Portland City Council to Vote on $1.2 Million Loan for Libbytown Affordable Housing Project

The Portland City Council will vote Monday on whether to provide a $1.2 million loan to a planned affordable housing project in the city’s Libbytown neighborhood.

The project, 45 Dougherty, is set to be be located on a portion of city-owned property at 43 and 91 Douglass St., adjacent to the Dougherty Fields complex, and will consist of 63 units of rental housing.

All of the project’s units will be affordable to households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income — $56,820 for a 2-person household or $70,980 for a 4-person household.

According to a city memo, the project developers, 45 Dougherty LP, ran into “significant pricing related issues” while moving through the process of securing funding and obtaining construction bids for the project.

This led to the developers identifying a budget gap of $1.2 million, which it was unable to make up with funding from the Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing) or Evernorth, a northern New England-based nonprofit affordable housing equity investor.

If approved with five affirmative votes by the City Council, the city will direct $1.2 million of pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds through the Jill C. Duson Housing Trust Fund to the project in the form of a 30-year payable loan, paid through a percentage of the project’s annual cash flow.

City staff recommended that the City Council approve the $1.2 million loan, saying that the project is shovel ready, but will likely not be able to move forward without the assistance.

Portland’s Housing and Economic Development Committee voted 4-0 to recommend that the City Council support the funding, with the stipulation that the $1.2 million be provided in the form of a payable loan.

The City Council will vote on appropriating the $1.2 million for the affordable housing project during their Monday, Feb. 26 meeting.