Camden one step closer to development plan for former tannery site
COURTESY / MICHAEL MULLINS
Rockland developer Michael Mullins submitted a proposal to build an “industrial ecovillage.” This bird's eye view shows workshops, parking, a playground, and the Camden Farmers Market on a public plaza.
The Camden select board this week voted to move forward on one of four redevelopment proposals for a 3.5-acre former tannery site the town owns at 116 Washington St.
At its virtual meeting on Tuesday, March 23, the board advanced an amended proposal by Camden commercial real estate company Cranesport LLC.
The original plan envisioned an “an affordable industrial village” with a common market, light industrial incubator spaces, event venue and other amenities.
Cranesport owner Michael Mullins modified the plan to include affordable housing.
The change came at the request of the board after a workshop in February, during which some board members said affordable housing is a top priority for the town.
In a subsequent email to the town, Mullins said he was willing to consider amending his proposal to include 10 to 12 dwelling units on the northwest corner of the site. The units would entail five rowhouse-style, 2.5-story apartment buildings designed so the bottom floors could be converted to include retail at some point in the future, if economically viable.
The units would be “non-subsidized middle-income rental units” affordable for median income households in Camden, which is estimated at $65,000 per household per year.
In a memo to the board, Town Manager Audra Calder said Mullins identified the following changes that would be necessary to make the inclusion of housing in his proposal feasible:
• The town would no longer be offered $250,000 for the purchase of the site.
• A tax increment financing district for the site, which includes a credit enhancement agreement, must be developed. However, the proportion of future property taxes that will need to be rebated to Mullins through the agreement has not yet been determined.
• A zoning ordinance amendment to allow for first-floor residential and to relax parking standards, would be required.
• The town would need to invest $165,000 that remains from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfields clean-up grant on a cap and cover system for green spaces in the Cranesport proposal.
Selectman Taylor Benzie said he was encouraged by the modification and called the town’s median-income workforce the town’s most underserved housing population.
The rowhouse style would fit into the existing neighborhood, he added.
“Affordable rentals for someone who makes an average income in Camden is precisely what we need and is the most underserved population in terms of housing stock,” he said.
The goal is to schedule the proposal for a town meeting vote in June.
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