Brewer will soon be home to a new 36-unit condominium development that could help meet the need for more housing in the Bangor region.
The Brewer Planning Board on Monday unanimously approved the development, proposed by David and Nadine Moyse. David Moyse is president of Bangor-based Moyse Environmental Services.
The development will be built on a roughly 16-acre plot of land on Parkway South, abutting Rider Road and Skyview Avenue.
The subdivision will contain 18 duplex buildings on a private road that a condo association, Parkway Orchards Condominium, would maintain.
Most of the units will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a one-car attached garage, Moyse said. However, some units will be smaller, with two bedrooms and no garage.
The cost for the units hasn’t yet been determined, but Moyse said they’ll be sold at market rate.
Building plans also call for the land to have a walking trail, man-made pond and a gated access road to Skyview Avenue for emergency vehicles, according to Jim Kaiser, the engineer working on the project. There will also be a short mulch walking path connecting the development to Rider Road for children to use to walk to the nearby Brewer Community School, Kaiser said.
The undeveloped site was previously a homestead, but no buildings remain, Moyse said. However, the site has large apple trees that will remain on the property.
Moyse said he believes the new development will provide much needed housing for young families who migrate to the Bangor region due to rising housing costs in southern Maine. Seven families have already expressed interest in buying a condo, he said.
The additional housing is also coming as the Bangor region experiences a burgeoning demand for new housing coupled with first-time home buyers getting consistently outbid.
“I think this is a good project for the city, for us, and the need is there,” Moyse said. “I think we’ll see a mix of younger families and professionals and folks who are at or near retirement age.”
There were 14 homes listed for sale in Brewer on the real estate website Zillow on Wednesday. They cost between $49,900 and $499,000.
Moyse has previously developed two other housing subdivisions, in Bangor and Winterport, as well as a business park in Hampden.
Before construction can begin, the developers need approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection because part of the development will be built on impervious wetlands.
Moyse said construction could begin this fall or in the spring. Building will take place in three stages, but exact construction timelines haven’t yet been determined.
