The developer and restaurateur Xavier Cervera completed the purchase of the Newcastle Harbor House, the long-delayed condominium project on Main Street in Newcastle, Sept. 30.
Cervera, through a new limited-liability company, The Standard of Newcastle LLC, bought the property from Freeport developer Kevin Mattson and one of his companies, Newcastle Publick House LLC.
The property includes the shell of a condominium building and a 24-slip marina.
Mattson announced the sale with a statement on the website of another of his ventures, Dirigo Capital Partners LLC.
Mattson also discussed the project in a video, wherein he points to the Great Recession and Newcastle regulations as contributing to construction delays.
He also criticized The Lincoln County News for “making the acrimonious situation” between his company and the town “worse than it otherwise would have been.”
He said a 2007-2008 town moratorium on marina development in the town derailed the project for three years.
“In 2007, when we first announced the Harbor House project, we were very excited,” Mattson said. “The market was going full bore, it was an incredible time in real estate, and within a year, that had changed radically.”
“In the wreckage that followed the moratorium, we were unable to proceed with the development,” he said. “All of the demand that had been there prior had gone away.”
Mattson said his company persevered, finished the exterior and turned the building into “a really valuable asset for the downtown.”
The developer actually built the majority of the structure from 2010 to 2013 in brief periods of construction between long delays before ultimately abandoning the project. The exterior remains incomplete, prompting the fines from the town.
“We’re glad the project is moving forward, we never gave up on it … and we’re just very proud it has worked out well,” Mattson said.
He thanked the town of Newcastle and “the people who have been so supportive of this project” for their patience.
The town has repeatedly expressed frustration with the project and fined the company tens of thousands of dollars for violations of town regulations,
“It’s been a very difficult project for both us and, I think, for the community as well,” Mattson said. The building, when complete, “will likely be the most important building” built in downtown Newcastle “in the last 100 years,” he said.
Newcastle Board of Selectmen Chairman Brian Foote greeted news of the sale with enthusiasm.
“I think it’s a huge win for the town,” Foote said. The building is “finally going to be completed and occupied, hopefully within the next year or two years.”
The best part of the news for Newcastle is Cervera’s offer to donate the town a pair of boat slips at the marina, along with public access to the harbor.
“How do you beat that for a new neighbor moving into town?” Foote said.
“We’re all excited about it,” Foote said, and he thinks the townspeople are excited too and hopes they will join the selectmen in welcoming Cervera.
“I think he’s going to make a great downtown neighbor and business partner,” Foote said.
