BANGOR – Despite some delays, plans for a $12 million waterfront condominium complex are still on track, city officials and the project’s developers said Friday.

Though Penview Associates had hoped to begin construction last fall, the developers have spent the last several months tackling some of the legal work and red tape a project of this magnitude requires. They now are shooting to break ground this spring.

Penview is a Bangor partnership comprising Mo Fer, a commercial and residential real estate broker with ERA Dawson Bradford Realtors, and Brian Ames, president of Ames A/E, an architectural and engineering firm.

“We’re moving forward,” Fer said Friday. “We’re making lots of progress,” adding that he and Ames have sunk close to $1 million into the project so far.

“People don’t appreciate that this is an iceberg and they’re only seeing the tip,” Fer said. “Well, we’re about to pull the plug so the rest of the iceberg emerges.”

Proposed is a 32-unit upscale condo complex that will be situated on a city-owned parcel at the corner of Railroad and Summer streets. The roughly 1-acre site is the only one designated for residential use in the city’s waterfront master plan.

The city has agreed to sell the parcel to the developers for $200,000, or fair market value, according to Rod McKay, the city’s community and economic development director. The purchase price includes an allowance for any ledge or soil problems that might be encountered during construction.

Though the project has earned site plan and final plan approval from the city, compliance with Maine’s condo laws and with the city’s development agreement have proved tricky.

The partners also needed to develop bid documents, investment documents, have marketing material prepared, and line up financing, which Fer said will involve a bank loan and private investors.

In addition, negotiations over land needed to meet parking requirements have taken longer than expected, Fer and McKay both said on Friday.

The condominium complex represents the first major private project at Bangor Waterfront, as the city’s riverside redevelopment area is known.

“Belvedere is a giant development step for the waterfront,” said Sally Bates, a city development officer whose focus includes the downtown and waterfront.

“In my opinion, nothing’s going to make the waterfront come alive more than people living there,” she said.

With a projected value of more than $12 million, Belvedere will generate more than a quarter of a million dollars in new tax income annually, McKay added.

The five-level complex will include, among other things, a fitness center, heated indoor parking on the ground level, security systems, storage, a lighted outdoor fountain and access to walking trails through the city’s planned 13-acre riverfront park.

“The city wants a high-end project, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Fer said.

Each unit will include a terrace overlooking the Penobscot River and some of the historic neighborhoods along it.

The Belvedere also will be situated within walking distance of downtown restaurants and shops, cultural attractions and the city marina.

Fer said some of his future tenants said they wanted to move to the waterfront because they liked the atmosphere evolving downtown and on the waterfront and because they wanted to be close to the retail, medical and other services available in the city.

Fer said the project has proved attractive to “empty-nesters and retirees who still want to lead a very active lifestyle.”

That, he said, is in line with a nationwide trend that is bringing more seniors into urban areas. The AARP attributes the trend to the fact that the services seniors need and the amenities they enjoy typically are more plentiful and accessible in cities like Bangor, which has two hospitals, an international airport and a growing base of cultural and entertainment options.