Jared Deschene takes samples and inventories materials March 22 that will be needed for reconstruction of a cupola on the Wedgewood building at Pine and Pierce streets in Lewiston. Hebert Construction is renovating the historic building as part of the first phase of the Choice Neighborhoods redevelopment effort in the downtown area. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — The Planning Board will consider a contract zone this month for the Wedgewood development, the first phase of Lewiston’s ambitious Choice Neighborhoods effort.  

The development team behind the effort, which includes the Lewiston Housing Authority and Avesta Housing, was slated to ask the Planning Board to initiate a contract zone Monday for properties on Pine, Pierce, Walnut and Bartlett streets that make up a proposed 74-unit multifamily project.

According to Misty Parker, assistant director of economic development, the board would review the contract language at a public hearing April 25, and send recommendations to the City Council in May.

The project represents the first phase of the city’s Choice Neighborhoods redevelopment, which plans to bring a considerable amount of new housing as well as community services to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the state.

In 2021, Lewiston became the smallest city ever to receive the $30 million redevelopment grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is slated to bring $100 million worth of investment into the city, creating 185 new housing units over three sites in the Tree Streets neighborhood. The neighborhood includes two of Maine’s poorest census tracts, along with the state’s highest concentration of childhood lead poisoning.

The development team secured MaineHousing tax credits in December, which will allow 49 of the 74 units to be designated affordable.

Parker said once the contract rezone is granted, it would allow Lewiston Housing and Avesta to complete the design for the site and return to the Planning Board this summer for site plan review and approval.

A rendering in Lewiston’s housing plan shows what the redevelopment on Pine and Pierce streets could look like. The project includes four renovated units in the historic Wedgewood building. Submitted photo

A memo to city staff from the development team said the contract zone is needed for several reasons, including allowing “multiple primary structures on a single parcel,” an increase in allowed density, and reducing required off-street parking.

Plans show eight buildings that would be developed on roughly a dozen consolidated properties, with six — including the Wedgewood building — lying between Pierce and Bartlett streets.

The team said allowing multiple structures on a parcel will reduce internal setback restrictions and allow shared parking, “creating a more cohesive site plan with regularly shaped lots.”

“It is our strong opinion that the conditions requested above will allow us to pursue a thoughtful, effective, and well-functioning property that serves the needs of the residents who will eventually live at these buildings, as well as the surrounding neighborhood and city at large,” the memo said.

Parker said city staff supports the contract zone requests. She said the draft plans were presented to planning officials in December, and that the development team has since worked with city staff “to finalize necessary adjustments that meet the project goals and create an attractive, compatible and livable redevelopment project.”

The Wedgewood development, as shown in the Choice Neighborhoods plan, will include a broader mix of housing styles, including duplexes, along with four renovated units in the historic Wedgewood house.

The other development sites planned in the Choice Neighborhoods effort include a 66-unit, mixed-income housing development with ground floor commercial space along Pine Street, across from Kennedy Park; and the eventual replacement of the Maple Knoll housing complex with between 13 and 15 townhouse-style homes.

A rendering shows the layout of the 74-unit first phase of the Choice Neighborhoods redevelopment in Lewiston. City of Lewiston submission