A building at 60 Front St. in Waterville is demolished Tuesday. The building was the first of five scheduled to be razed to make way for Head of Falls Village, a 63-unit apartment complex with office and retail space. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

WATERVILLE — A building off Front Street was demolished Tuesday to make way for a 63-unit housing development overlooking the Kennebec River.

The building at 60 Front St. was the first of five set to be razed as part of a plan to build the estimated $35 million-$40 million Head of Falls Village project to be completed in phases, with the first phase including demolition and environmental remediation work.

The building was known as the Heath House, built in 1834 at the corner of Appleton Street and eventually inhabited by the Heath family, including brothers Francis and William Heath. Both served in the Civil War, and William was killed in service. Both were graduates of Waterville College, which would become Colby College. The brothers had served with James Plaisted, whose family also inhabited the house. Francis “Frank” Heath served in both the Maine House and Senate.

The house was passed down through family, sold in 1997 and converted to offices. The Federal-Greek-Revival-style house had been vacant for the last few years.

The developer of the housing project, to include two buildings, is Todd Alexander of Renewal Housing Associates LLC/Leon N. Weiner & Associates Inc. of Portland. He is developing the project with Northland Enterprises Inc., a real estate development and management company also based in Portland.

They acquired demolition permits for 60 Front St. and 19 Temple St. last week, and all the required predemolition abatement work was completed last month, according to Dan Bradstreet, the city’s director of code enforcement.

In addition to the Heath House, vacant buildings on the site formerly housed Universal Bread, Damon’s Beverage & Redemption, the Bob-In restaurant and lounge and Creative Sounds & Video Systems, the latter three of which are connected.

“Abatement is ongoing at the larger structure at 17 Temple St., 52-54 Front St. and 56 Front St., formerly occupied by the Bob-In, Damon’s and Creative Sounds,” Bradstreet said. “A demolition permit for that structure has not yet been issued but I anticipate permit issuance and demolition to begin sometime next month.”

The Waterville Planning Board approved a site plan for the housing project in July 2023, and the developers bought the properties, totaling about 1.7 acres, later that year.

The Heath House at 60 Front St. in Waterville is seen in this photograph from 1855. The house was demolished this week to make way for an apartment complex. Courtesy of city of Waterville

Plans call for a 33,800-square-foot, four-story building facing Temple Street, with about 15,000 square feet of office space on the first and second floors, and 18 apartments on upper floors, funded partially by MaineHousing. They would be regulated under a program that limits occupancy to residents with household incomes at or less than 80% of the Kennebec County median income.

The cost to rent workforce housing depends on income. A one-bedroom unit at the site would rent for about $1,285 a month and a two-bedroom unit about $1,445.

The 45 units off Front Street would be offered at market rate.

The 49,400-square-foot building facing Front Street would be five stories and include about 6,600 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 45 apartments on upper floors, with about 90 on-site parking spaces, according to plans. A two-way drive between the buildings would connect Temple and Appleton streets and double as a space for cultural events, farm markets, pop-up cafes and the like, and a place to socialize.

The remains of a building at 60 Front St. in Waterville are seen Tuesday, next to the St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church at right. The building was the first of five scheduled to be razed to make way for Head of Falls Village, an apartment complex with office and retail space. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Both private and public money is needed for the project and developers applied for funding under the Renewal Affordable Housing Program through MaineHousing, a program intended to provide funding for workforce and affordable housing.

The project received a grant of nearly $200,000 from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s Community Development Block Grant program to help with demolition and remediation. Josh Benthien, CEO of Northland Enterprises, is working on the commercial, office and retail aspect of the project, while Alexander focuses on housing.

The second phase, after demolition and soil remediation, includes infrastructure improvements. Existing utilities will be replaced with new water, sewer, stormwater, gas, electric and data-phone systems to service the new buildings, he said. Site improvements include new sidewalks, parking areas, access drives and a pedestrian plaza.

The third phase involves constructing the building facing Temple Street and the fourth phase involves the construction of the building facing Front Street, according to plans. Depending on financing, the buildings could be built simultaneously.