No Vacancy

Published
November 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 […]
Published
November 15, 2015

Rents are on the rise
in cities across the country

C 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 […]
Published
November 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 […]
Published
November 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.
Published
November 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.

Published
November 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 […]
Published
November 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.
Published
November 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 […]
Published
November 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 […]
Published
November 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 […]