The April 2 City Council meeting included several agenda items related to downtown redevelopment.
The City of Biddeford has entered into a Master Plan Agreement with BE Fitler, LLC for the development of the City-owned property at 3 Lincoln Street. The Master Plan Agreement establishes two development sites at 3 Lincoln Street, the former Maine Energy Recovery Co. site, on both sides of the space reserved for the proposed parking garage. The developers, Jim Brady and Brian Eng, will seek to incorporate a mixture of residential, retail, office, hospitality, education and service uses with the proposed parking structure, RiverWalk, and riverside park to create an economically vibrant, urban-style mixed use destination. Known Biddeford entities have already expressed strong interest for a total of 80,000 square feet of commercial space in the first building. The concept art below includes a preliminary design for the 3 Lincoln site. Additional details about the project are included in this press release.
The City Council took several steps forward on the path to a parking garage in downtown Biddeford. The Council voted to begin obtaining permits for the proposed Phase I parking structure located at 3 Lincoln Street, a process expected to take 4-6 months. Desman Design Management will also proceed with the design for Phase II of the proposed parking facility. Parking needs in the 3 Lincoln Street area are continuously increasing as Biddeford’s economic revitalization continues. Each new development project approved in the downtown adds to the demand for parking, which is now projected to outpace the proposed 522-space Phase I parking structure. Phase II of the garage would add approximately 120 additional spaces, bringing the total capacity of the facility to about 642 parking spaces. The image below shows the latest conceptual rendering of the proposed facility. Learn more by clicking here.
The Biddeford City Council has approved in concept a proposal for an ADA Access and Easement Agreement and Credit Enhancement with Riverdam, LLC. The proposed mixed-use project includes 13,300 square feet of commercial space, as well as 70 units of housing. Ten percent of those housing units will be restricted for the next 20 years as affordable housing. Per the proposed agreement, the City will receive permanent easements to the land between the Riverdam building and the river wall to expand the RiverWalk, as well as permanent ADA access for the RiverWalk via the building’s elevators. The RiverWalk project, which will open up public access to the river and provide necessary pedestrian connections through the downtown, is reliant on these easements in order to move forward. A conceptual rendering of the proposed project is included below. For more information about this project, please click here.
Click the link below to view the April 2 City Council meeting packet.