A year ago, plans were unveiled for a new look and a new building in the Denney Block. Construction on the downtown Freeport project was expected sometime in 2015.

Last anyone in Freeport town government knew, the developer was still working on routine permits that would allow it to get the project started.

Berenson Associates of Boston, which changed the look of downtown Freeport with the construction of Freeport Village Station in 2008, had acquired the buildings at 52-56, 58-60 and 66 Main St. known as the Denney Block, named for the former owner, Freeport business pioneer George Denney. The newly named Denney Block Freeport LLC, through company president Al Yebba, said last May it expected to commence construction of a new, 13,000-square-foot infill sometime in 2015.

Nine months later, Denney Block LLC is yet to acquire the design review and site-plan review permits from the town’s Project Review Board – permits that board Chairman Cliff Goodall does not see as difficult issues.

Yebba did not respond to questions about the project from the Tri-Town Weekly.

Goodall said that despite the company’s announced plans, he sees nothing unusual regarding the delay.

“There’s no reason for pessimism,” Goodall said. “It’s just part of what companies go through.”

Last spring, the Town Council approved the concept of contract zoning, which skips the more traditional zoning amendment. Both the Planning Board and the Project Review Board approved the contract zone, which allows the developer to bypass the town’s height limit – in this case, 35 feet. Company officials have said that because of the downward slope of the property, a 43-foot building will be needed in order to reach the level of existing buildings at street level.

The new building would be located between Fiore Artisan Oils & Vinegars at 58 Main St., and Dooney & Bourke at 56 Main St. The jutout at Fiore would be removed and the store could relocate elsewhere in the block.

Yebba told town officials his company wants to lease retail space at the basement level and first floor of the new building, with perhaps a third-floor restaurant/bar. The restaurant would feature an overhang over the next building at 56 Main St., a shorter brick building occupied by Sperry Top-Sider and Jill McGowan.

Goodall said it is not certain what form the new building will take.

“The question is whether the three buildings would be combined into one continuous floor, eliminating the walls, or if there are tenants that would want smaller spaces than (Denney Block) would construct if they had that in mind,” he said.

Goodall said that Denney Block has a demolition permit for the 58 Main St. location. The jutout there was built in the early 1980s, he said.

“They just want to take that 1980s structure off, which actually restores the buildings to its more historic character,,” Goodall said. “But they don’t have final approval until they produce their final plans. Nothing will be firmed up until they get a tenant.”

Goodall said that a design review permit is for compatibility with surrounding buildings and the historic architecture of the area. That’s why the developer eliminated the glass facade it had planned for the new building, he said.

The site-plan permit involves traffic safety, pedestrian flow and storm water drainage issues, Goodall said.

“These aren’t difficult issues,” he said. “The permits are already there for the existing buildings. The board has given preliminary approval for the design.”

Berenson Associates has yet to move forward on its plans for the Denney Block, which it purchased last year. Initially, the company said it wanted to construct a new building in the space between 56 and 58 Main St. in Freeport, between Jones New York/Vineyard Vines on the left and Sperry Top-Sider/Jill McGowan on the right.