Avesta’s West End Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be transformative projects for the West End neighborhood of South Portland, Maine. The city revised their neighborhood zoning after working with residents to permit the creation of a new downtown, and these buildings are the first apartment buildings to show the promise of what a walkable neighborhood based around affordable housing can be. The apartments are a mix of deeply affordable and market rate family units, set over street level storefronts and community spaces. This session will highlight the experiences of a design team led by female-identifying, emerging professionals as they navigated the delivery of two high-quality, low-impact buildings on a strict budget. The completed structures will be thermal bridge-free and target Passive House airtightness metrics, as well as exceed AIA 2030 expectations for pEUI reductions. The roofline’s geometry, while striking to behold, is also optimized for the future installation of photovoltaic panels. The proximity of these apartments to established commercial and recreational centers, as well as the creation of new community and retail spaces in their ground levels, further promotes a reduction of energy consumption by occupants as it lessens the need for automobile transportation to access amenities, services, and workplaces. This model for neighborhood design not only takes advantage of previously existing walkable conditions, but also introduces new ones.