Built as a textile factory on the shores of the Kennebec River in 1887, this building is known to most Mainers as the Hathaway Shirt Factory, its use from 1957 until 2002. Barba + Wheelock led a team of design professionals to redevelop this building and the surrounding site into a mixed-use building which now serves as an anchor for downtown Waterville.
The project team included architects; mechanical, civil and electrical engineers; remediation specialists; historic preservationists; landscape architects and construction managers. Challenges included negotiating flood plain, increased traffic generation, planning board review and lengthy coordination with the National Park Service and Maine Historic Preservation Commission for Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program. Among the services completed for this project was the successful application for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and a Historic Preservation Certification Application (Parts 1, 2 and 3).
Phase One was a fast-tracked construction project completed December 2008. The third floor was renovated to house offices for Maine General: HealthReach and the second floor for TD Bank’s insurance division. Completion of Phase Two followed in May 2009 with the construction of sixty-seven apartments on the fourth and fifth floors, exterior improvements, and core components for the business and retail occupancy of the first and second floors.
Barba + Wheelock continued to work on an array of fit-outs for offices, retail tenants and a radio station. When the third phase is completed, the 230,000 sf building, one of three in the original complex, will include: a restaurant, offices, apartments and amenity spaces for the residents, including a fitness room and business center.
Working with a team of two out-of-state developers, funding for this project came from a variety of sources:
- Conventional Mortgage
- Developer Equity
- Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits
- State Rehabilitation Tax Credits
- New Market Tax Credits
- TIF Financing
