BANGOR, Maine — Construction at Bangor's first tiny home park is nearly complete, and they are now accepting applications for 30 tiny homes, which will be available to rent starting in December.
Bangor landlord and developer Louie Morrison transformed an old mobile home park into Randall Park, a tiny home community.
He said the project’s goal was simple: “Try to see how many roofs we can put above how many heads in the least amount of time.”
Morrison, who owns more than 300 rental units in Bangor with his partner, said they wanted to increase their rental openings with this project.
“Building these tiny homes, people could feel like they have their own home,” he said. “Maybe they can’t afford to buy their own home yet, because home buying is [...] fairly unaffordable.”
Each home is 320 square feet with an open kitchen-living room layout, one bedroom, a full bathroom, full-size appliances, and a parking spot.
Rent is $1,300 per month, and it includes water and sewer costs. Morrison said this price point is needed to break even on the $4 million project, since the development didn’t receive any local or federal funding.
“We at one point were praying we could rent these things for 800 bucks,” Morrison said. “That would’ve been a dream come true, but it’s just not a reality in this day and age.”
Laura Mitchell, executive director for the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, said tiny homes can be a part of solving Maine’s housing shortage.
“Our state needs 80,000 homes by 2030,” Mitchell said. “A new development like this is exciting and a perfect opportunity to try a new type of housing for Maine people.”
Morrison said creating more and larger tiny home communities could make a big impact.
“I feel like this could be used as a model,” he said. “We could help this issue a lot.”
While the units are all just about ready to be lived in, Morrison said they’re still constructing a laundry facility and a community green at the park.
Those interested in renting a tiny home can apply at clecbangor.com.