Construction could begin as early as this spring on a $6.4 million proposed renovaton of the former Cousens School in Kennebunk into a 28-unit affordable housing complex.

The project will be reviewed for preliminary approval Monday at Kennebunk's Planning Board meeting. Avesta Housing, a nonprofit based in Portland, bought the former school building in the fall of 2005. At a town meeting in November, residents approved a contract zone that allows denser housing.

Avesta initially had selected a site in Wells for the affordable housing project.

The organization had received a $1 million subsidy from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Office to help fund a project in York County. After the Wells project fell though, Avesta found the Cousens School site.

Debora Keller, a development officer with Avesta, said the need for affordable housing in Kennebunk and the building's proximity to town services made it an attractive site.

The plan calls for the original school, built in the 1930s, to be remodeled as four apartment units. The addition built in the 1950s would be demolished, and a two-story 24-unit structure would replace it. The apartments would remain affordable for 99 years and would be owned and managed by Avesta Housing.

Kennebunk's goal is to increase the town's affordable housing options, town planner Judy Bernstein said. In the early 1990s, the town created an incentive to encourage affordable housing projects, allowing developers to exceed the allowed density. The incentive had no takers until recently, when Accessible Space, Inc., based in Minnesota, filed plans for 15 affordable units along Cat Mousam Road. The Planning Board is reviewing the project.

To encourage more affordable housing development, Bernstein said the town may consider requiring new subdivisions to contain a certain percentage of affordable units, a common practice in many communities.

The town's 2005 plan estimated the affordable-housing shortage to be 381 units. Avesta's goal, Keller said, is to begin construction in the spring or early summer, with a 10- to 12-month construction period.

The rent range for the apartments will be between $680 and $880 a month for one- and two-bedroom apartments, Keller said. A single person could earn up to $25,560 and qualify.

Staff Writer Anne Gleason can be contacted at 282-8229 or at: agleason@pressherald.com