Gov. Janet Mills and developers cut the ribbon to the Wilbur’s Woods affordable housing development in Brunswick on Oct. 27. (Katie Langley/Staff Writer)
BRUNSWICK — Gov. Janet Mills and other lawmakers joined developers Monday to cut the ribbon on an affordable housing project off McKeen Street.
The Wilbur’s Woods development consists of 21 two-story, Scandinavian-style condominium homes priced at $325,000 each.
The price point was kept below Brunswick’s median home sale price — roughly $630,000 in summer 2023 — through Maine Housing’s Affordable Homeownership Program. Households must earn less than $105,360 per year to qualify.
“Project development would not have been possible, at least not at the prices that [the homes] are going for,” if not for the program, Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D- Biddeford, said in an interview.
Homeowners have begun moving into Wilbur’s Woods, a 21-unit affordable housing development in Brunswick. (Katie Langley/Staff Writer)
Now that the single-family residences are completed and homeowners have begun moving in, development company GreenMars plans to start work on an adjacent 18-unit apartment building by the end of the year. Those units also will be available to renters who meet income levels determined by the town.
The Wilbur’s Woods project was aided by a series of bills sponsored by Fecteau, a proponent of housing reform. LD 2003, which passed in 2022, and LD 1829, signed this year, ease zoning restrictions to allow for additional housing density.
“To date, [The Affordable Homeownership Program] has assisted with the construction of more than 300 homes, in towns everywhere from Boothbay to Brunswick, to Waterville and Wells,” Mills told the crowd gathered for Monday’s ribbon-cutting.
GreenMars, a Maine-based development company, broke ground on the project in fall 2024. Founders Nate Green and Chris Marshall faced delays throughout the planning and development process on the town level, setting completion back about six months.
Homes at the Wilbur’s Woods development are listed at $325,000 each, significantly below Brunswick’s median home price. (Courtesy of Matthew Anderson Photography)
Brunswick’s Zoning Board of Appeals struck down an appeal against the project proposal in June 2024, voting unanimously to accept the Planning Board’s finding that the design of the apartment building was architecturally compatible with the neighborhood.
Green and Marshall said they believe part of the solution to Maine’s housing crisis is adding supply to the market. Maine needs to build 84,000 homes by 2030 to accommodate population growth, the Portland Press Herald reported last year.
“There’s a massive opportunity to create all this new housing and alleviate that pressure, and ultimately, bring down prices for people,” Green said in an interview.
Kathy Amsden and Carole Wise were among the first to reserve a home in Wilbur’s Woods last year and said the low price point made ownership possible for them as retirees.
“It’s a real blessing to have this option,” Amsden said.
