WESTBROOK — Rock Row’s developers are moving ahead with plans to build a hotel, housing and additional commercial space in the third phase of a project that’s now expected to cost more than $700 million.

Waterstone Properties and its partners presented a conceptual master plan for the third phase during a planning board workshop Tuesday night. Plans for each component will be submitted for review in the coming months, with construction expected to start in April 2027, said Josh Levy, principal of the Massachusetts firm.

Retail, restaurant and office spaces would be completed and begin opening later that year, Levy said, followed by a 119-room Element by Westin hotel and 279 luxury and market-rate housing units that would be completed in 2028.

“This has always been the vision for phase three,” Levy said before the planning meeting. “It’s exciting to be bringing it to fruition.”

Board members welcomed the project update.

“You do what you say,” said Chairman Larry McWilliams, “so I’m anticipating working with you through this process.”

Designed around a former quarry, Rock Row has been under construction since 2019 and was projected to cost $600 million early on.

The first phase — 170,000 square feet of retail space — is anchored by a Market Basket supermarket that opened in 2020 and is 98% occupied, Levy said. Other businesses in the plaza include Chick-fil-A and outdoor retailer REI.

Located off Main Street near the Portland city line, the shopping center is one of the busiest in Maine, he said. It has tallied 19 million customer visits since 2020 and draws from a driving radius of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Retailers at the center counted 4.4 million visits in 2025, including nearly 1 million unique visitors.

“We’ve shown incredibly strong demand and visitor sales performance,” Levy said.

BUILDING WHERE CONCERTS WERE HELD

The second phase — 220,000 square feet of medical office space — welcomed its first tenants in 2025 and is anchored by the Dempsey Center and New England Cancer Specialists. It has five unleased spaces, Levy said.

The newest phase will be built where the developers operated an outdoor amphitheater in 2019 and 2021. Concerts held there drew widespread noise complaints from residents.

It will include a main street constructed off Larabee Road called Quarry Drive, which will intersect with Rock Row Boulevard, the development’s major thoroughfare.

In addition to 136,800 square feet of retail, restaurant and service space, the third phase will include a 700-space parking garage, 21,000 square feet of office space and a 26,000-square-foot interactive entertainment space, Levy said.

Board member Kevin Price encouraged the developers to seek businesses that already have established profiles in the region. “I’m all about poaching from Portland,” he said.

HOUSING NEEDED FOR WORKERS

The plan also calls for 267 high-end apartments and 12 townhouses along Nason’s Brook, Levy said, with walkable access throughout the development that connects to the regional trail network.

Homes at Rock Row “need to be market rate” given the cost to finance and develop the project, he said. Still, he believes rental rates in the development will be lower than in Portland and will make housing more accessible and affordable in the region.

While board member Lucas Schrage urged the developers to build housing that’s affordable to most Westbrook residents, board member Jason Frazier said “I think Westbrook needs some luxury, high-end” housing.

Before the meeting, Levy said the developers are “actively looking” for a site nearby where they want to build “attainable housing” for people who work at Rock Row. The development currently supports more than 1,600 direct and indirect jobs and $98 million in annual wages. At full buildout, it will employ 3,000 to 6,000 people, he said.

“This project represents one of the most significant private investments in Maine’s history,
delivering jobs, tax revenue and long-term value for the region,” Neal Shalom, Waterstone’s chairman, said in a statement.

Looking ahead to the fourth phase and beyond, the developers plan to build additional housing, a hotel and conference center, a boutique hotel, a Cinemark movie theater, a 5,500-seat indoor event space and a one-mile promenade around the quarry, Levy said.

The developers are on track to invest $100 million in infrastructure improvements in and around Rock Row, including road construction and utilities, he said.