Social Housing Task Force — Portland, ME
Date: 2026-01-14
Time: 18:00

SOCIAL HOUSING TASK MEMBERS
 City Councilor Kate Sykes, Co-Chair
FORCE City Councilor Sarah Michniewicz
 Paul Styslinger
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM Bill Stauffer
 Jason Spector
Portland City Hall Basement, Room 24 Cat Buxton
Kippy Richardson Room Wendy Cherubini
 Cullen Ryan
 Matthew Peters
 Kristin Leffler
 Jon Fetherston, Co-Chair
 Jonathan Culley
 Tim Wells




The Social Housing Task Force will conduct this meeting in-person. If you are not able to attend in person, a
recording will be available in the Agenda Center following the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT INFORMATION:
To submit written public comment on an agenda item, email socialhousingtaskforce@portlandmaine.gov.
Submissions must be received by 12:00 pm the day before the Social Housing Task Force meeting to guarantee
their inclusion in the agenda packet. All submissions must include the commenter's name and legal address. To
help ensure your comment is submitted for the correct item, please include the name of the agenda item (see
below).


AGENDA:

1. Review and Approve Minutes from the December 10, 2025 Meeting

 i. SHTF Draft Minutes of Meeting 12.10.2025
2. Administrative Updates, Announcements, etc.

 City Staff Discussion of City-Owned Land and Development Projects with Land Use
3.
 Approvals That Have Not Advanced to Construction

 i. Staff Memo, List of City Owned Property and Projects with Land Use Approvals
4. Task Force Members Discussion Regarding Path Forward




 1

SOCIAL HOUSING TASK MEMBERS
 City Councilor Kate Sykes, Co-Chair
FORCE City Councilor Sarah Michniewicz
 Paul Styslinger
Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM Bill Stauffer
 Jason Spector
Portland City Hall Basement, Room 24 Cat Buxton
Kippy Richardson Room Wendy Cherubini
 Cullen Ryan
 Matthew Peters
 Kristin Leffler
 Jon Fetherston, Co-Chair
 Jonathan Culley
 Tim Wells




The Social Housing Task Force will conduct this meeting in-person. If you are not able to attend in person, a
recording will be available in the Agenda Center following the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT INFORMATION:
To submit written public comment on an agenda item, email socialhousingtaskforce@portlandmaine.gov.
Submissions must be received by 12:00 pm the day before the Social Housing Task Force meeting to guarantee
their inclusion in the agenda packet. All submissions must include the commenter's name and legal address. To
help ensure your comment is submitted for the correct item, please include the name of the agenda item (see
below).


AGENDA:

1. Review and Approve Minutes from the December 10, 2025 Meeting

 i. SHTF Draft Minutes of Meeting 12.10.2025
2. Administrative Updates, Announcements, etc.

 City Staff Discussion of City-Owned Land and Development Projects with Land Use
3.
 Approvals That Have Not Advanced to Construction

 i. Staff Memo, List of City Owned Property and Projects with Land Use Approvals
4. Task Force Members Discussion Regarding Path Forward




 1

 Page 1
Social Housing Task Force Minutes of Business Meeting held December 10, 2025 at 6:00 pm

A recording of the meeting is posted here. These minutes provide a record of those in attendance, the general
discussion taking place, and motions made. Please refer to the recording for discussion details.

In attendance:

City Councilor Kate Sykes – Co-Chair
Jon Fetherston – Co-Chair
Paul Styslinger
Bill Stauffer
Wendy Cherubini
Matt Peters
Kristin Leffler
Tim Wells
Catherine Buxton
Jonathan Culley

Greg Watson, Director of City’s Housing and Economic Development Department
Mary Davis, Division Director, City’s Housing and Community Development Division
Christian Roadman, GPCOG, Senior Planner


The meeting started at approximately 6:10 PM. It opened with approval of the minutes from November 12, 2025
(moved by Bill Stauffer, seconded by Jonathan Culley, with unanimous approval.
Chair Sykes informed the group that she co-presented at a DSA conference regarding Social Housing, along with a
representative from Montgomery County’s program. Her takeaways included that, given Maine’s home rule, Portland
can do a lot of things on its own if it wants to; and, though the City is small, it is already doing a lot of things in the
housing realm that many other municipalities can’t.
Paul Styslinger informed the group that he met with Zach Davidson, who wrote the MIT thesis “Interest Group Politics in
U.S. “Social Housing” Experiments,” and now works for the Cambridge Housing Authority, and that Mr. Davidson would
be happy to talk with us if he could be helpful.
The discussion moved to Single Residence Occupancy (SRO) housing and whether it could be a desirable delivery model
for social housing in Portland. The group discussed the potential promise of SROs, as well as drawbacks previously
encountered by developers interested in providing them. Chair Sykes summarized the takeaways of the discussion as the
group desiring to provide deep affordability, but understanding that monolithic buildings serving just one segment of
the population is not in society’s best interest. She also noted that in the long-term, the group can look into deeper
affordability, but probably not for a first project. Instead, housing that everyone could imagine living in and want to live
in might be a better, more sustainable project that helps build support for a social housing program.
Paul Styslinger noted that Zach Davidson advised not to pursue a whole project life cycle, but to pick the one tool you
want to build on and work from there, to eventually create a menu of options you can move forward with; the group
can’t take on too many levers and variables at once. Chair Sykes noted that this was similar to advice from her co-
presenter from Montgomery County, to get shovels in the ground and make sure you can succeed and recapitalize;
“don’t bite off more than you can chew.” Discussion followed regarding what a successful, politically viable social
housing strategy might be for Portland.
Chair Sykes requested a return to the agenda, to talk about Rhode Island’s efforts towards financing social housing.
Mary Davis explained that at the end of the group’s last educational meeting, Adam Krea mentioned Providence, Rhode
Island as offering a unique bonding model. She spoke with the director of the Housing and Human Services Department
in Providence and found that what they are doing isn’t much different than what Portland is already doing. However,
they use bond funding to capitalize their housing trust fund and subsequently have more resources available. Ms. Davis


 Page 2
noted that Portland could replicate that. She also noted, however, that Rhode Island has some laws and policies that
aren’t available in Portland. These include entities (like a redevelopment authority) that can pursue bonding and a
slightly distinct alternative to tax increment financing (TIF) called a tax stabilization plan. Staff will ask Corporation
Counsel’s office to look into whether the Portland Renewal Authority remains active in the charter or ordinances.
A discussion followed regarding TIF, low-income housing tax credits, bonding, and how the existing Jill Duson Housing
Trust Fund is used; essentially, it provides some amount of subsidy through lower-interest loans than a bank would, for
the public benefit of housing production and affordability covenants. However, the current program doesn’t seek to fully
recapitalize the loans, and much time may pass before the City receives payments back on projects it supports.
The group then discussed outstanding questions for Bond Council and the City’s Finance Director.
Chair Sykes suggested that the agenda item for stakeholder mapping should be pushed back to another meeting.
Discussion followed regarding what other topics the group would like to focus on. Requests included talking through
hypothetical projects, identifying stalled projects, and inventory of City-owned land. Chair Fetherston also suggested the
group discuss what it is that it wants to actually produce from this process that is acceptable to the whole group.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:56 pm (moved by Kristin Leffler, seconded by Tim Wells, with unanimous
approval).




 Page 3
City of Portland | Housing and Economic Development
Department | Housing and Community Development Division
Mary Davis, Division Director




To: Social Housing Task Force




MEETING DATE - January 9, 2026

AGENDA ITEM - Agenda Item 3. Discussion of City-Owned Land and Development Projects with
Approvals That Have Not Advanced to Construction

BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS - The information presented was requested during the December 10,
2025 Meeting of the Social Housing Task Force.

City-Owned Land
During the Summer of 2025, staff in the Tax Assessor’s Office began a project to compile a list of
city-owned property. The project began with a list of all parcels listed as City-owned in the
City‘s database. The list filtered out parcels such as parks, land banks, those with incompatible
zoning, or those entirely within FEMA flood zones, wetlands, or shoreland areas. The remaining
parcels were then evaluated using factors like utilities intersections, topography, land cover,
neighborhood land values, and zoning-based housing capacity. From that process, the sites were
ranked using an aggregated "developability score" based on the factors mentioned above. The
list includes development concerns identified as:
 ●​ Land Cover refers to parcels that contain wetlands, shoreland zoning, or are significantly
 forested.
 ●​ Topography refers to parcels with significant differences in maximal elevation changes or
 steep slopes.
 ●​ Water/Sewer Line refers to parcels through which an existing water or sewer line runs.

Development Projects with Approvals That Have Not Advanced to Construction
Attachment B is a list of development projects with land use approvals that have not advanced to
construction. The list was created from the data compiled for the Housing Dashboard available
on the City’s website. The data is through the 3rd quarter of 2025.

PREPARED BY
Mary Davis, Housing and Community Development Division Director

ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - List of City-Owned Land
Attachment B - List of Development Projects with Land Use Approval that Have Not Advanced to
Construction



 1

 Page 4
 Attachment A

 CBL Street Address Zoning Known Major Concerns
211 B003001 1928 CONGRESS ST RN1 Topography
112 G004001 12 DEERFIELD RD RN3
151A A013001 0 CORNELL ST RN3
428 C007001 563 WASHINGTON AVE  RN3
058 A025001 32 SALEM ST RN4 Topography
148 C001001 143 READ ST RN3
402 B010001 0 LORING AVE RN3
275 C049001 91 RIGGS ST RN3
261 B055001 111 ROWE AVE RN1
261 B017001 0 TERRACE AVE RN1
275 C051001 87 RIGGS ST RN3
209A A014001 1956 CONGRESS ST RN1 Land Cover Topography
013 K005001 0 SUMNER CT RN4 Topography
275 C029001 0 LOMOND ST RN3
083B E001001 0 DIAMOND AVE IR2 Land Cover Topography
340 L017001 1315 FOREST AVE RN1 Land Cover
345 B005001 157 PLYMOUTH ST RN1 Land Cover
083B F007001 0 DIAMOND AVE IR1 Land Cover Topography
269 B004001 56 HOLM AVE RN3
083B K001001 0 PARK AVE IR2 Land Cover Topography
402 J001001 0 ASH ST RN3 Land Cover Topography
352 D018001 284 PALMER AVE RN1 Land Cover Topography
334 A015001 0 PALMER AVE RN1 Land Cover Topography
166 B014001 21 RANDALL ST RN3 Water/Sewer Line
126 G003001 56 CLIFTON ST RN3 Water/Sewer Line
192 K032001 192 WOLCOTT ST RN3 Water/Sewer Line
402 B011001 0 THURLOW ST RN3 Land Cover Water/Sewer Line
385 B027001 200 LAMBERT ST RN1 Topography Water/Sewer Line
261 G009001 0 HILLCREST AVE RN1 Land Cover Topography
402 E008001 0 GERTRUDE AVE RN3 Land Cover Water/Sewer Line
160 D020001 60 ROSEDALE ST RN3 Land Cover Topography Water/Sewer Line
300 E039001 148 COMMONWEALTH DR RN1 Topography Water/Sewer Line
296 A006001 0 WARREN AVE RN1 Land Cover Topography Water/Sewer Line
085 V006001 238 SEASHORE AVE IR1 Land Cover Topography Water/Sewer Line
283 B053001 86 DENNETT ST RN1 Land Cover Topography Water/Sewer Line




 Page 5
 Total # of Total # of RENTAL RENTAL OWNER OWNER
 Low Workforce # of Workforce Low #of Workforce Low # of # of
 Site Plan Number of Total # of Income Affordable Affordable Affordable Income Affordable Affordable Income Market Market
 Main [Project Name or] Site Plan Approval Date Units Affordable Affordable (80-120% Units (80-100% Affordable Units (80-120% Affordable Market Rate Units Rate Units # of IZ
CBL Address PF Address Description Application ID (if Applicable) Status Approved Units (0-80% AMI) (RENTAL) AMI) (0%-80% (OWNER) AMI) (0%-80% Rate Units (RENTAL) (OWNER) units
 Jordan's Meats
029 L0030 203 FORE S203 Fore Street Redevelopment 2012-491 8/14/2012 Expired 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 18

028 I00600167 NEWB 167 Newbury Street Newbury Lofts 2012-540 9/11/2012 Expired 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 19
025 B0030 SOMERSE 59 Somerset Street Subdivision 2014-203 3/3/2015 Expired 440 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 440 440 0
 161 YORK York St
044 B0060 STREET 161 York Street Redevelopment 2016-261 2/28/2017 Expired 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 11 0
 221 221 Congress
013 G0120CONGRES 221 Congress Street Street 2016-260 4/6/2017 Expired 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 17 0
045 E0210 SPRING 197 Spring Street 197 Spring Street 2017-061 5/9/2017 Expired 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 7 0
 510
135 E0080 STEVENS 510 Stevens Avenue 510 Stevens 2017-283 3/13/2018 Expired 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0
 24 ST.
 LAWRENC
016 J00600E STREET 24 St. Lawrence Street HR Property Mgt 2017-242 7/24/2018 Expired 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 0
 Shipyard Approved with
020 C0090 86 NEWBU86 Newbury Street Redevelopment 000045-2018 9/25/2018 Conditions 10 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 9 9 0 1
 300 Allen Ave - Mixed
344 E0060 ALLEN 300 Allen Avenue use, Estelle 000012-2018 9/25/2018 Expired 12 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 11 0 11 1
 57 ST.
016 E0160 LAWRENC
 263 57 St. Lawrence Street 57
 263St. Lawrence
 Cumberland 000525-2019 8/13/2019 Expired 16 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 15 15 0 1
026 F0080 CUMBERL 263 Cumberland Avenue (89 room lodging 000748-2019 10/8/2019 Expired 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
040 B0080 PLEASAN 32 Pleasant Street Condos 000932-2019 3/10/2020 Expired 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 0
 844 844 Stevens
293 D0140STEVENS 844 Stevens Avenue Avenue 000961-2020 7/21/2020 Expired 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 20 0 0
 1844
327 B0040 FOREST 1844 Forest Avenue 1844 Forest 000975-2020 2/9/2021 Expired 17 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 15 15 0 2
 30-32 Atlantic Approved with
016 F0250 30-32 ATLA30-32 Atlantic Street Street 001667-2021 12/14/2021 Conditions 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0
 Approved with
015 B0150 37 MONTR37 Montreal Street 19 Willis Street 000807-2019 12/14/2021 conditions 12 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 11 0 11 0

118 A0030387 & 405 387 & 405 Deering Avenue 387 Deering Ave 001495-2021 2/22/2022 Expired 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 0 0
 Approved with
036 H003094 PORTLA94 Portland Street 94 Portland Street 001845-2021 3/22/2022 Conditions 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0
 26 E. Oxford Approved with
013 D002026 E. OXFO26 East Oxford Street Street 001837-2021 7/12/2022 Conditions 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 0
 Approved with
053 A011031 FOREST 31 Forest Street 31 Forest Street 002018-2022 1/24/2023 Conditions 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0
 385 Congress Approved with
012 P0270 385 CONG 385 Congress Street Street 002156-2022 2/14/2023 conditions 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 9 0
 185 Commercial Approved with
032 U0030185 COMM185 Commercial Street Street 002235-2022 2/28/2023 conditions 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0
190 K0100 73 POWSLA73 Powsland Street Street 001808-2021 4/11/2023 Conditions 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 9 0
 465 Congress PL-002411- Approved with
027 A0150465 CONG 465 Congress Street Street 2023 5/23/2023 conditions 63 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 63 63 0 0
 Creation of PL-002419- Approved with
037 D0020511 CONG 511 Congress Street Dwelling Unit 2023 6/13/2023 conditions 107 27 0 27 27 0 0 0 0 80 80 0 27
053 F0060 15 CRESCE 15 Crescent Street 15 Crescent Street 2023 12/12/2023 Conditions 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 0
037 F0220 477 CONG 477 Congress Street Street 2023 12/12/2023 Conditions 140 40 0 40 40 40 0 0 0 0 100 100 0 40
056 C0020 64 PINE ST64 Pine Street TBD PL-002678-2024 5/14/2024 Conditions 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 9 0
 985 PL-002918-
142 B0150FOREST 985 Forest Avenue 985 Forest Avenue 2024 9/10/2024 Approved with Condit 18 5 0 5 5 5 0 0 0 0 13 13 0 5
 Page 6
033 H009050 Cedar S 50 Cedar Street Oxford Street 002885-2024 1/14/2025 Approved with Condit 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 24 0 6
 Phase 3 of 197
 Oxford Street
026 A0010158 Lancas158 Lancaster Street Phased Site Plan 002885-2024 1/14/2025 Approved with Condit 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 24 0 6
201 A0050125 Thomp125 Thompson's Point Point 003090-2024 2/25/2025 Approved with Condit 255 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 255 255 0 0
010 D0010165 Washi 165 Washington Avenue Avenue 003143-2024 2/25/2025 Approved with Condit 325 82 82 0 82 0 82 0 0 0 243 243 0 82
033 M001 PREBLE 61 Preble Street 61 Preble Street PL-003222-2025 6/24/2025 Approved 217 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 217 217 0 55
299 D011029 BELFOR 29 Belfort Street TBD PL-003161-2024 7/8/2025 Approved 50 13 0 13 13 13 0 0 0 0 37 37 0 13
044 B0060161 YORK 161 York Street 161 York Street PL-003412-2025 10/28/2025 Approved with Condit 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 0
032 I0400 45 UNION 45 Union Street 45 Union Street PL-003157-2024 12/9/2025 Approved with Condit 73 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 73 0 73 0
136 E0060 583 STEVE 65 McAuley Way - Building TBD 001649-2021 1/25/2022 Conditions 28 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 0 28 3
136 E0060 583 STEVE 65 McAuley Way - Building TBD 001649-2021 1/25/2022 Approved 42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 0 42 5
018 A001058 FORE ST58 Fore Street Ph. 2 2022 9/12/2023 Conditions 396 25 0 25 25 25 0 0 0 0 371 159 212 25
167 E0010 95 FRONT 95 Front Street Street (PHA): 000672-2019 7/23/2019 Conditions 8 6 0 6 0 0 0 6 6 0 2 0 2 0
022 I00300STREET 47 Boyd Street 47 Boyd Street 008001-2019 11/12/2019 Expired 3 3 3 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
033 K0090 337 CUMB 337 Cumberland Avenue Avenue 001140-2020 9/15/2020 Expired 60 48 48 0 48 0 48 0 0 0 12 12 0 0
385 A0010165 LAMB 165 Lambert Street Lambert Woods 002078-2022 2/28/2023 conditions 90 90 0 90 0 0 0 90 90 0 0 0 0 0
 186 Woodford PL-002753-
124 J00500186 WOOD202 Woodford Street Street 2023 5/28/2024 Approved with Condit 46 46 46 0 46 0 46 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
 186 Woodford PL-002753-
124 J00500186 WOOD186 Woodford Street Street 2023 5/28/2024 Approved with Condit 51 51 51 0 51 0 51 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
022 H0010OXFORD 70 East Oxford Street (AKA TBD PL-002845-2024 7/9/2024 Approved with Condit 55 50 50 0 50 0 50 0 0 0 5 5 0 0
016 F0010ATLANTIC 42 Atlantic Street 42 Atlantic Street 2024 7/30/2024 Approved with Condit 30 30 30 0 30 0 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
046 D0170ST 156 High Street 156 High Street 2024 8/13/2024 Approved with Condit 31 31 31 0 31 0 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
033 K0100CUMBERL 331 Cumberland Avenue Avenue 2024 8/13/2024 Approved with Condit 60 48 48 0 48 0 48 0 0 0 12 12 0 0
026 B0180Oxford 197 Oxford Street Oxford Street 002885-2024 1/14/2025 Approved with Condit 48 48 48 0 48 0 48 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
022 H001070 EAST OX9 Boyd Street - Phase 3 Phase  2 PL-003283-2025 5/27/2025 Approved 27 27 0 0 0
 9 Boyd Street -
022 H001070 EAST OX9 Boyd Street - Phase 2 Phase 2 PL-003283-2025 5/27/2025 Approved 92 82 10 10 0

217 A01001877 CONG1877 Congress Street TBD PL-003020-2024 7/22/2025 Approved 156 78 0 78 0 0 0 78 78 0 78 26 52 39

269 B00101125 BRIG 1125 Brighton Avenue TBD PL-003379-2025 8/12/2025 Approved 50 50 47 3 50 3 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 Affordable Projects
 Site Plans associated with Master Development Plans (MDPs), which have extended approval timeframes
 Recent Approvals (Do not exceed average or median time for site plans to receive building permit approval
 Site Plans that exceed average and median timeframe from site plan approval to building permit issuance




 Page 7