The Center has purchased 196 Penobscot Avenue in Millinocket, Maine, to redevelop as middle-market housing and commercial spaces to support the community.
The project is underway. Below are some frequently asked questions about the project. If you have further questions about the project, please contact Maura Adams.
There will be five one-bedroom apartments, including one ADA accessible apartment on the first floor.
We anticipate retaining Baby Ruthie’s, the popular ice cream and take out restaurant, as a year-round operation in its existing location. Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness plans to open a public Youth and Cultural Center in the second commercial space.
The apartments will not have income restrictions. They will be designed to be financially in-reach for people working in the Millinocket area. We use area median income and research on Millinocket-area salaries to determine affordable rental rates.
The apartments will have standard 1-year leases with the intent to serve folks interested in being in the community long-term.
The Center has been working in Millinocket for many years. Our first housing projects started in Millinocket in 2017 through our Millinocket Housing Initiative. Read an overview of our programming in Millinocket and surrounding towns.
The Center will use a mix of funding sources to make the redevelopment of 196 Penobscot Avenue financially feasible. Sources include impact investment funds, tax credits, and private gifts and grants. If you are interested in contributing to this important community project, please contact Hannah McCarthy.
The project is currently underway. RH Lax Contracting is managing the redevelopment. Construction is expected to be completed in 2025. Information about renting the apartments will be available in the winter of 2025.
The Center is a regional innovation and investment partner creating rural vibrancy by connecting people, economy, and the forested landscape. Legally, we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation registered in the state of New Hampshire. We work across the Northern Forest region of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.
To help address the housing crisis in Northern Forest communities, we broadened our suite of programs in 2017 to include property development. We focus on downtown properties that have the ability to catalyze community redevelopment.
In our first housing project, the Millinocket Housing Initiative, we invested $1 million to renovate six dilapidated houses and created 11 apartments, now all leased to year-round residents.
In 2022 we completed redevelopment of an 11,000-square-foot building on Main Street in Lancaster, NH, to create six new apartments and commercial space for a local food market.
Current projects include redeveloping a building in St. Johnsbury, VT for residences and an artist-in-residence program, rehabilitating a historic mansion in Bethel, ME into 8 apartments, and a new multi-family building in Tupper Lake, NY.
The Center’s development model includes ownership and management of most properties for up to 10 years, at which point we will sell the properties to another property manager or as condominiums. In either case, the goal is to ensure that properties remain available as long-term housing for local residents.
The Center redeveloped the historic Parker J. Noyes 11,000-square-foot building on Lancaster’s Main Street to support the local economy and create a more vibrant downtown.
In its first impact investment fund, the Center raised $1 million to enhance Millinocket’s rental housing market as part of our broader community revitalization efforts.
The Center has purchased the historic Gehring House in Bethel, ME and plans to redevelop the building into 8-9 middle-market apartments.
