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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 25 JA N UA R Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 8 F O C U S C O M M E R C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T e process takes time, he says, liken- ing it to the ompson's Point develop- ment in Portland. e former rail yard and industrial zone, across Interstate 295 from Portland's downtown peninsula, is home to a concert and event venue, brew pub, restaurants and more. "It looks like a rip-roaring success, but it was 25 years in the making," Luke says. Evolution of a riverfront site Twenty miles up the Kennebec River, Waterville is still looking to develop the 14-acre site that once housed the Wyandotte mill. e strip along the river, also bordered by railroad tracks, has been vacant since the mill was torn down as part of the city's urban renewal eff ort decades ago. In 2005, Waterville invested $1 million in water, sewer and electric, to attract developers. e city hasn't given up, though — a $900,000 river walk project is expected to be completed by September, says City Manager Michael Roy. He says the city believes the added amenities and people they will draw will make the site attractive to develop- ment. e city is hoping for mixed use, but Roy says care will be taken to make sure it's the best use for the city's needs. Open space will still be important at the site, which already has a patio area and the picturesque Two-Cent Bridge, the footbridge mill workers once used to cross between Waterville and Winslow. e project got a boost from the Waterville Rotary Club, which to cel- ebrate its 100th anniversary (in 2018), in 2015 pledged $150,000 to the project. It also got a $300,000 grant from the National Park Service Land and Water Conservation Fund, and smaller grants from Colby College, Messalonskee Trails and Inland Hospital. Construction is expected to begin in April and it should be completed in September. Roy says that there were a lot of reasons it took decades for movement at Head of Falls. e city, for many years, "turned its back on the site." ere was also division about what to do — develop it as residential and commercial, or as industrial. "It was paralyzing," Roy says. Added to that, "In the 60s and early 70s, the river wasn't a pleasant place to visit. It was certainly not seen as major attraction. Now some cities would kill to have a site like this," he says. 'A village-type feel' O'Hara, the development consultant, says that Augusta's site has an advan- tage over Head of Falls — Waterville is competing with the Hathaway Creative Center, a refurbished mill a quarter mile downriver. e mill has been redeveloped as residential and commercial space over the past decade, and was bought last year by North River Co. for $20 million. "It's hard for Waterville to fi ll up two riverfront developments at once," O'Hara says. "Kennebec Locke doesn't have a [large] competitor on the river." He says he's sure the site will be developed, but with the changes in offi ce and retail markets, housing would be the driver of development. "For a city to be healthy it needs new housing as well as old," he says. " at site could serve lots of diff erent markets." e site is within walking distance, across the Bridge Street bridge at its south end, from downtown Augusta. e aging population is looking for smaller residences, where downtown, restaurants and shops are within walk- ing or biking distance. He says younger people, too, are looking for a neighborhood that's not necessarily urban, but is a good spot for their lifestyle. A place "where the experi- ence is as much fun as buying is," he says. Kennebec Locke has the potential to be a "really nice residential area with a village-type" atmosphere." A variety of smaller developers would work better for a city Augusta's size, which makes it diffi cult to support the kind of investment one large developer would have to make. O'Hara says that such developments can also be the focus of social invest- ing or "patient capital" — similar to the Rotary Club and others investing in Waterville's Head of Falls — where the rationale is not a quick return on an investment, but is "about the people." Luke says Augusta has the advan- tage of owning the property, which carries no debt burden, so the city has the advantage of being able to take the time to fi nd the right fi t. He says the city is excited about the possibilities. Augusta "has seen all the upsides and the same downsides that any former mill-based manufacturing city in New England has. Times are going well for almost all of them," Luke says. "And I'm pleased to say that Augusta is part of that renaissance." M M , M a i n e b i z s ta f f wr iter, can be reached at @ . a n d @ THERE IS THERE IS A DIFFERENCE A DIFFERENCE THERE IS Because Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Construction Management Design/Build General Contracting Engineering Sheridan Sheridan Construction Construction www.sheridancorp.com www.sheridancorp.com Fairfield Fairfield Portland 207-453-9311 207-453-9311 207-774-6138 R E N D E R I N G S / A U G U S TA D E V E L O P M E N T O F F I C E A rendering of a possible development at the Kennebec Locke site on the east side of the Kennebec River in Augusta. The site housed paper mills for 150 years. One possible view of what development could look like at the former Statler Tissue site on Augusta's east side.

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