WATERVILLE — City councilors on Tuesday will consider allowing a tax increment financing agreement to be transferred to a future new owner of the Hathaway Creative Center.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at The Center at 93 Main St. downtown. It will be preceded by a 6:15 p.m. executive session at which councilors are scheduled to discuss a personnel matter, real estate negotiations and consult with legal counsel on a separate issue.

The city currently is in the ninth year of a 25-year tax increment financing agreement with Hathaway, a building that is a redeveloped former shirt factory and is now up for sale.

The council’s vote would allow the tax agreement to be transferred to a new owner. City Manager Michael Roy said he does not know the identity of the potential new owner and Hathaway co-owner Paul Boghossian did not immediately return a phone call Monday.

Councilors must take two votes to approve the TIF agreement transfer and may take only one vote Tuesday. A TIF allows a developer to use money from tax reimbursement to make improvements to a property.

“My understanding is, the closing has not happened,” Roy said of a transfer of building ownership.

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Roy said the 25-year TIF involves a credit enhancement agreement in which the city reimburses a percentage of paid taxes: 75 percent reimbursement for the first 10 years of the TIF and 1 percent less for each of the remaining 15 years. The agreement between the city and Hathaway was instituted in 2007, he said.

Hathaway several years ago was transformed from a former shirt factory into retail offices and 67 high-end apartments. MaineGeneral Medical Center, HealthReach Network, Nalco, Cengage Learning and Collaborative Consulting are among tenants in the building.

The property is advertised on loopnet.com as a five-story, 236,000-square-foot mill building at 10 Water St. that is 83 percent leased. The sale price is not listed, but the city’s assessed value of the building and parking lot is about $9 million.

Boghossian said in September that he would continue to own the adjacent former Central Maine Power Co. and Marden’s Industrial buildings and that selling his part in Hathaway would give him more capital to invest in the other two buildings. He said he might continue to be part of Hathaway after it was sold.

Boghossian and Niemann Capital LLC, of North Carolina, are majority owners of Hathaway and Boghossian said others also own part of it.

The apartments in the building are full with a waiting list. They rent for between $800 and $1,900 per month.

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In other matters Tuesday, the council will consider selling a two-family apartment house at 8 Grove St. to Brown House Properties for $17,500. Brown House was the high bidder for the property, which the city foreclosed on for nonpayment of taxes. The balance of the money from the sale, after payment of outstanding taxes, interest and fees and water and sewer bills, would be deposited in the South End Capital Improvement fund. That balance will be $12,700, according to the council agenda.

Meanwhile, Roy said the personnel matter to be discussed in executive session prior to the regular meeting is a continuation of a discussion about his contract, which expires this year and which the council will consider renewing at its Dec. 20 meeting. The discussion Tuesday will be about goals and obligations for the next year, according to Roy.

He said the real estate negotiation item pertains to Colby College’s interest in buying the northeast section of The Concourse downtown from the city. The city and Colby earlier this year<URL destination=”https://www.centralmaine.com/2016/01/29/city-colby-college-agree-on-300000-for-the-concourse-property/”> had agreed on a $300,000 selling price.

</URL>Roy said both sides will continue to discuss negotiations Tuesday in executive session, aside from the price.

“There are other considerations we need to complete and agree on about that parcel,” he said. “This is a chance for us to talk about where we stand on a couple of key questions.”

He said the executive session item designated on the agenda as “consultation with legal counsel” is about a potential litigation issue, but he said he could not reveal anything further about that item.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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