Weather depending, Boothbay Region Development Corp. expects its first housing unit to arrive this week. Emily McConnell is the project's consultant and listing agent. She reported additional units would follow on a weekly basis. "The project is moving along as planned," McConnell said March 27.

The 20 townhouse units are modular homes constructed off-site and delivered to Boothbay. "These homes are built in factory and shipped to the location when ready. This guards against being impacted by elements during construction," McConnell said.  "A new unit should arrive each week, and Phase 2 should be completed shortly after Labor Day."

BRDC was formed in June 2022 to help tackle the Boothbay region housing crisis. The corporation's primary focus is developing newly constructed homes. Phase 2 began earlier this spring by preparing 0 Butler Road to receive 20 townhouse condominiums this summer. Phase 1 was connecting sewer and water to the project.

Steve Malcom, Erin Cooperrider and Susan Witt are BRDC's board of directors. The project targets affordable workforce housing for  teachers, healthcare, retail, hospitality, municipal employees and shipyard workers. "Housing is scarce so we formed the BRDC to bring more workforce housing into the region," BRDC President Steve Malcom said. "It's so frustrating seeing people leave the region due to the lack of housing. You see people leave and take their money with them which is sad and it also hurts economic development."

BRDC's plan is offering affordable workforce housing based on a family income of four. Household Median Income for applicants should be 75% to 120% (corrected from 125% in earlier posting of this article) of HMI or $63,250 to $101,250 per family, based on BRDC guidelines. While Phase 2 continues, the corporation is accepting "reservations" from interested families. "This is a less binding agreement than a purchase and sale," McConnell said. "If you qualify under the income requirements and a bank verifies you are eligible, you can reserve a unit for a $1,000 deposit. This gives you time to look over all the paperwork and absorb all the information."

BRDC is taking reservations now. McConnell is the contact person. Her phone number is 207-323-2333. Her email address is emily@vitalius.com. So far, the corporation has received no reservations, said McConnell.

Malcom said there haven't been any problems too big for the project. "I can't really say there have been any really big challenges. It's gone smooth, so far," he said. "We have a great team in place, and having Erin Cooperrider on your team really makes everything go right."

McConnell said the 20 Butler Townhouses will all be similar in construction. Each has two bedrooms and 1.5 baths, a private yard, and parking reserved for residents and guests.

According to the BRDC website, future phases could include apartments, single-family homes, and additional townhouse condominiums.