A plan to create a medical tourism facility at a former shoe mill in Auburn has been abandoned.
Four years ago, Chinese investment company Miracle Enterprise announced the project, which would cater to Chinese tourists. It was lauded by local officials and Central Maine Medical Center.
Auburn’s director of Economic and Community Development Michael Chammings says Miracle Enterprise has scrapped the project in part due to the delayed implementation of the EB-5 visa program, which offers green cards to foreign nationals who invest a certain amount of money in new U.S. businesses.
“They were expecting to get other investors involved through the EB-5 program, which they thought was going to be a couple months. It kept getting pushed off, and it ended up being a couple of years,” he says.
The property is currently listed as a package with two other buildings for $5 million.
“They’ve secured it, they’ve maintained it, they’ve paid the insurance, they’ve paid the taxes, but the business plan jut didn’t come together and now they’re looking to get some of their investment back,” Chammings says.
