Bangor council to consider extending waterfront condo deal

BANGOR – If all goes according to plan, city councilors next week will consider a new development agreement with the developers of a high-end condominium complex proposed for the Bangor Waterfront.

Belvedere Associates LLC, a local partnership composed of real estate broker Mo Fer and architect Brian Ames, had hoped to break ground last year on Belvedere on the RiverPark, a $12 million five-level complex that represents the first major private project at the city’s riverside redevelopment area.

Instead, the partnership has spent the last several months tackling some of the legal work and red tape a project of this magnitude requires.

“We’ve been at this for a long time,” City Council Chairman Frank Farrington said during a committee meeting Wednesday with the developers. He said the city is interested in continuing to work with the developers, as long as there is no risk to the city.

“I know that sounds hard-nosed, but that’s our job,” he said.

For Fer and Ames, the complications have seemed almost endless. Compliance with Maine’s condo laws and with the city’s development agreement proved tricky. The partners also needed to develop bid documents, investment documents, have marketing material prepared, and line up financing before the city would convey land to them.

In addition, negotiations over land needed to meet parking requirements took longer than expected.

During that time, however, their development agreement with the city expired. Fer and Ames are seeking a new one because of the time and hundreds of thousands of dollars they said they have invested in the project so far.

They have lined up a builder, Blane Casey Building Contractors Inc. of South China, and are eager get through approvals phase so they can move on to the construction. The owners of the firm, Blane and Kary Casey, will be working with a well-known Quebec housing manufacturer.

On Monday, city councilors are slated to consider a new development agreement, which would come with a series of deadlines, culminating with the completion of construction in September of 2007.

The latest plans call for a 28-unit condo complex that would 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.

In other business, the committee also:

. Authorized a one-year lease with Bangor Office Machines.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will lease office space in a city-owned office building on Florida Avenue at a cost of $174 a month. The space will be used for administrative operations, to display office equipment and to store office machine parts.

. Discussed in separate executive sessions negotiations related to Shaw House Development Corp.’s affordable housing project at the Bangor Waterworks and another proposed affordable housing project.