This week the Buzz is building and McModifying.

The McDonald’s at 138 Center St. in Auburn is undergoing a $300,000 interior renovation, according to a new city building permit.

Poulin Construction is doing the work for property owner Eben Corp.

According to the permit, the work will include remodeling the dining room, restrooms, front counter area and installing self-order kiosks. It’ll start in January and last four weeks.

Or, McWeeks.

Two other commercial permits issued by Auburn in October: a $300,000 project at 225 First Flight Drive to Bowie Properties LLC to turn warehouse space into a grow area and a $1,000,000 project at 296 Gracelawn Road for a new public works truck wash and warm storage building.

Public Works Director Dan Goyette said that project started this summer, in stages, and he hopes to see it wrap at the end of the month.

Before the new space, he said trucks were washed outside most of the time and there wasn’t enough under-roof or warm building space for their large assortment of vehicles.

New Lewiston housing project is a go

The Lewiston Planning Board unanimously approved the development review and subdivision plan for 35 apartment units at 111 Blake St. and 82 Pine St. at its meeting last week, according to City Planner Doug Greene.

“We are targeting spring of next year (to break ground),” said Catherine Elliott, a development officer with Avesta Housing, which is consulting on the project for Community Concepts.

Community Concepts will own the building when it’s finished.

Elliott said they hope to have the first people moving in in the spring of 2021.

The $7.4 million project will be four stories tall with 28 low-income housing units and seven market-rate units, according to filings with the board.

Some residents took issue with the city’s decision to rezone that area last summer.

Make way at Marco’s

Winners Circle Off-Track Betting is moving into Marco’s Restaurant.

Marco’s co-owner Duane Arnold said a month ago that was the hoped-for plan after Legends Bar & Grill moved into the OTB’s building at 4 Mollison Way in Lewiston.

The Italian eatery received a city permit in October for a $20,000 project putting up five walls at 12 Mollison Way.

“The construction in the restaurant is almost complete — we now have five dining and private rooms,” Arnold said Thursday. “We needed our area done first to accommodate our parties including the high demand for holiday party space.”

Construction on the new OTB space will start next. He’s hoping it’s four weeks or less before Winners Circle is open there.

Owned by LRI Inc., Winners Circle is one of four licensed off-track betting parlors in the state. Patrons wagered more than $3 million there last year, according to the Maine State Harness Racing Commission.

The best place in Maine to pay off debt?

The Lewiston-Auburn metro area, according to the website JackieBeck.com.

This week, Beck jogged four U.S. Census statistics for 942 metropolitan areas across the country — housing costs, income, unemployment levels and the percentage of people who get to work without a car or work from home — and picked the top place to pay down debt in each state.

Her logic: “Getting out of debt is easier when you’re not spending a fortune on housing and transportation, and when you have a job making a decent income.”

L-A’s median monthly housing costs came in at $865 and found 0.8% of people biking to work, 2.6% walking and 4.5% working from home.

Bundle up on Friday, bicyclists and walkers.

Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.

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