Developer and part-time Round Pond resident Xavier Cervera has a Damariscotta property under contract and wants to build a 12- to 24-unit housing development there.
Cervera plans to buy a 2.17-acre property at the end of Vine Street from Hanley Construction Inc.
“I’d like to do a development down there with a minimum of a dozen homes and, with the potential addition of some other property available … up to as high as 23 or 24 homes,” Cervera told the Damariscotta Planning Board Monday, May 4.
“It wouldn’t all be houses,” he said. “I’m thinking more in terms of town homes/apartments.”
Cervera envisions a highly “walkable” community of middle-income homes where many residents could forgo cars altogether.
“They can walk to Yellowfront, they can walk to the other stores, they can walk to Rite-Aid, they can walk to the vet, to the dollar store,” Cervera said. “They can even walk down to the little pubs on Main Street and so forth.”
“I think it’s a perfect situation to be able to walk everywhere and, at the same time, feel that you’re in a little bit of community, close to your friends and close to the hospital and all that good stuff,” he said.
Cervera thinks senior citizens “would be the primary buyer,” he said.
“There are a lot of seniors around here that I think this would fit the bill for,” he said. He cited an often-repeated statistic that Maine is the oldest state in the U.S. and Lincoln County the oldest county in Maine.
The appearance of the development would fit the area, Cervera said.
“I tend to build very indigenous to areas I develop in,” he said. “I don’t go large-scale. I never have. I try to make it very appropriate, very neighborhood-friendly.”
Cervera owns the new Harbor Room restaurant in New Harbor and The Standard of Newcastle condominiums at 75 Main St. in Newcastle. He has a long history of condominium, hotel, and restaurant development in East Coast cities.
He will likely work with Newcastle architect Tor Glendinning and Damariscotta general contractor Zander Lee for the Vine Street project, he said.
A member of the planning board asked Cervera if he would start construction immediately if he cannot acquire the additional property.
“If I were not able to acquire the additional property right off the bat, yes, I would dive right into the first 12 or 13, whatever is allowed, but it’s always easier to try to do it all at once,” Cervera said. “Therefore, you’re not bothering the residents later on.”
The timeline for the project will depend on the design and permitting process, Cervera said. “I’m usually ready to go. (There is) nothing really holding me back,” he said.
A planning board member asked how much Cervera would sell the units for. “I would assume somewhere in the threes, higher twos, or something like that,” he said.
Cervera did not bring a formal application to the board. “I’m just coming in for a very preliminary chat,” he said.
He did ask the board whether he could build a driveway or private road into the property from Vine Street.
“I just want to make sure I don’t close on an expensive piece of property and then the town says, ‘You can’t get to it.’ That’s my only issue,” he said.
Damariscotta Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz told the board he and Town Planner Tony Dater have discussed the matter several times and do not see an issue with access to the property from Vine Street.
