Matt Morrill of Mastway Development talks about the Erskine Building while leading a tour of the Stevens Commons complex in Hallowell in April 2017. Morrill is also behind Tree Tops Housing, a 17-unit affordable housing project in Stevens Commons that will soon begin construction. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file
HALLOWELL – Construction is nearing the start of Tree Tops Housing, a 17-unit affordable housing project in Stevens Commons, after the Hallowell City Council approved a tax credit agreement with the project’s developer at its meeting earlier this month.
About half of the $19,000 in property taxes the city expects to collect each year at the proposed Beech Street site will be paid back to developer Mastway Development to offset costs and help keep housing affordable.
The council is expected to officially sign the tax credit agreement during its special meeting Tuesday night. The project itself was approved by the city in December 2023.
For at least 45 years, housing will be limited to renters earning 80 percent or less of the area median income, which this year in Kennebec County is $87,000 a year for a family of four or $69,600 for a family of two. Specific rent caps will be set by the Maine State Housing Authority.
The project was one of only six awarded grants in March through MaineHousing’s state Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program. Matt Morrill, owner of Mastway Development, wrote to the Hallowell City Council in May that the grant application process was highly competitive, but the Tree Tops Housing project did well because it was already approved by the city and the site was close to city services.
The federal rural affordable housing grant was only available for projects with 18 units or less, which Morrill said was a perfect fit for the available building sites in Stevens Commons. Tree Tops Housing will include 17 units, including two two-bedroom apartments on the ground floor.
The project is in line with the city’s comprehensive plan, adopted by the council in 2022, which calls for greater efforts to develop and preserve affordable housing. The city estimated in the plan that 167 new affordable rental units would need to be built by 2032 to meet demand.
According to MaineHousing, nearly half of all renter households in Hallowell are cost-burdened—that is, they spend more than the government-recommended 30% of their income on housing. Nearly 80% of single-parent renter households in Hallowell are cost-burdened.
Across the county, the cost burden for renters is similar: about 45% of all renters spend more than the recommended amount on accommodation.
“This was an underused, vacant parking lot that will now provide much-needed affordable housing for Kennebec County,” Morrill said.
The last hurdle for the project is a review of final construction details by MaineHousing. Morrill said he expects approval from MaineHousing within the next two weeks and construction to begin in September or October. He said he plans to have the project completed and tenants moving in by late fall 2025.
Mastway Development has led the revitalization of Stevens Commons in Hallowell since Morrill purchased the campus from the state for $215,000 in 2016.
Since then, three buildings have been converted into student housing for the University of Maine at Augusta, and the campus’s former administration building has been renovated with support from Community Housing of Maine to accommodate 29 units of affordable senior housing.
“Through his vision and hard work, Matt and Mastway Development have transformed a dilapidated, underutilized property into a growing, sustainable complex that is a successful and thriving example of the importance of investing in older and historic buildings,” Hallowell Mayor George Lapointe said in a letter of support for the Tree Tops Housing project in December.
Mastway Development also developed the 99 Western Ave. workforce housing project in Augusta, which is now accepting lease applications.
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