Teresa’s Place near ready in Bangor; 85 applications filed and first move-ins expected within weeks

Jason Bird, a representative of the developer Penquist, told the Bangor City Council workshop on March 24 that the long-delayed Teresa’s Place housing project is “essentially nearly complete” and expected to accept its first resident soon.

“It should be done sometime this week, I would imagine, weather permitting,” Bird said, describing final punch-list work and a pending change to the power supply needed to fully electrify the building. He said the project has received 85 applications to date and that the property manager and the housing foundation are reviewing applications “for completeness, first in, first out.”

City Manager Deb Gory said staff have contacted at least 10 people who had been at Camp Hope and are on the list to be interviewed for units at Teresa’s Place. “Of the ones that I am aware of through the direct care workers, there were 10 individuals who had been notified that they were awaiting an appointment,” Gory said. She added that interim placements for applicants include shelters, family or friends’ homes and warming shelters, and that a “handful” remain unsheltered.

Why this matters: The council and staff described Teresa’s Place as an immediate increase in permanent housing capacity tied to a mix of project-based vouchers and other rental units. Councilors also discussed how the combination of vouchers and non‑voucher units will affect move‑in timing and shelter capacity.

Bird said the state has assigned 18 project-based vouchers to the property; he and Gory said the overall unit count discussed at the meeting is 41 units. “There will always be 18 vouchers assigned by the state of Maine to this project,” Gory said, adding that “the balance of the 41 units are not tied to vouchers.” She explained that project-based vouchers remain with the property if a tenant moves out, allowing the next eligible person to use the voucher at that address.

Councilor Fish asked for a time estimate for when move‑ins would begin; Bird replied that timing depends on several factors including approvals tied to project-based vouchers and MaineHousing processes but estimated “we’re within a few weeks at most at this point, maybe two is my guess.”

Services and staffing: Gory said some of the project’s federal and state funding cannot be used to staff around‑the‑clock services, but that MaineHousing allowed some project funds to pay for a CHCS staff person to be on-site roughly 40 hours per week. “There will be the ability to access services on-site, but it will not be stacked 24/7,” she said, adding the project team hopes to restore or expand services over time.

Milford Street project: During the same update, Penquist representatives told the council that the Milford Street project is ready to proceed but is awaiting MaineHousing loan approval. Bird said Penquist has offered to start work using other funding while MaineHousing completes its approval, but that MaineHousing has not committed to a timeline.

The council did not take a formal vote at the workshop. Staff and the developer presented status updates and said they would return with final occupancy details once inspections and the certificate of occupancy are complete.