Auburn developer buying BNAS housing
Auburn developer George Schott has confirmed that he is the local buyer negotiating to buy 702 units of military housing at the Brunswick Naval Air Station.
On Friday, Schott -- the developer behind a number of retail projects, including the Auburn Mall -- told The Forecaster he has been working to finalize a deal with Northeast Housing, a public-private housing venture of Balfour Beatty Communities and the Department of the Navy. Northeast Housing announced in April a buyer had been chosen out of 15 applicants, but did not release the buyer's identity. A spokeswoman for Northeast Housing did not confirm negotiations with Schott, but said the company hoped to finish negotiations within a "couple of weeks."
Schott, who last summer bought the Atrium Inn and Convention Center in Brunswick and has since had the building demolished, said he's interested in the BNAS housing because of the "opportunity" in Brunswick once the base is redeveloped. Schott also said he plans to make a bid for the land underneath the housing, which is owned by the military. That bid would put him in direct competition with the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which lost the bid to buy the housing and plans to aggressively go after the land and "impose development agreements with whoever owns the housing to make sure those properties are managed and developed" per the reuse plan, according to the paper.
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