The changes will allow Northeast Bank to move its building south along Canal Street.
LEWISTON – Northeast Bank will put a four-story office building at the corner of Maple and Canal streets, councilors agreed Tuesday.

Councilors agreed to rewrite the development agreement that kicked off the Southern Gateway redevelopment, allowing the bank to move its building south along Canal Street to the place where Lincoln Street Radiator and an apartment building sit today.

The council also agreed to give the bank another $200,000 to make the new building match its neighbor, the Oxford Networks building. That was too much for some councilors.

“I feel like I have a gun to my head,” said Councilor Norm Rousseau. Rousseau said he objected to the city having to pay more to keep developers happy.

“I can’t support this,” he said. “I think it’s good to work with developers, to be open for business. But you have to draw the line somewhere.”

The city unveiled its plan for lower Lisbon Street last spring to redevelop the block of buildings surrounded by Lisbon, Maple and Canal streets.

Work on the Oxford Networks office building is already under way. Oxford Networks also built a switching station for a fiber-optic cable network just north of the site and installed a 28-foot-wide satellite dish on top of the Pontiac Building.

Classes at Andover College’s Lewiston campus on Lisbon Street began last month. Across the street, VIP Auto Discount Center announced plans to build its flagship store on Lisbon Street. The lot between the VIP and the Public Theatre is planned for a restaurant.

But the city is paying for that development.

The city created a 100 percent credit enhancement TIF district on all real estate taxes paid by Oxford Networks, Northeast Bank and the third office building. That would refund all real estate property taxes those businesses pay for the next 20 years.

The city will also begin $7 million worth of road and infrastructure improvements in the area, including the construction of the garage, according to the agreement. The city also agreed to pay about $540,000 to relocate the Lincoln Street Radiator Shop from the corner of Canal and Maple streets to outer Lisbon Street.

“I feel like we’re being nickeled and dimed here,” Rousseau said.

But Assistant City Administrator Greg Mitchell said the changes would allow Northeast Bank to build a bigger office complex. Original plans called for a two story building, he said. Now the bank would build a four-story, 28,000-square-foot complex.

“Understand, this means a bigger project and even more jobs,” Mitchell said.

Councilors agreed, voting to change the development agreement by a 6-1 vote.

The new agreement also puts six parking spaces back on Lisbon Street. Councilors agreed to change landscaping plans to allow more on-street parking last week. Tuesday’s agreement makes that official, Mitchell said.
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