Photo / Maureen Milliken
A 63-room Best Western hotel is slated to open in late summer at 50 Prospect Ave., in Rumford, and town officials are hoping more follow.
Updated: June 2, 2021
Rumford seeks the right developer for former motel site
Image / Google Maps
An aerial view of 986 Prospect Ave., in Rumford, shows the Linnell Motel before the main building was demolished by the town in April. The two buildings at the back of the property, top left of photo, remain. U.S. Route 2 is at the righthand corner of the image.
By Maureen Milliken
The property that once housed the Linnell Motel at 986 Prospect St. in Rumford may not, at first glance, seem promising.
A fire ravaged the main building in 2015, closing it down. The owner, who lives in California, fell behind on his taxes and the town took over the property in March. In April, the town's Department of Public Works bulldozed what was left of the burned building, leaving two outbuildings in the back on the 4.77 acres.
Despite its recent history, the town sees promise at the site of the former Linnell Motel, and expects developers to, too. Two weeks ago, Rumford issued a request for proposals for the property. It is offered for $109,990, and will be sold to the developer with the proposal the select board likes best.
Taking into account the price, location and lack of zoning restrictions, "It's probably the single best opportunity looking for development in Maine," said George O'Keefe, Rumford's economic development director.
That's not hyperbole. Rumford is at the foot of Maine's western mountains and 20 minutes from Sunday River ski area. U.S. Route 2, the main east-west artery of northern Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, cuts through town. Rumford has also had a development surge in the last 18 months that has shored up infrastructure and brought businesses to empty downtown storefronts.
On top of it, there are few places for people to stay. That not only includes skiers and travelers, but people who come to town to work. When the ND Paper mill in town shuts down for maintenance a couple of times a year, the contractors who come to town fill every Airbnb and have to find rooms as far away as Farmington and Auburn, both about an hour's drive.
Downtown, the 11-room Hotel Rumford is undergoing a redevelopment. More significantly, a brand-new Best Western hotel will open this summer at 50 Prospect Ave. O'Keefe said that's not enough.
"We've been getting requests for the past three years from groups and the public, asking when they can book," he said of the Best Western, which is at the edge of downtown and across from the town's scenic falls on the Androscoggin River.
"I have every reason to believe we will not have sufficient capacity to meet the demand" when the 63-room hotel opens, he said. A three- or four-star hotel, rather than something like the mid-century motel that burned, would be ideal.
That said, new development on the site doesn't have to be a hotel. For instance, Rumford also really needs a brew pub, O'Keefe said. With no zoning in town, developers can decide what they envision there.
Rumford wants best developer for prime site
“This is really a prime commercial site," Town Manager Stacy Carter told the select board May 6. He said that the commercial property market in the area "is currently way up.”
Town officials have all said, and the RFP underlines, the development has to be "in the best interest of the town."
The board considered listing the property with a broker, but Carter said once that happens, the town loses control over how it will be developed. "You turn the property over, just like when the last person bought it, there’s no way of knowing the time frame or what’s really going to go there," he said, as quoted in the Lewiston Sun-Journal.
The town previously had luck issuing an RFP for the Clough & Pillsbury building at 109 Congress St., downtown, and O'Keefe suggested at the meeting that route would work with the Prospect Avenue property as well.
The property is being sold as is, and the select board "will make a subjective decision, taking into consideration price offered, taxable value created, proposed redevelopment use, along with other tangible and intangible aspects of the proposal," the RFP says.
The proposal must describe in detail how the developer is going to use the entire lot, including plans for the two remaining buildings. The project also can't take longer than 36 months. The developer must provide an estimated rehabilitation amount, with itemized major sub-costs.
The sale cost of $109,990 covers the $18,000 the town paid to demolish the burned building, as well as the $22,000 the previous owner owes in property taxes, and the $3,500 he owes in sewer fees.
Photo / Maureen Milliken
Rumford's spot on the Androscoggin River, and its falls, are opening up recreation and economic development opportunities.
Recreational opportunities opening up
While it took two RFPs to get the Clough & Pillsbury developer town officials thought fit best with the historic building, O'Keefe told Mainebiz he expects a developer for the Linnell site will emerge much more quickly.
"We have quite a bit of demand," he said. "And that's a great location."
The town is not only 20 minutes from Sunday River, one of the state's largest ski areas, but is also home to Black Mountain of Maine, which has 1,380 vertical feet of skiing and snowboarding. Rumford is working with Brookfield Energy on a plan for a whitewater park at the falls at downtown's west end.
"There are very significant recreational opportunities opening up," O'Keefe said.
Developers have until 3 p.m. July 20 to submit a proposal, and the town expects to make a decision within 30 days.
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