On April 7, 2017 NESEA held a tour of Bayside Anchor, a recently-completed 45 unit apartment building in downtown Portland, ME.  The building is a joint venture of the Portland Housing Authority and Avesta Housing, designed by Kaplan Thompson Architects and built by Wright-Ryan Construction.  The project originated as the winning entry in “Lowering the Cost of Housing,” a 2013 national competition organized by Deutsche Bank.

Attendees heard about the strategies that allowed the team to build Bayside Anchor to the very low cost of $142 per square foot, achieving the maximum affordability points under the State of Maine scoring system. The building was built to PHIUS+ certification standards and is the first new building commissioned by the Portland Housing Authority in over 40 years.

Project Overview

• 38,000 sq.ft.
• 45 units of affordable housing
• Wood framed throughout, with cellulose wall insulation
• 50kW PV rooftop array installed on ballasted rack mounts
• Air-sealing is 0.05 CFM50 /ft²  (compared to typical 0.25 CFM50 / ft²)

Schedule