By Staff
The 51-apartment Furman Block will officially open today with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that celebrates another completed project on former Portland Public Works Department property.
Developed by Szanton Co., the seven-story building has 51 mixed-income apartments for those age 55 and above, with street-level commercial space. Developer Ross Furman owns and manages the commercial space, and Szanton s property management arm, Saco Falls Management, manages the apartments. No tenant has yet been announced for Furman Block’s commercial space.
The building was designed by Archetype Architects and was built by Hebert Construction on the site of a former gravel lot used as parking for the city s public works vehicles. It s one of six former public works parcels sold to five local developers, who have built, or are building, a mix of residential and retail in the neighborhood.
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Fiston Mubalama stands outside a housing cooperative apartment building on Pierce Street in Lewiston on Sunday. Mubalama moved into a three-bedroom unit in the building over a year ago and likes the cooperative ownership model. “With the co-op, it’s way different, because we all look out for each other,” he says.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Back in March, Houssein Abdi attended a special meeting to find a way to help fellow tenants whose lives were just starting to be upended by the coronavirus pandemic.
They hatched a plan to prevent any tenants from being evicted for nonpayment of rent and to help find additional support for five households struggling to make ends meet.