By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Maine native Travis Soule has had the image of a finished, redeveloped Cowan Mill in his mind for years.

“I’d drive over that bridge and see it and I was just amazed nobody was doing anything with it,” he said. “I’ve seen towns do a lot with much, much less.”

He imagined nice homes, nice shops and people clustered along the building, playing in the park and taking canoes out on the river.

“I just didn’t get it, how people managed to ignore that,” Soule said. But he couldn’t.

It took him eight months to track down owner Martin Finley and convince him to part with the building.

Soule said he now has a contract to buy it and he and partner Vince Lobozzo will try to make his vision come true.

The pair’s SOLO Properties announced a $29 million redevelopment plan with the city of Lewiston Thursday that will see 20 to 30 high-end condominiums built in the upper floors of the old mill along with a new restaurant and boutique retail.

That will be followed by a second residential and retail development a year later at the Libbey Mill. It also includes long-term plans to build a 10-story, $10 million hotel.

Soule said he has made his name in development for being able to recognize upcoming markets. He did it for Maine developers and a Texas-based group for years, before starting his own company.

Lewiston-Auburn is fertile ground, he said. New downtown development – including plans for Auburn office buildings and Lewiston’s Southern Gateway development – have changed the Twin Cities fortunes.

“I don’t think the city was ready for something like this a couple of years ago,” he said. “But things have changed downtown. The city is very proactive, the most proactive in the state toward economic development.”

Amazing site’

Soule said he realized that all of the commercial development was going to create a demand for new housing. That, in turn, would create demand for new restaurants and upscale retail, all downtown.

He envisions as many as 30 new condominiums in the Cowan Mill, depending on what buyers want.

“The great thing about this is that it’s sturdy and wide open,” he said. “We don’t need load-bearing walls, so people can have just about any configuration for their unit that they want.”

He plans to build the condos to taste, adding the amenities buyers want in the size and shape they settle on. The building will have security, wireless Internet and a workout room, he said. Units won’t be cheap, going for $250,000 to $300,000 each.

“We’re probably really going to test the market,” Soule said. “We’re probably going to create the high-water mark right here.”

He imagines a four-star restaurant on the ground level, and has his favorite spot for a table already picked out. It’s on the northwest corner of the mill, overlooking the rocks of the Great Falls.

“In my mind, this is the development project in Maine right now,” Soule said. “It’s an amazing site. It just makes so much sense.”