction, at Morrison’s Hill, and one building permit, with that building nearly complete, at the former Castlerock site, Shane said.
The 12 units at Emerald Commons, developed by Andy Hagerty of Falmouth, will be rented for about $1,500 a month. Both multiplex buildings are being built and could be ready for occupancy by August, Tibbetts said.
Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.
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