WATERVILLE — A proposed Colby College student residential complex on part of The Concourse downtown is scheduled to begin undergoing city review Monday, with the Planning Board getting its first look at an informal pre-application for the project.

The complex at 150 Main St. would house 200 students and would have retail space on the ground floor, according to Paul Ureneck, director of Elm City LLC, an affiliate of Colby. Officials still are ironing out specifics of the project, including the building layout and the number of apartments, which might include four- and six-bedroom apartments for students, as well as some units for resident assistants or faculty members, Ureneck said.

“Our plan is still to be in the ground this spring and also to have the building occupied for the fall of … 2018 semester,” Ureneck said.

The City Council last year voted to sell the northeast part of The Concourse to Colby for $300,000 for the residential complex. The sale has not occurred yet, as officials have been ironing out its details.

The council on Tuesday is scheduled to discuss in executive session a tax increment financing agreement for the first-floor retail part of the project and then take the first of two votes needed to complete the sale and the TIF agreement, according to City Manager Michael Roy.

Roy said the upper, residential floors of the building would not be taxable, because the college is tax-exempt, but the TIF agreement would include money to the city in lieu of taxes. The council is expected to take a second, final vote on the sale and the TIF agreement Feb. 21, he said.

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City Planner Ann Beverage said Friday that the board will review the project under the city’s site plan review ordinance.

“The Colby project is scheduled to come back on March 6 for final approval, or possibly preliminary, if they don’t have everything they need,” she said.

The architect of Colby’s residential complex is Ayers Saint Gross, of Baltimore, Maryland, and the construction manager is Landry/French Construction Co., of Scarborough. Officials have been working with local utilities and the property has been surveyed and geotechnical borings done to determine the type of soil under the current parking lot. Ureneck said they found some clean fill, construction debris and ledge at the site, which is not out of the ordinary with such projects.

The students living in the complex will be part of a civic engagement, community service curriculum that requires them to be involved in city activities. Many Colby students already are involved in community service and work with organizations such as the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter and the South End Teen Center.

Landry/French, the construction company, has done residential projects including Blueberry Commons apartments, Legacy Memory Care and the main Lodge, all at Oceanview, in Falmouth; and Cascade Brook Senior Living Apartments in Saco. It also has done many commercial projects, including Cole Haan’s corporate headquarters in Scarborough and state of Maine offices in South Portland.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com


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