Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of our three-part series regarding Biddeford’s housing crisis.

A panel of experts offered their perspectives and guidance regarding Biddeford’s housing crisis during a special city council workshop meeting earlier this week.

For more than two hours, the nine panelists each offered their professional insights and took questions from both councilors and members of the public Tuesday evening.

Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman described the workshop as a necessary “first step” for city officials who are trying to find innovative solutions for a problem that shows no signs of going away.

While Biddeford has seen recent success in attracting development of market-rate housing units, the city is still struggling with “affordable housing” options and a low inventory of single-family homes for young families, often described as “starter homes.”

RELATED: Biddeford grapples with housing crisis (Part One)

“We have a beautiful, dynamic and growing city,” Grohman said as he kicked off the discussion. “We’re in our 12^th straight year of enrollment growth in schools. It’s immensely positive that we’re growing, and seeing this type of pressure on housing, but it’s also immensely challenging.”

George Gervais, the city’s director of economic and community development, started the meeting by providing an overview of the city’s current housing status.

According to Gervais, the city today has 10,576 housing units. Of those units, 9,431 are occupied, according to data from the 2020 Census.

Gervais said rental units make up slightly more than 52 percent of the city’s occupied housing.

Average monthly rents in Biddeford range between $1,700 and $3,200, ranging from studio apartments to three-bedroom units, Gervais said.

The average home values in Biddeford have risen by roughly five percent during the last year. The average home value in the city is slightly more than $478,000.

One of the city’s biggest challenges, however, is that area wages are not keeping pace with increasing housing costs.

“We have quite a bit coming at Biddeford,” Gervais said outlining the horizon in which more than 2,100 units of housing are currently in some form of development. “That’s a pretty impressive number,” he added.

The new development numbers include projects that are either under construction, under review by permitting agencies or projects that are conceived but have not yet gone through the permitting process.

Gervais said 319 of those units are planned as affordable housing units in which rental costs are calculated by the area’s median income (AMI).

During an earlier interview, Grohman said the city council has set a goal of creating 180 units of affordable housing each year over the next five years.

What the experts say

The panelists were broken into three main groups, focused on affordable housing; market-rate housing and a housing finance development panel. The panel also included a presentation regarding state government housing resources from Benjamin Averill, Housing Opportunity Program coordinator for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

“Today, Biddeford is the place to be.
“It’s the cool place.
That’s great but it also poses problems.”

–Guy Gagnon, Biddeford Housing Authority

Guy Gagnon, executive director of the Biddeford Housing Authority, said Biddeford has undergone some dramatic changes in the last 15 years, pointing out that he joined the quasi-governmental agency in 2010.

Gagnon, a Biddeford native, said he is especially troubled by the fact that so many kids who grew up in Biddeford can no longer afford to live here. “I see my friends’ kids and even my own children being forced to look elsewhere for housing,” Gagnon said.

“It used to be that Biddeford was the second, third, fourth or even fifth choice when people were looking for homes,” Gagnon said. “Today, however, Biddeford is the place to be. It’s the cool place. That’s great but it also poses problems.”

Gagnon said the city needs to be creative and willing to look at alternatives that include modular housing and mobile home parks.

“It may not be for everyone,” Gagnon said, “but it may be for some people. Biddeford should be the community that thinks outside of the box.”

Kevin Bunker of Developers Collaborative said the city needs to stay aware of what is happening at the Legislature, especially in regard to statewide housing policies and assistance for affordable housing development.

“Those resources are limited and the state is facing a challenging budget,” Bunker said. “You need to remember that they are also trying to keep up with a huge demand.”

John Laliberte, the CEO of Reveler Development, provided an overview of his company’s projects in Biddeford, including 73 apartments at Riverdam, Phases One and Two of The Levee project and the recently offered market-rate units at The Eddy on Barra Road.

“We have had a lot of success in Biddeford,” Laliberte said. “There is a big demand for this type of housing, but our main challenge remains being able to attract the private capital necessary to get these projects off the ground.”

A common theme throughout the evening was centered upon the need to make the development process more streamlined and efficient to reduce costs for both renters and buyers.

Although not members of the expert panel, local real estate developers Chico Potvin and Matt Chamberlain both spoke during the public comment period, detailing how hard it is to get a project from design to out of the gate development.

Potvin, 61, said he has been building “starter homes” in the Biddeford area since 1987.

He said the city’s shortage of available single-family homes is “forcing people into apartments and making it harder for people to find apartments. “It’s a vicious cycle,” he said.

Potvin said his biggest challenges include skyrocketing labor costs and a growing myriad of red tape that cause time delays and increases building costs.

“Every year, the regulations increase,” Potvin said, questioning why the council chose to fund needed city-wide sewer improvements on the backs of new homebuyers.

“Almost every day I get calls from friends and other people asking what I can do for them,” he said. “They don’t want to wait two years for a project to get approved. I feel bad. The city needs to buckle down and treat housing the same way as you treated land for industrial parks.”

Potvin also said he is nervous about all the high-end apartments being built in Biddeford. “It scares me,” he said. “I’m not sure if it’s sustainable.”

Cat Bates said he grew up in Kennebunk and moved to Biddeford almost five years ago. He said he would like to see the city do a better job in streamlining the approval process for Accessory Dwelling Units and said it should be easier to get bank financing for that type of development.

City Councilor Doris Ortiz previously chaired the council’s affordable housing task force, and said she would like to see the city be creative in its approach to creating housing, including co-ops and micro developments.

Editor’s Note: The city has created an open portal for public comment and questions on the city’s website, where you can also find more information and documents about the housing workshop meeting.

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