NORWAY – The Planning Board got its first peek at the condominiums and office space planned for the C.B. Cummings Mill site once the old buildings are torn down and the new owners can start construction.
Two representatives of the new owners, who are several entities going under the name Norway Properties, presented the board with preliminary plans at the Thursday night meeting.
“We wanted to sit down with you folks to show you what our thoughts were,” Shawn Frank, a site developer with Sebago Technics, said to the board after pointing out the different components of the plan.
A group of investors, including the Libra Foundation, bought the mill site from EnterpriseMaine this fall for $300,000. The group also bought another property off Orchard Street from a private owner to increase total lot size. Their plan consists of building townhouses and commercial units in the 8.5-acre space just behind Main Street.
The plan is novel for the town because it will be bringing in a new type of development to Norway. But if successful, the condominiums and office space could be a boon for downtown development.
Morris Fisher, of CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co., which is another backer to the project, said Thursday, “It’s conceivable we could break ground this spring,” after the demolition of the vacant buildings is complete.
According to the first draft of the plan, there will be 19 townhouses with garages, and four 5,000-square-foot buildings for commercial and office space.
An 80-car parking lot will share a driveway with the townhouses.
Norway Properties would also develop two associations – one for the commercial units and one for the residential ones – which would be responsible for maintaining the roads and parking.
Planning Board Chairman Dennis Gray said Thursday, “Nothing raises a red flag or ringing bell. It is certainly a reasonable approach to the lot.”
Fisher said the owners will work with architects to design the structures. In 30 to 60 days, he anticipated submitting an application to the planning board.
Fisher said the idea for the development was first generated by the Libra Foundation, a private philanthropic organization based in Portland, which then pulled in other investors.
“It was a program that they have been thinking about to help small towns revitalize their core to bring business or people back downtown,” Fisher said recently.
He said the investors include Joe Boulos, chairman of The Boulos Co.; Jere Michelson, vice president of the Libra Foundation; Fisher, president of Boulos Property Management; William Haggett, former chair of Bath Iron Works; and Larry Pugh, former CEO of VF Corp.
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