Lewiston fire jeopardizes Island Point project
The status of a $26 million mixed-use development slated for Lewiston's Island Point is unknown in the wake of a fire yesterday that leveled the remains of the historic Cowan Mill.
Hotelier Bob Winston of North Carolina received initial approval last spring for tax increment financing from the city to help him develop the site into a Marriott Courtyard hotel, private parking garage, and mixed retail/residential complex, the latter of which would have been housed in the former textile mill. Lincoln Jeffers, economic development director for the city, told Mainebiz this morning that he has been trying to notify Winston of the fire, but has been unable to reach him.
Winston had been lining up financing for the project, and was seeking historic preservation tax credits and New Market tax credits, which are now imperiled because of the fire, Jeffers said. If approved, the combined federal and state tax credits would have returned about 45% of the cost of redeveloping the Cowan Mill.
Jeffers said the tight credit market had delayed Winston's plans, but the project was still viable before the fire.
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