Gateway project nears final approval
Gateway project nears final approval
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
It looks as though the Gateway at Scarborough project, which is proposed to include a Cabela’s store as the anchor tenant, will receive its final approval from the town next week.
A special Planning Board meeting has been scheduled for next Monday (March 5) to grant final approval for the Gateway at Scarborough project.
The Gateway at Scarborough project is proposed to include a Cabela's store, a hotel, restaurants, retail stores and office buildings and would be located on two sites adjacent to Payne Road and the Haigis Parkway. The project has an estimated price tag of $74 million.
The project was first presented to town officials last summer. Since then, it has gone through Planning Board review and the contract zone associated with the project has received Town Council support.
Last year, Cabela’s sought a request for an exemption on sales tax from the state of Maine for its catalog and internet sales, claiming that those aspects of its business are different from its retail store operations. After dropping that request with the state, the project again moved forward through the town’s approval process.
This week, the Town Council authorized the town manager to sign a credit enhancement agreement with New England Expedition, the company that is developing the project. The credit enhancement agreement is a document that stipulates, in writing, the rules associated with the TIF (tax increment financing) agreement for the property. Town Manager Ron Owens called the credit enhancement agreement “the actual document associated with the sharing of revenues brought out by the TIF.”
According to Owens, under the TIF agreement with New England Expedition, the owners and developers of the project will receive $825,000 a year for ten years once the property reaches $55 million in value. He said that $825,000 is the taxes that will be generated when the project reaches that $55 million valuation mark. The town will receive anything generated in taxes above and beyond $825,000. After ten years, all of the tax revenue generated by the development will go to the town.
Gene Beaudoin, one of the principal developers of the project, said the Maine Department of Transportation has issued a permit for the project and the town’s traffic review has been completed. He expects permits from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers to be in hand by the Planning Board meeting on March 5.
If the Planning Board grants final approval, Beaudoin said construction work should begin shortly thereafter and that much of the project, including the Cabela’s, should be finished and open for business in May 2008.
When asked what kind of interest New England Expedition has received from companies about being tenants in the Gateway at Scarborough, he said “several national and local restaurants” and “a number of Maine and national retailers” have expressed interest.
By Lucas Knowles
Editor
It looks as though the Gateway at Scarborough project, which is proposed to include a Cabela’s store as the anchor tenant, will receive its final approval from the town next week.
A special Planning Board meeting has been scheduled for next Monday (March 5) to grant final approval for the Gateway at Scarborough project.
The Gateway at Scarborough project is proposed to include a Cabela's store, a hotel, restaurants, retail stores and office buildings and would be located on two sites adjacent to Payne Road and the Haigis Parkway. The project has an estimated price tag of $74 million.
The project was first presented to town officials last summer. Since then, it has gone through Planning Board review and the contract zone associated with the project has received Town Council support.
Last year, Cabela’s sought a request for an exemption on sales tax from the state of Maine for its catalog and internet sales, claiming that those aspects of its business are different from its retail store operations. After dropping that request with the state, the project again moved forward through the town’s approval process.
This week, the Town Council authorized the town manager to sign a credit enhancement agreement with New England Expedition, the company that is developing the project. The credit enhancement agreement is a document that stipulates, in writing, the rules associated with the TIF (tax increment financing) agreement for the property. Town Manager Ron Owens called the credit enhancement agreement “the actual document associated with the sharing of revenues brought out by the TIF.”
According to Owens, under the TIF agreement with New England Expedition, the owners and developers of the project will receive $825,000 a year for ten years once the property reaches $55 million in value. He said that $825,000 is the taxes that will be generated when the project reaches that $55 million valuation mark. The town will receive anything generated in taxes above and beyond $825,000. After ten years, all of the tax revenue generated by the development will go to the town.
Gene Beaudoin, one of the principal developers of the project, said the Maine Department of Transportation has issued a permit for the project and the town’s traffic review has been completed. He expects permits from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers to be in hand by the Planning Board meeting on March 5.
If the Planning Board grants final approval, Beaudoin said construction work should begin shortly thereafter and that much of the project, including the Cabela’s, should be finished and open for business in May 2008.
When asked what kind of interest New England Expedition has received from companies about being tenants in the Gateway at Scarborough, he said “several national and local restaurants” and “a number of Maine and national retailers” have expressed interest.
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