A rendering of a proposed mixed-use building in the town center portion of The Downs development in Scarborough. Rendering / M&R Holdings

With formal site plans submitted this week for a Market Basket, a retail, and a mixed-use building, The Downs in Scarborough is approaching “the meat” of the downtown project, developers say.

Other than some commercial spaces, such as Maine’s first Costco and the development’s light industrial Innovation District, a lot of what has been built at The Downs so far is housing – 622 units and counting.

One primary concern of Scarborough residents in recent years has been traffic. While The Downs, town and state are collaborating on a series of roadway and traffic improvements surrounding the development to accommodate its impact, traffic is one of the few tangible effects residents have felt from the development – at least so far.

Recently, The Downs has been pivoting to the town center portion of the project and developers plan for that to evolve into a gathering space and destination for the community, with a central green surrounded by shops, restaurants, breweries and other amenities.

“We’re excited to be into this stage,” said Dan Bacon, development director at M&R Holdings. “The 10 Market Street building is the gateway there, that’s complete and we’re selling, and in some cases leasing, commercial spaces there. Allagash is planning to move forward to provide a brewery and tasting room.”

These first commercial spaces, along with the proposed Market Basket and adjacent buildings, resemble a “foothold” in the town center, Bacon explained, that will give way to more amenities.

“As we’re able to develop that area, we can then get into that central green that we’ve been planning with breweries and restaurants,” Bacon said. “We’re getting into the meat of the project from an amenity, shopping and entertainment standpoint.”

Developers have always emphasized that their guiding document is the town’s comprehensive plan.

“Our plan is entirely aligned with the comprehensive plan in terms of direction,” Bacon said. “Mixed-use type growth, more intense growth in the town’s growth area – in the heart of the community, right next to major transportation routes.”

New England is known for its history and Scarborough’s ability to build a town center from the ground up in the 21st century is not something many of the region’s communities, which built their hubs over the course of hundreds of years, are able to do.

“With a project like this, we can master plan it. We can plan it out in a super thoughtful, deliberate way,” Bacon said. “Sidewalks that are the right size; multi-use paths to connect residential and commercial areas and other parts of the community; walking trails; modern stormwater management that’s better for the environment.”

The same goes for traffic, Bacon said.

“Because we kind of knew the amount of traffic the project would generate, we are able to come up with the right traffic improvements around the project to mitigate the impacts,” he said.