It's a renter's market in Wareham.  And not only are rentals available, but they are affordable.

The Apartments at 815 Main St., is the latest development in town that is actively seeking tenants for this fall.  Its mixture of 49 affordable one-, two-, and three-bedroom units are ready for move-in on October 1, and the management company is seeking potential tenants.

"We invite interested people to come down and take a look," said Jim Regis, vice president of S-C Management Corp. which is leasing the the apartments. "We believe that when they do, they will love it, and want to rent it."

The units at 815 Main St. contribute to a significant number of affordable apartments coming available in Wareham.

The Retreat at Union Pond, on Cranberry Highway in East Wareham, has 104 new one-, two-, and three-bedroom units that are scheduled to open on November 1.  The development is currently accepting applications for potential tenants to be selected by a lottery on October 18.

If you prefer downtown Wareham, there are six units at the former Majestic Mattress Factory that are currently selecting applicants, and construction on two more units began Wednesday morning.

"I think things are progressing very well," said the mattress building developer Ryan Correia.  "Everyone seems to be happy with the project and we feel it was a win-win for all sides."

Correia also said that, although planning is preliminary, he hopes to break ground on affordable elderly housing units in the parcel next store within the year.  And even more senior affordable housing could be coming soon: a citizen's petition recommending that the town proceed with the development of senior affordable housing on the town-owned Westfield site has been submitted on behalf of the Westfield Study Committee for consideration at Town Meeting in October.

But already, according to Regis, locals are taking advantage of the availability.

"The majority of our response thus far has been locals who already live in Wareham or who work in Wareham," Regis said.  "The response has been strong, and we've been loving that we've had a local response and we're glad to have that and hope to continue it."

In fact, all of the approved tenants so far (the development held its lottery on July 16) are Wareham residents, and the development is eager to fill up before Union Pond begins filling its units.

But despite the abundance of affordable options currently available, the development process hasn't always been smooth. Especially for 815 Main St.

Although the construction is completed "early and on budget" according to Project Superintendent Mel Dishman, the project as a whole could not boast the same.

The project was originally proposed by developer JK Scanlan Company, Inc., of East Falmouth  as an 88-unit project, sparking concerns of associated traffic and scale. The development was scaled back in size to address density and zoning concerns, however, it stalled when the real estate market crashed in Fall 2008 and private financiers backed out.

In October 2009, it received a $8,531,022 in Federal Tax Credit Exchange funds, essentially no-interest, deferred loans using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided for projects that, according to Project Executive Andrew Baker "were without an investor but were "shovel-ready." The project was one of ten stalled projects in the State that received this funding. The original developer, Cornerstone Properties, is still involved as "a member and part of this project" according to Baker.

It is the first project in Massachusetts, and one of the first projects in the country, to close by using the Tax Credit Exchange Program included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, said Charles Eisenberg, the consultant who shepherded the project through the approval process, at the groundbreaking ceremony this April.

But now, like their competitors, they are concentrating on finding tenants who match federal income restrictions to qualify for the reduced rents.

815 Main St. offers 11 one-bedroom units, 35 two-bedroom units and 3 three-bedroom units, renting for $850, $990, and $1175 per month plus gas and electric, respectively.  All are deemed to be affordable to households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income, which is set at $51,480 for a family of four. In addition, five units will be set aside for households earning 30 percent of the area median income, and are eligible for tenants with section-8 housing vouchers.  (Tenants interested in those units must apply through South Shore Housing, however, not S-C Management).

According to Regis, the development hopes to attract families, young professionals, and older residents with a variety of townhouse and single-level apartments.  All the units were designed to have lots of light, access to the outdoors, and an open floorplan.

"They all have the same underlying qualities, lots of glass, light, lots of air," he said.  It works well for people starting out, or if a person is looking to downsize.  It makes it a nice product."