Waterville Planning Board to consider downtown housing proposal

The owners of two vacant buildings at 155 and 165 Main St. in downtown Waterville are expected to present plans this week to the Planning Board that would include adding apartments at the buildings, which are shown above in February. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — The Planning Board is scheduled Tuesday to hear plans to build apartments at two buildings that have long been vacant in downtown Waterville.

The adjacent buildings at 155 and 165 Main St., owned by Thomas DePre Sr. and his sons Justin DePre and Thomas DePre Jr., have been empty since they bought the buildings several years ago. Their business is KRP LLC, or Kennebec Realty Partners.

The buildings are across the street from the Colby College-owned Bill & Joan Alfond Main Street Commons at 150 Main St., which houses Colby students and staff members on upper floors and Camden National Bank on the first floor.

Justin DePre said Monday he and his family are working on preliminary plans for mixed-use development at the buildings.

“We are proposing up to 21 affordable housing units,” he said. “The ground floors of both buildings will remain mercantile use.”

He said there are no definitive plans yet for the retail space. Housing is not allowed on ground floors in downtown Waterville.

“We look forward to moving this project forward and being a part of Waterville’s downtown revitalization,” Justin DePre said.

His brother, Thomas Depre Jr., is a member of the Planning Board.

The DePres in 2019 proposed renovating the buildings to the tune of $10.5 million, and the City Council voted in May of that year to amend the existing downtown tax increment financing district to remove the buildings and allow a new district to be developed for them. That TIF district was developed in 2020, according to City Assessor Paul Castonguay.

The buildings at 155 and 165 Main St. years ago housed Atkins Printing Service, and later Berry’s Stationers leased space at 155 Main St., until moving to Oakland.

The building at 165 Main St. has three stories and a basement, and 155 Main St. has two floors and a basement.

The previous plans called for a craft brewery and function space in the basement of 165 Main St., plus a bowling alley, restaurant and brew pub.

The DePres had hoped to develop 155 Main St. into office space on the second floor, and market-rate apartments on the second and third floors at 165 Main St.

In other matters Tuesday, the Planning Board is scheduled to consider a request by John Jabar that the city rezone 15 Washington St. to allow for as many as four condominium buildings that could provide 96 housing units.

The City Council voted 6-0 on May 23 to refer to the Planning Board for hearing and recommendation that proposal to rezone the site from Commercial-C to Commercial-A to allow for the housing.

Jabar said at that meeting he would build on a vacant 3.5-acre lot, and there is the ability to construct four buildings, each with 24 units. He also said he has done a lot of development in Portland and wants to help with housing demands in Waterville, where he was born and raised. He said many people have approached him about developing housing in the city.

The development would be adjacent to the building that houses AAA at 13 Washington St., a few hundred yards from the intersection with Kennedy Memorial Drive.

The Planning Board can make recommendations to the City Council on proposed zoning changes, but the council has the final decision.

Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at The Elm at 21 College Ave. Several other development proposals also are scheduled to be considered.