Last month we looked at the many factors influencing housing affordability in Maine. As you might recall, I mentioned that the single largest problem (as well as the possible solution) is new construction inventory.

Maine has one of the slowest and least progressive new construction markets in the nation. In addition to a historical deficit of new construction, the housing stock we do have is some of the oldest and most high-maintenance in the nation.

These factors have caused the cost of purchasing a home in Maine to increase and outpace the national average consistently over the past decade.

We have the demand and we have the land. Then why aren’t we seeing more “big builders” creating homes to meet the demand?

I wanted to know the answer, so I reached out to one of Maine's most prolific builders in the last 20 years, Loni Graiver of Graiver Homes.

BUILDER SPEAKS OUT

"Loni, why can't we get the big builders to come here? The Lennars, The D.R. Hortons? The KB homes? These builders who drop 1500 homes in a couple years?"

Loni’s company, Graiver Homes, has built more homes in recent times than any other builder in Maine in many of the Southern Maine Coastal towns, so he ought to know. His strong sentiments are not only based on his historical experience in Maine towns, but come from a very recent and impactful situation.

Loni says one of his most recent development experiences in Saco is a "case study" for what is wrong with the attitude in Maine toward development and shows what needs to change for us to keep the builders we have and attract some new larger builders to help us with new inventory.

According to Loni there are several reasons, including climate and available workforce. But, he said, climate and workforce aren’t even worth mentioning “compared to Maine's regulatory problems, from the top down. The state level, the towns and cities, town councils, planning boards, are all making it miserable to build.”

NEW UNITS IN SACO

A bit of background: Loni is no stranger to development. Having created new construction in dozens of towns with experienced partners - Loni knows how to find the right place for a project and how to find the path of least resistance to approval.

He specifically searched for a town with zoning and ordinances that matched his vision and in Saco, he thought. For this reason, years back, he began the process for building a development in Saco Maine for over 332 mixed use units.

His team went about securing approval the right way, according to Loni. “The town said jump, we said how high. We were prepared to give millions to improve town infrastructure."

INTENTIONAL OBSTRUCTION

Everything was full-steam ahead! Graiver received preliminary approval from the planning board on his project and met all the town’s request. Then came the "NIMBY-ism" (Not in my back yard). Very quickly a vocal cohort of local citizens gave serious push back to the town. They aggressively opposed Graiver's development and pushed until the town caved.

The town felt pressured to pull the plug on Graiver’s all-but-completely approved project stating "public testimony changed their minds"

This abrupt change robbed a huge number of residents of an opportunity to attain housing, while draining Gravier and his team of huge sums of time, money, and energy spent to comply with the town’s requirements.

‘I’M PART OF THE PROBLEM’

So how could a relatively small portion of a community shut down a project, cause a contractor to say "I am never going to Saco again for a project", and deprive the town of new residents paying taxes?

The answer is not an easy one to hear. Loni admits "I am a part of the problem - we both are"

He continues: "I haven't done a good job being a part of the bureaucracy; I want to be out there building, running around putting stuff together, not sitting in town meetings, but you can't do that" and expect things to change in your favor.

So how do we, both real estate professionals and home buyers and owners, change the construction climate in Maine to allow development? How do we create an environment that keeps builders like Loni Gravier in Maine and inspires more to come?

GET INVOLVED

Loni says, first and foremost, builders, developers, realtors, and industry professionals need to become involved in policy from the state legislature all the way down to the town council.

As professionals in the real estate field, we have been far too complacent with leaving power in people’s hands who are more concerned with the status quo than helping their fellow citizens. We can't just build and sell houses - we need to speak, we need to educate.

In addition, he says that every citizen needs to "show up to support, not just shoot down."

BE A POSITIVE VOICE

Mainers cannot continue asking for housing, act as if we want solutions and then fail to support and show up for those solutions. When we fail to do our part, a small group of loud voices control the development landscape of Maine. These voices ultimately make the state inhospitable to families hoping to stay or move here, pushing the home prices up and hurting the middle class.

Voice support for development, show up to meetings, and provide at least an equal volume of noise to the negative NIMBY-ism.

To an aspiring builder or developer out there Loni offers this hard-earned advice: find a city or town that is builder friendly and where the home value supports what you want to do - you also need demand for your product. For example, Graiver has pivoted to a project in Windham with over 100 units. He says dealing with Windham is already easier and makes him want to continue creating more homes there.

When you go to towns that are rewarding the hard work of growth, it will be a win-win for the developer and residents alike.

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

Graiver says that, if we reduce regulation and planning board red tape, builders will come, projects will come.

And, when there are projects, the workforce will come and grow to meeting the demand.

When projects and workforce grow, we may just find ourselves looking at more houses for sale. And we may even see the cost to buy plateau and stabilize, as we have already seen in areas that welcome new construction.

Please go out and speak up. Please support intelligent, profitable development.

A special thank you to Loni Graiver for his time and knowledge and frank point of view.

Questions or comments? Please reach out to me below