SCARBOROUGH — The Planning Board is set to review and potentially take action on the second phase of Crossroad Holdings LLC’s plan to redevelop the Scarborough Downs property between Route 1 and Payne Road.
On April 8, developers are expected to seek a subdivision review to divide a large parcel near the Payne Road end of Scarborough Downs Road into an innovation district.
At the meeting, the board will also review plans from Maine Medical Center to build a new surgical center on Campus Drive; for a 10,000-square-foot light industrial building next to Salt Pump Climbing Co. on Haigis Parkway; an Aroma Joe’s proposed at 79 County Road; from Napa Auto Parts to raze two buildings and set up a new store at 238 Gorham Road; by Pine Point Grille to add outdoor seating, and a request from a developer to use the former Atlas Fireworks store at 374 Route 1 as a cabinet store.
Crossroad Holdings, a company set up by developers William, Marc and Rocco Risbara III, of Risbara Bros. Construction Co., and Peter and Richard Michaud, purchased the Downs property in January 2018 for $6.7 million.
Assistant Town Planner Jamel Torres said innovation district is envisioned as an area with a mixture of light industrial, research and technology uses. Three lots on the corner of Scarborough Downs Road and Payne Road would be developed commercially.
Torres said the area would serve as a gateway to the property from the west, and have a pedestrian-friendly feel, with bicycle lanes and sidewalks. It also borders, and could potentially connect to, Warren Woods, a 156-acre property managed by the Scarborough Land Trust.
The eastern gateway for the project would have a much different character. That area, the first phase of the development project, was previously approved by the board to include 30 single-family homes, four apartment buildings and four condominium buildings and eight duplexes.
The first phase also includes a nearly 9,600-square-foot building to serve memory care patients. That element hasn’t been approved yet and was set to be taken up at the April 8 meeting.
Torres said the town’s planning staff doesn’t have any major concerns with the second phase of the project.
“We’ve been working with the applicant right from the beginning,” he said. “Staff from all departments have been working with the developer on the details of the project, so by the time it reaches the board, staff is typically pretty much fine with the approach. It is the details that have to be worked out at the board level.”
According to the master plan for the project, which was approved a year ago, a mixed-use area is envisioned at the central part of the property. Other portions of the property would include a residential neighborhood, an assisted living facility and a shopping center.
“The town is certainly excited about redeveloping the property,” Torres said.
While the community and the Planning Board are familiar with the proposals for redevelopment at Scarborough Downs, another major project just off Route 1 near the Interstate 295 spur is going before the board for the first time.
Torres said Planning Board members will be reviewing Maine Med’s proposal to build a new 108,000-square-foot surgical center at its campus along Campus Drive. The proposal, he said, includes adding 500 parking spaces.
“We are going to work with them on that and see how it is done so it doesn’t have too much of an impact on the environment,” he said.
MMC said the building would house medical practices for neurology, neurosurgery and spine and otolaryngology (ear/nose/throat), as well as vascular surgery.
The new building, according to the organization, will have exam rooms, procedure rooms and doctors’ offices and will “allow for the development of existing programs as well as the potential creation of new programs.”
“This investment marks the next stage in our development of the Scarborough campus as a regional center for specialty medical care that is convenient for our patients, with easy highway access, ample parking and state-of-the-art facilities,” MMC President Jeff Sanders said.
The hope is to begin construction in fall 2019 and open the new center in early 2021.
Michael Kelley can be reached at 780-9106 or mkelley@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mkelleynews.
An artist’s rendering of the new medical office building proposed by Maine Medical Center in Scarborough that the Planning Board will review April 8.
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