MRRA questions base housing deal
An Auburn developer's pending deal to buy the housing units at the Brunswick Naval Air Station is being questioned by the group charged with managing the base's reuse.
The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority is asking Maine's congressional delegation and the governor to launch a federal inquiry into the deal, announced last year but still not closed, according to The Times Record. In July, George Schott announced he won a bid with Northeast Housing, a public-private partnership between the Navy and Britain-based Balfour Beatty Communities, to buy the base's 702 housing units, but so far it has not been finalized. In a letter to the congressional delegation and Gov. John Baldacci, MRRA Executive Director Steve Levesque said that Schott bid $16 million for the properties, while MRRA bid $10 million, but that as negotiations have continued Schott's bid is "very close to MRRA's original bid." Levesque asked for MRRA to be given the chance to match Schott's price, and again made the case that the organization would be better-suited to manage the redevelopment of the properties.
Schott called MRRA's request "surprising" and attributed delays in finalizing the sale to the Navy, which is grappling with how transfer of the property will affect Navy tenants currently living there, according to the paper. Schott has requested a credit-enhancing tax-increment financing district from the town of Brunswick to help finance redevelopment of the units.
In related news, Levesque said the redevelopment authority is nearing a lease agreement with the Navy on two BNAS buildings, which MRRA would then sublease to another company, according to The Times Record. Levesque told the paper that several companies have expressed interest in the two buildings, but would not specify which companies.
Go to the article from The Times Record >>
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