LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen voted Monday to accept a $400,000 grant from the Communities for Maine’s Future on behalf of Lamb Block Associates to assist with the redevelopment of the Lamb Block building on Depot Street.

The town is the fiscal agent for the grant.

The will go to the town and the town will loan it to developer Kevin Bunker on a long-term deferred basis, Bunker said during a public hearing Monday. Otherwise the funds would be taxable, he said.

Developer Collaborative Predevelopment LLC of Portland, which is acting as authorized agent for Lamb Block Associates, plans to buy the historic structure built in 1887 from Kenny and Petrah Jacques of Livermore Falls. Both Developer Collaborative Predevelopment and Lamb Block Associates are controlled by Bunker.

The proposed purchase price of the building is $150,000, according to an application filed with the Livermore Falls Planning Board. That board approved the site plan review application for the project in February. The floor area to be developed in the building is 11,320 square feet.

About $2 million will be put into the project that sits on 0.39-acre lot, Bunker said.

Bunker said he has reached a long-term commitment with HealthReach Community Health Centers to occupy the third floor and part of the second floor. The plan calls for HealthReach to put in a medical clinic on the third floor and offices on the second floor.

HealthReach is currently located in Central Plaza, adjacent to Family Dollar.

The Lamb Block building abuts the Androscoggin Valley Medical Arts Center on Main Street that Bunker developed for Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Two-thirds of the building is leased, he said. The space where the former Village Pizza was located on the first floor and a space in back of H&R Block are both open.

The project will also be a certified historic rehabilitation and will qualify for state and federal historic tax credits, which Bunker said he will use to help finance it.

The town’s application for the Communities for Maine’s Future grant finished first out of 32 applications, Bunker told selectmen.

The project had to meet certain criteria. Being a historical preservation project and part of a downtown revitalization project helped the application get a higher score, he said.

Bunker said Hebert Construction of Lewiston will be the contractor on the job. It is the same company that built the Medical Arts Center.

Livermore Falls Fire Chief Gerry Pineau said the company was good to work with. He is very satisfied with the safety aspects of the medical center including the sprinkler system.

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