Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. I X A P R I L 2 9 , 2 0 1 9 56 Reclaiming real estate Yesterday's factory site is today's 24/7 mixed use development B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r T ransformation of shuttered mills, abandoned industrial sites, derelict waterfronts and decom- missioned military bases have changed Maine over the past quarter century. In the past two decades mills and other dormant sites have seen new eco- nomic vitality. A case in point is ompson's Point in Portland. e 30-acre former port ter- minus and railyard declined in the 20th century. Proposals for the redevelopment of ompson's Point go back as far as 1995, according to one of the early issues of Mainebiz. Fishman Realty planned to invest $125 million to build the Gulf of Maine Aquarium, a convention and commerce center and a "multimodal" transportation center, the latter of which did get developed. It wasn't until 2014 that Chris ompson — no relation to the origi- nal ompson of ompson's Point — and Forefront Partners began to rede- velop the site. Forefront brought in restaurants, pubs and office space. e State eatre has concerts there. e Children's Museum and eatre of Maine plans eventually to move into a $14 million site there. Forefront is planning a 148-room hotel. Office tenants include the creative-technol- ogy company Halo Studio. Makeover for Maine's mills Maine's unused mills have attracted similar interest for new uses, creating jobs and residences and stimulating economic activity. In Dover-Foxcroft, the 60,000- square-foot Mayo Mill, built in 1844 for wool production and once the economic foundation of the region, closed in 2007. Redevelopment began in 2012. By 2015, space was flourishing with retail, office and residential use. Similar makeovers occurred in Biddeford's textile mills, including the North Dam Mill, Riverdam Mill, Mill at Saco Falls and Lincoln Mill. At the former Pepperell Mill textile mill complex, 16 buildings with more than 1 million square feet of space are largely filled with stores, apartments and businesses. e sprawling Bates Mill complex, dating dates back to textile roots in the 1850s, was one of a number of mills that made Lewiston a manufacturing colos- sus at one time. Since 1997, renovations at Bates Mill have brought residences, offices, restaurants and shops. Belfast's waterfront, once an unsightly embarrassment, has been transformed by new infrastructure and the 2011 arrival of Front Street Shipyard, which has since been instrumental in stimulating activity around it. Plans are now in the works to develop two of the world's largest 207-784-3159 888-593-6328 www.GoNect.com info@GoNect.com 207-783-8799 www.crownlimomaine.com info@GoNect.com Motorcoach School Bus Limousine Town Car Trolley 235 Goddard Road • Lewiston, ME 04240 www.GoNect.com 207-594-9300 info@GoNect.com 25 R E D E V E L O P M E N T — I N D U S T R I A L S PA C E 2 0 1 4 F I L E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Steve Levesque, now and from an early issue of Mainebiz, has been instrumental in the redevelopment of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, now Brunswick Landing. Today, the site has a business park and housing. Chris Thompson, who is redeveloping Thompson's Point, and (at right) the Mainebiz from Jan./Feb. 1995, which reports on an earlier proposal for re- development of the former industrial site.

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