Photo / Maureen Milliken
15 acres on Civic Center Drive in Augusta may be developed into a 245-unit apartment complex by Saxon Partners, of Hingham, Mass.
September 17, 2019
250-unit Augusta 'medical workforce' development gets initial approval
Courtesy / Cube3
A rendering of a portion of the proposed 250-unit "medical workforce" housing on Civic Center Drive in Augusta.
By Maureen Milliken
A site plan for 250 units of "medical workforce" housing in Augusta — one of three similar proposals in the state by a Massachusetts developer — got initial approval from the city's planning board last week.
Saxon Partners, a Hingham, Mass.-based developer, also plans projects in Lewiston and Biddeford that could add as many as 750 studio and one-bedroom apartments to the three cities. The projects are targeted to those in the workforce who may not want to own a house and can't afford market rate rents, and are all built near hospitals.
Tom Greco, a director at Saxon, told the board the aim is to construct high-quality workforce housing largely for medical staff. "We're executing these across the country," he said. He said the apartments are designed to be "simple, appealing and efficient." Augusta, like most of Maine's cities, has a shortage of affordable rental housing, city officials have said.
The Augusta project, at at 371-395 Civic Center Drive — now four large single-family lots on 15 acres that was originally rolling farmland — got contract zone approval for the rental units from the city's planning board a year ago. The board on Sept. 10 unanimously approved a conditional site plan.
The property will be subdivided into three lots, and the Sept. 10 planning board review was only for the residential piece of the property, Two commercial lots are also planned on Civic Center drive.
The site is within two miles of MaineGeneral Alfond Center for Health and the under-construction Maine Veterans' Home residence, close to other medical businesses and state offices, and less than a mile and a half from the University of Maine at Augusta.
The proposed complex is also a short distance from exits 112 and 113 of Interstate 95 and a half mile from the Concord Coach bus station. The Maine National Guard Joint Force Headquarters is just south of the site.
"Almost every [zoning] use in Augusta is within 2,000 feet of this proposed project," said Betsy Poulin, deputy city planner, at the board meeting.
'A long process'
The site is in the north end of Augusta, near an area that not only includes the hospital, but a variety of medical and state buildings and services.
The entrance to the site would be at the intersection of Leighton Road and Civic Center Drive, a three-lane drive where the site's current driveway is. Completion of the project would require revamping the intersection, something that will involve the state Department of Transportation, developer and city.
The site plan still needs both Maine Department of Transportation and Maine Department of Environmental Protection approval. It's already gotten approval from the Army Corps of Engineers. It also will require approval for off-site amenities, including better pedestrian access along Civic Center Drive and to the bus station.
The Lewiston and Biddeford proposals are also still in the initial planning process.
Greco told Mainebiz last month that t's too early to speculate on when construction would begin on any of the projects.
"It's a long process," he said. New zoning was necessary for all three projects and none of the parcels have been closed on, he said.
The 245-apartment Lewiston complex is planned for 6.5 acres along the Androscoggin River on the former Pineland Lumber site, which has been vacant since Hammond Lumber acquired the business in 2010. The site is blocks from Central Maine Medical Center, St. Mary's Medical Center and downtown.
The Biddeford site is on Barra Road, a short distance from Southern Maine Medical Center and a variety of other medical businesses. It's right off Exit 36 of the Maine Turnpike. The 10 acres is in a largely commercial zone that's had a lot of retail and office development in the past decade.
Site of Proposed Saxon Partners residential/commercial project
Google maps image
The red rectangle shows the area of the proposed Saxon Partners project in Augusta, on Civic Center Drive. The highway interchanges shown are Exits 112A-B, lower and Exit 113, upper.
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