Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 2 5 F O C U S A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E posts have included commissioner of transpor- tation for Maine and New Hampshire, and city councilor and mayor of Portland. e part-time Augusta resident is now with McClure Engineering in Iowa and also has a small consulting company. For Capitol Heights Plaza, he was attracted to the site's location and market potential. "How could you have a more valuable eight acres?" he says. "Valuable in the sense that it's three blocks from the capitol and can be redeveloped as multi-use. Especially talking with Lajoie Brothers, I knew that the city could use more market-rate apartments. And an extended-stay hotel close to the capitol made a lot of sense." Boutique hotel At 295 Water St., Andrew LeBlanc and Nate DeLois want to convert a 19th century building called the Olde Federal Building into a 40-key boutique hotel. "e Olde Federal Building in Augusta pres- ents an exciting opportunity to work on something unique and special," says DeLois. "e historic detail of the building could never be replicated in today's world due to costs." DeLois is CFO and director of development at Uncommon Hospitality, a hotel operations and devel- opment company founded in 2015 by DeLois and his brother Tony. Its properties include the recently built Longfellow Hotel in Portland. LeBlanc previously performed a $7 million apart- ment conversion of the Vickery, a downtown building on the historic register. Converting the Olde Federal Building into a bou- tique hotel that is open 24 hours a day will mean the building, and its historic features, will be like a "living museum," says DeLois. e 41,212-square-foot, four-story structure on Augusta's riverfront was built as a post office and courthouse in the late 1800s. It's a contribut- ing structure in the Augusta Water Street National Register Historic District. "is is a spectacular stone building; it looks like a castle with turrets and a tower," says DeLois. Romanesque arches Faced with granite, highlights include a central tower, Romanesque arches, an open marble stair- case, terrazzo flooring, wood paneling and trim, ornamental plasterwork and a first-floor colonnade with six arches supported by columns. More recently, the building was remodeled for professional office use. Installations included sheetrock and drop ceilings that covered some historic features. In 2022, a proposal was in the works to redevelop the building for a mixed-use apartment complex with street-level and lower-level retail and office space. at idea fell through, says Luke. Converting it for hotel use is challenging. "We're adding new mechanical and electrical ser- vice and more than 40 bathrooms throughout a build- ing in which no two floors are the same — and doing it while retaining and restoring significant historical elements," says DeLois. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » The historic detail of the building could never be replicated in today's world due to costs. — Nate DeLois Uncommon Hospitality P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F C O L L I E R S P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F C O L L I E R S The plan is to convert the Olde Federal Building into a boutique hotel. The Olde Federal Building, on Water Street, features granite facing, turrets and arches.

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