Key votes set for Colby’s residential complex in downtown Waterville

Waterville City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on creating a tax increment financing district for Colby College’s planned $25 million residential complex on the northeast tip of The Concourse downtown.

The Waterville Sentinel reported that the city’s planning board voted 5-1 on Monday to approve the final site plan for the five-story $25 million complex, which would house 200 Colby students, staff and faculty in upper-floor apartments and have retail space on the ground floor. 

The city finalized a purchase-and-sale agreement last week to sell The Concourse property to Colby for $300,000, the newspaper reported.

Pending approvals, construction on Colby’s project is expected to begin soon, with completion expected by August 2018.

The project is within a four-block section of Waterville that’s part of a multi-million-dollar effort by Colby College, the city, alumni and other investors to transform Main Street into a destination for visitors, residents and new businesses.