Waterville Planning Board to consider revision to housing plan for former Seton Hospital

The former Seton Hospital at 30 Chase Ave. in Waterville, photographed in 2021. A developer plans to convert the building into 67 apartments, and commercial storage space to be leased in the basement. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — Work has been ongoing for several months inside the former Seton Hospital on Chase Avenue to prepare for construction of 67 apartments, and commercial storage space to be leased in the basement.

The developer, Dirigo Capital Advisors of Topsham, is expected Tuesday night to present a slight technical revision of its plan to the Waterville Planning Board, which approved the plan in March 2021.

Waterville Redevelopment Co. III LLC owns the property at 30 Chase Ave., which includes about 90 acres.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at The Elm at 21 College Ave. It can also be viewed remotely through a link on the city’s website — www.waterville-me.gov.

Kevin Mattson, a partner in Dirigo, said Monday the revision to the plan is needed because a condominium agreement has to be created to allow the residential portion of the building to be developed. MaineHousing requires the agreement. The process for MaineHousing approval takes time, according to Mattson.

“It’s not a short process,” he said. “MaineHousing is very deliberate. They do a very careful job. We’re working with the agency, and responding to questions that they bring up, which is part of the normal application process.”

MaineHousing would give out tax credits as part of the affordable housing project, according to Mattson. Historic tax credits will also be used for the development.

City Planner Ann Beverage said Monday the project is split into three parts: The tower or residential part of the building, the basement or commercial portion and an existing, L-shaped parking lot abutting Martin Avenue.

Financing for the 40,000-square-foot basement storage project is separate from the residential part. Mattson said plans call for completing the basement portion by the end of this year. The work is to include installing lighting and a sprinkler system.

“We’ll be leasing the lower level for storage by the end of the year,” Mattson said. “We’re excited. I hope there’s a big storage demand because we want to lease some space.”

Most of the asbestos abatement in the residential part of the building has been completed, he said, and abatement work is ongoing in the basement.

Kane P. Coffin, president of E.S. Coffin Engineering & Surveying Inc. of Augusta, is scheduled to attend Tuesday’s meeting with Mattson.

The Planning Board voted 5-0 in March 2021 to approve the plan, which calls for 55 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom units that would be workforce housing and rented according to tenant income.

Construction is expected to take about a year from the time MaineHousing approves the application.

In 2013, Mattson bought the 150,000-square-foot Seton building, which in 1997 had become part of MaineGeneral Medical Center. The Planning Board unanimously approved the project in 2016 and again in 2018, when the number of apartments proposed was increased from 55 to 67.

The state has approved the building as a national historic landmark, and construction must preserve the historic nature of the building. The 1960s-era building represents what is known as Miesian architecture, developed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who founded the International Style of architecture that features steel-framed and glass buildings.

In other matters Tuesday, developer Kevin Violette is scheduled to request the board review plans for a 24-lot, multifamily development on City View Drive.

Also, Invaleon Technologies Corp. is expected to request a review of revisions to a previously approved site plan for a solar farm at 200 Eight Rod Road.