LEWISTON — Five years after purchasing the Continental Mill at auction for $650,000, Chinburg Properties, based in Newmarket, New Hampshire, is ready to redevelop the sprawling complex that covers approximately 480,000 square feet.

Plans call for 377 market-rate apartments, consisting of 167 studios, 135 one-bedroom and 73 two-bedroom units. The company will also create 45,000 square feet of commercial space, which will be configured into office, light industrial and restaurant space, with exact sizes dependent on the eventual tenants to suit their needs.

It’s a massive undertaking but Chinburg specializes in mill redevelopment with Maine projects in Biddeford, Saco and Westbrook. The company also purchased the Hill Mill at 41 Chestnut St. but has no plans for residential housing in that building, which is mostly leased to commercial clients, including Bourgeois Guitars, McIntosh & Company Cabinetmakers and Entosense, LLC edible insects.

The city of Lewiston cannot take action on Chinburg’s redevelopment application until a traffic movement permit is completed and submitted by a third party, which is several weeks behind schedule, according to Lincoln Jeffers, director of the Economic and Community Development Office.

Paul Goodwin, senior development and project manager for Chinburg, said the expectation is to finalize all the related permit requirements and paperwork by the summer, the financing by fall, with groundbreaking coming by year’s end. Barring construction or permitting delays, the first apartments and all the commercial space could be ready by early 2027.

The remainder of the apartments would be completed in two additional phases, to minimize the disruption to residents by having all the commercial space completed first.

Goodwin said on-site parking will be available and Chinburg plans to tie in access to the riverfront with the city’s riverfront development masterplan. Plans include a plaza with trees, benches and greenspace.

Other amenities planned include a private courtyard for residents in the center of the mill complex, a rooftop deck, a club room and lounge, a gym, dog walk and a dog wash, bike room, laundry facilities, with additional washer/dryer hookups in the apartments as another option.

“We are really excited about the transformative nature of this project,” Goodwin said. “The Continental Mill is a Lewiston landmark that not only sits along the city’s future Riverwalk and the beautiful Androscoggin River but also on Cedar Street at one of the primary gateways into Lewiston and the downtown.”

The Szanton Co. is separately developing The Picker House Lofts, 72 apartments consisting of 46 workforce and 26 market-rate units with one, two or three bedrooms. Work on the building in the center of the Continental Mill got underway last June.

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