Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 9 24 Plans for an innovation park at redeveloped Downs S C A R B O R O U G H — An 80-acre parcel will be set aside as an industrial and business park in the rede- velopment of Scarborough Downs. e Innovation Park at e Downs will be a specially zoned business park at the north end of the 500-acre mixed-use development, which will have housing, a town center and retail. e redevelopment is being led by Roccy Risbara of Risbara Bros. Construction in Scarborough. e business park is a new wrinkle in the rede- velopment, which has been widely reported on in the past year. e innovation park was introduced at the recent MEREDA conference. e Boulos Co. is handling leasing. Drew Sigfridson, managing director of Boulos, told Mainebiz the business park "is trying to hit that unmet need for light-industrial space." "We looked at where is the market today? Let's hit where the demand is today," he says. Potential uses could be for food processing, brewery, R&D sites, high-tech facilities, manufacturing and assembly, warehouse or medical or diagnostic site. Sigfridson says he's already heard from a food pro- ducer, a tech company and a manufacturer — seeking square footage from 15,000 to 50,000. e site will also provide a blank slate for com- panies needing custom space, with an option to lease or buy. "We have owners of companies coming to us saying there are no buildings for sale," Sigfridson says. "A lot of companies need specialization — in ceiling heights, parking, power demands, office space. You can go find a building and reno- vated it but renovation can be as much as new [construction]." e site has already received zoning approvals. New construction would need a site plan approval from the town of Scarborough. A key selling point of the business park will be its proximity to the Maine Turnpike, which would be less than five minutes away. e redevelopment of Scarborough Downs presented an unusual opportunity — a 500-acre clean slate in the middle of one of the most densely developed parts of Maine. Utilities will include three-phase power, city water and sewer, natural gas and fiber optic network. Sites (and zoning) will allow for buildings of 5,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet. Construction is expected to start this spring. Sanford finds innovative financing to expand broadband S A N F O R D — With a downtown mill complex, 600 acres of industrial parks and 80 other concen- trations of businesses, city officials here recognized the need to have a strong fiber optic network. What may be unusual here is the way the city funded the 45-mile network, which is operated by Biddeford-based GWI. Of the $1.5 million needed for the upgrade, Sanford secured $769,209 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Rather than going to taxpayers for the rest, the city turned to its inventory of unused properties. It raised the money by selling surplus properties, includ- ing the former Emerson School. As the city likes to say, there was no increase in taxes to build this project. e high-speed system is expected to make Sanford more attractive to potential businesses and increase productivity at existing businesses. At the time the project was announced in 2016, Mayor omas P. Cote cited the need for a "com- petitive edge and a differentiating factor when it comes to competing with other cities and towns for economic development and the workforce needed to support that growth." Fast forward to 2019, the project is just getting underway, Cote tells Mainebiz. "e network is officially under construction, we started on Jan. 11 of this year and it will take about four months to complete. ere have been countless hurdles to overcome and our planning and make- ready estimates took nearly a year to complete," he says, adding that "City Manager Steve Buck and his team have navigated uncharted waters here in Maine to make this happen." e funding approach has been watched as part of a study of digital inclusion by the Post Road Foundation. e city has been approached by cell carriers for 5G installations, and Consolidated Communications and Atlantic Broadband have "favorably amended their pricing structures and offered long term plans to capture and retain clients," Cote says. Sanford will begin installation with Maine Department of Transportation of new traffic lights starting in 2020 which will be interconnected and controlled using the fiber network, a first of its design in Maine. If things continue on pace, Cote says Sanford will "light the fiber network" in April. "It's an exciting time for Sanford, we are tremen- dously proud of SanfordNet Fiber and see the network as an economic engine for the city," Cote says. Southern Maine roundup B y P e t e r V a n a L L e n S O U T H E R N M A I N E F O C U S R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y O F C A L E B J O H N S O N S T U D I O The Downs in Scarborough will include an innovation park, housing and a town center. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F C I T Y O F S A N F O R D Thomas P. Cote, mayor of Sanford It's an exciting time for Sanford, we are tremendously proud of SanfordNet Fiber and see the network as an economic engine for the city — Thomas P. Cote

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