The developer, Avesta Housing, received over 1,600 inquiries. Gauvreau Place, which opened last month on the corner of Pine and Blake streets in Lewiston, has 35 units, 28 of which are considered affordable. The report, based on data from multiple sources - including the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty - states that the top cause of homelessness among families and individuals is a lack of affordable housing.Īccording to the report, “when new affordable units become available, demand far exceeds supply.” The high costs in part reflect low housing availability at all levels, which officials say is hurting local growth and development.Ī recent report compiled by Lewiston’s ad hoc shelter committee, which was tasked with looking at solutions to the city’s growing homelessness problem, has raised the alarm on housing affordability. It was a marked increase from just a year earlier, when the range was $658 to $1,365. The state minimum wage is currently $12.50 an hour.įair market rents in the Lewiston-Auburn area for 2021 ranged from $781 for a one-bedroom, to $1,530 for a four-bedroom. For the same unit in the Portland area, it’s $33. Last week, the National Low Income Housing Coalition released its annual “Out of Reach” report, which shows the affordability gap widening across Maine.Īccording to the report, which bases its numbers on spending no more than 30% of income on housing, the hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Androscoggin County is $19.21. Rent prices, along with other expenses, have only increased since then. In just one year, from 2021 to 2022, rent prices in Androscoggin County rose more than 18%, while single-family home prices rose more than 21%.Īccording to a Maine Housing database, as of 2020, roughly 60% of households in Androscoggin County were considered unable to afford the median two-bedroom rental. Regardless of the approach, everyone agrees, help is needed. Others say public funding for low-income households simply doesn’t support enough affordable units without the help of the private market, and that new private construction, while costly, can alleviate pent-up demand and boost competition for landlords who have increased prices without making improvements to their buildings.Īuburn, for example, has built a philosophy that turns away from using public funds for income-restricted affordable housing projects - calling them a “non-starter” - and instead looks to zoning to encourage a variety of housing options. We hope to be able to provide you with additional information once next of kin has been notified.Some question whether focusing too much on market rate housing will do enough to combat skyrocketing housing prices, which is putting more people on the fringes of affording the most basic housing. “We would like to emphasize that this is an active investigation and there is no threat to the public. Detectives from the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit South responded to a residence on Fourth Street in Auburn to assist the Auburn Police Department in investigating a report of two deaths at that location. Sunday, Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, wrote: “At this time all we can confirm is that on Sunday, June 19, 2022, at approximately 11:30 a.m. In a brief statement released to the news media at 9:14 p.m. “We have an active criminal investigation (and) there is no threat to the public,” Timothy Cougle, deputy chief of the Auburn Police Department, said in a statement released to the news media.
“He stated to the officer something about ‘that’s my daughter,” when he walked up to the crime scene tape. We knew it was her father because we’ve seen him dropping off her small children to her before,” said Tia Asadorian, who lives in a house across the street.
“Her father came and spoke with the officers. Neighbors watched from their stoops as Auburn police officers and the Maine State Police shuffled into and out of the building on a rainy afternoon. One of the victims is reportedly a mother of two, whose father was visibly distraught at the scene earlier in the day, according to neighbors.
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