The city of Augusta is planning to bring market-rate housing, retail and a new hotel to the site of a former Kmart shopping plaza less than a mile from the statehouse.
City councilors approved a series of tax incentives and zoning changes late last week that will allow the project to move forward.
Augusta City Councilor Stephanie Sienkiewicz said residents in the area wanted to see housing come to the neglected shopping plaza.
"I know many of my neighbors in the neighborhood were concerned about plans that were coming forward, and I really love that this neighborhood is not just a naysaying neighborhood," she said during Thursday's council meeting. "They knew what they wanted, and they came out for this plan."
The plans also call for road improvements and the construction of sidewalk from the development to the statehouse, so that guests staying at the newly built hotel could easily walk to the Capitol grounds.
"Particularly I'm excited to be able to walk from the statehouse over to a beautiful new development, through the pathway, and just really excited to see what this does for the overall economic development of the Western Ave area and community," said city councilor Courtney Gary-Allen.
Developers, which include former DOT commissioner and Portland mayor George Campbell, are still working out details for the project. But redeveloping the neglected shopping plaza has long been part of the city's economic revitalization plan. And state officials tout redevelopment of former shopping malls as a potential solution to the state's housing crisis.
