Mixed-use development planned for Cape Elizabeth town center
The parcel next to Cape Elizabeth’s town hall may soon become a three-story mixed-use development.
GreenMars Real Estate Services, the owner of 316 Ocean House Road, wants to transform the nearly 1-acre vacant lot next to town hall into Cape Commons, a 35-foot-tall building with 18 affordable housing units and 2,700 square feet of leasable commercial space on the first floor.
A rendering of the proposed development. (Courtesy of GreenMars)
The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board at its meeting on July 21 voted that the site plan is complete. A public hearing will be held at the next planning board meeting Aug. 18. GreenMars hopes to break ground next summer, according to Oscar Wilkerson, representing the developer.
“The goal here is to improve the village center,” Wilkerson said. The development aligns with the 20-year plan for the town center written more than 10 years ago, which set a goal to transform the area into an attractive and walkable gathering space that included mixed-use retail.
The site plan is similar to the Cape Elizabeth Commons that Isis Development proposed in 2004. That would have been a three-story, 5,000-square-foot building, with retail use on the first floor, offices on the second and residential on the third.
That project fizzled out because the owner chose not to move ahead with it, said town planner Maureen O’Meara. The property has been vacant ever since, and the site plan has expired.
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“The planning board at the time was very excited about it,” O’Meara said.
It was one of the first projects that took advantage of changing goals for the town center. The proposed development was pedestrian-friendly, close to the street and added some density, O’Meara said.
Some town councilors are excited about the renewed potential for this lot, more than twenty years later.
“It’s a spot in town that’s not very attractive,” Councilor Timothy Thompson said. “We’re going to potentially finally get something in there.”
The development will include 10 two-bedroom apartments, two one-bedroom apartments and six live-work apartments, and the property will share 18 parking spaces in the town hall parking lot. Live-work apartments have a commercial address and are helpful for small, online business owners.
There’s currently not a specific tenant for either of the two commercial spaces fronting Ocean House Road, and the developers are proposing that it be permitted as a restaurant or cafe, though it could also become office or retail space in the future, according to Travis Letellier, an engineer with the owner.
Thompson wonders if a coffee shop will fill the first floor.
“I want burgers and beer,” Councilor Penny Jordan said.
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Tagged: development
Dana Richie is a community reporter covering South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. Originally from Atlanta, she fell in love with the landscape and quirks of coastal New England while completing her undergraduate. More by Dana Richie
