A successful developer and restaurateur has a contract in place to purchase the Newcastle Harbor House property and plans to promptly finish the condominium building.
Xavier Cervera plans to obtain the necessary permits, solicit bids and start construction as soon as possible. “When I start a project, we jump right into it,” Cervera said at the Aug. 12 meeting of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen.
Cervera has developed small hotels and “a couple dozen” restaurants and converted old cotton warehouses in the South into condominiums and loft buildings, he said.
He splits his time between Charleston, S.C.; Washington, D.C. and a new house in Round Pond.
He sold nine Washington, D.C. restaurants this spring, according to media reports. He estimated annual revenue for the restaurants at $25 million, according to the food news website Eater.
Cervera and his business partner plan to pay cash for the Newcastle Harbor House building and for at least half of construction expenses, he said.
Bristol and Damariscotta contractors built Cervera’s new house, and he plans to continue to work with local contractors, he said.
Right now, Cervera is in the “due diligence” process of inspecting the property and researching potential issues prior to closing. “It looks good to me,” he said. “We did a long walk-through today.”
Cervera said he would like to build a total of six condominiums inside the building, four two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units.
A recent change in Newcastle zoning requires a commercial use on at least part of the first floor of all buildings in the district. Cervera said he has “no specific proposal” for a commercial use to fulfill the requirement.
Cervera and his attorney, Hylie West of Damariscotta, have been researching the legal issues surrounding the property.
The town is currently assessing fines of $250 per day to Newcastle Publick House LLC, which owns the property, as a result of the ongoing violation of a consent agreement between the company and the town. The fines total $26,750 as of Aug. 15.
The parties reached the consent agreement in February to resolve previous zoning violations relative to the company’s failure to complete the building. The company agreed to complete the exterior of the building by May 1 or pay $250 per day until it did.
Cervera asked the selectmen for a grace period to complete construction after closing, which could take place as soon as September.
The selectmen agreed to grant Cervera a grace period of 120 days to complete most of the exterior, including doors, windows and siding, and a year to either build the decks and front doors in the original design or apply for a new design review permit.
The 75 Main St. property has been on the market since July 5 with an asking price of $1.75 million.
The property was home to Weeks-Waltz Motors for many years before Waldo Waltz sold it to a group of local investors in 2002.
The investors, under the name Newcastle Shores Inc., planned to build condominiums at the site.
A zoning change, a lengthy permitting process and a subsequent appeal and lawsuit from Ralph Doering Jr., who owns properties on either side of the Newcastle Harbor House, slowed development.
Newcastle Shores Inc. sold to Newcastle Publick House LLC in March 2007.