HOULTON, Maine — The board of directors of the Shiretown Development Corp. voted Monday evening to build a 6,000 square foot speculative building on a lot at the industrial park at the airport.
The $270,000 to construct the building will come from the town, then the structure will be put up for sale by the organization, which functions as an economic development arm for the town. The SDC consists of all seven town council members.
“There is a shortage of vacant commercial buildings in the Houlton area. Hopefully this will help remedy that,” Town Manager Butch Asselin said Tuesday.
During Monday’s council meeting, which preceded the SDC meeting, councilors voted to transfer the funds from the airport tax increment finance district account to the SDC for the purposes of building the speculative building. Asselin said there was more than $670,000 in the account.
Asselin said the shell of a building would be built on 1 acre of land that already had been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration. The lot also has been approved for a stormwater permit by the Department of Environmental Protection. He said the building would have connections for water and sewer, a concrete foundation and two doors with a loading dock.
The structure is not being built for any specific business but in hopes of attracting an existing business to expand or a new business to move in and customize the building to suit its needs, according to the town manager. There also will be room for expansion on the opposite side of the loading dock.
During the public hearing, no one from the community came forward to ask questions or comment on the project. There also were few questions from the council.
Asselin said he expected to have a request for proposal ready for contractors this week.
“I’d like to start construction in the first part of June and have it finished no later than September,” Asselin told councilors. He hopes it will be filled a short time after completion.