NORTH WINDHAM – Last January, John der Kinderen strode into a Windham Planning Board meeting and announced to the public his plans to build 37 acres of greenhouses in North Windham.

The proposal, coming as it did on the heels of a rocky 2011 that saw the country still grappling with a severe recession, gave hope to Windham business and government leaders. The massive project, which der Kinderen wanted to get on the Planning Board’s fast-track, promised to bring jobs and tax proceeds into town coffers.

A year later, der Kinderen, an Arundel resident who is part owner of WNWN Inc., hasn’t given up on the proposal, which aims to bring aquaculture and greenhouse vegetables to the Quarry Ridge Business Park on Enterprise Drive in North Windham. He is still searching for an estimated $100 million in financing, and despite some setbacks, he is pressing on with the project.

Meanwhile, town officials and the owner of Quarry Ridge Business Park continue to believe in the future success of the site as an area of commercial growth for Windham, regardless of whether Sebago Farms becomes a reality.

Contacted last week, der Kinderen said a prospective financing deal fell through in the middle of 2012 not only because of the sluggish economy but because of some hesitations der Kinderen had with the European financing firm he had been working with.

“I backed out of the deal because something didn’t smell right,” der Kinderen said. “And also the bank that was handling that, which was HSBC, is now under indictment for money laundering, and that was what I suspected, which is really why I backed out of it.”

Der Kinderen went on to say he thought the funding source, which he declined to name, was legitimately delayed due to the uncertainty of the European debt crisis in 2012, but after several months he started to feel uncomfortable.

“To be absolutely truthful something like that was what was happening with the money promised us, so I pushed it for a little while, and then I said, you know what, I think I’m better off looking for some other partners,” he said.

According to Wall Street Journal reports, the U.K.-based HSBC Holdings eventually forfeited $1.92 billion last month after the U.S. government’s crackdown.

Despite the delays, der Kinderen is still working to find investors to back the Sebago Farms project, and he is still eyeing the North Windham location if and when he does raise the start-up capital. He said the location in the reclaimed Grondin gravel pit next to Route 302 is “prime.” It’s located along a natural gas line that provides substantial electrical service and has access to a pristine water source necessary for aquaculture and vegetable harvesting.

“That’s still my prime location, both because of all the resources available at the location and also because of the town itself,” der Kinderen said. “Windham has been really great to work with up until this point and I know we can work together to make it happen.”

Der Kinderen said he is actively looking for investors.

“I’m working on reconstituting the business plan with new partners so that I can approach these financial resources and hopefully get the funding,” he said.

He still is planning for greenhouses, but wants to focus more on aquaculture, with less emphasis on the carrots and microgreens (lettuce), although they’d be in the mix, as well.

“Because of the difficulties with farm-raised fish out in the ocean in the sea cages, land-based aquaculture is a major movement all over the globe, primarily because you have control over the various environmental factors,” der Kinderen said.

He’s also interested in raising algae, which is being developed as a substitute for oil.

“It’ll probably be a combination of them,” der Kinderen said. “I’m trying to make this operation as flexible as possible so we can adapt to the market as it changes, which it inevitably will.”

‘We can’t be waiting’

Tom Bartell, Windham’s director of economic development, hasn’t given up hope Sebago Farms will one day call Windham home. He says the Quarry Ridge Business Park, which is the town’s main site for light industry, office parks, and other non-retail commercial enterprises, is a “great piece of property” that has recently drawn other companies, such as Genest Landscaping, Tube Hollows International and Shlumpf Inc.

Ken Grondin, whose father Robert Grondin (founder of R.J. Grondin & Sons Co.) owns the park as well as the still-operating gravel pit, said the success of the park doesn’t hinge on Sebago Farms. Grondin said he’s already working on a replacement project.

“I’m not even counting on Sebago Farms,” Grondin said. “I’m going to proceed with a 36-lot commercial subdivision in the near future to the town of Windham that encompasses the footprint that was originally intended for Sebago Farms. I’m basically going to keep plugging away with our original plan. If Sebago Farms ever comes along, that’d be great. But, for now, we can’t be waiting.”

To make Enterprise Drive, which leads to the 700-acre Quarry Ridge Business Park, more appealing to investors, Ken Grondin and town leaders want to improve access to the road, which is set off busy Route 302 just north of Seacoast Fun Park. According to the Maine Department of Transportation, the traffic counts on Enterprise Drive don’t warrant a traffic signal at its intersection with Route 302, but Grondin said his company would pay for the signal if and when enough businesses move into the park and generate the required traffic counts.

“We would like to put in a traffic signal as soon as possible. We feel we are losing potential land owners due to the fact that there is no light there and that it’s difficult to make a left-hand turn out of Enterprise Drive,” Grondin said. “But the signal isn’t warranted yet – we’re only about halfway there – so the park would basically have to double from where it is currently to trip that threshold.

“We would love to have someone come along with a lot of trips per day and buy a lot and enable us and all to get a traffic light. It would help everyone.”

Business is developing

The business park is growing, according to Ken Grondin and Larry Eliason, a Windham real estate broker and member of the Windham Economic Development Corp. Grondin credits Eliason for helping draw new businesses, such as Tube Hollows International, which employs 35 workers, as well as the Schlumpf Inc., a materials handling equipment manufacturer for the paper industry that employs 18 workers and recently moved into a larger space on Enterprise Drive.

Eliason said large facility space is tight in Windham, with few empty warehousing or manufacturing spaces. That means manufacturers wanting to locate to Windham, with its proximity to the Portland labor market and its relatively low taxes, would need to erect a new building. One of the few places to do that is in Quarry Ridge.

“Quarry Ridge Business Park is key to continuing the expansion,” Eliason said. “Unless you have the right configuration, you’re going to have to do a build-to-suit scenario. So I think we’re seeing more absorption of existing office spaces, so we’re making gains.”

Besides the traffic signal on Route 302, Bartell said the town is working with the state transportation department on a plan to build a middle turning lane on Route 302 north of the Anglers Road intersection. Most of Route 302 in North Windham has two lanes plus a middle turning lane. The turning lane would provide additional traffic safety and traffic flow near the business park, which Bartell said the town is promoting to developers of non-retail commercial uses.

“That’s been designated as the Enterprise Development District from way back and that’s our area designated for a large non-retail business park,” Bartell said. “And the question is as we’re moving along, what kind of infrastructure do we need to have, even off-site like along Route 302, so it attracts who we need to attract.”

Der Kinderen, at Sebago Farms, is hoping someday his WNWN company – which stands for Waste Not Want Not and is involved with other entrepreneurial efforts such as redesigning the internal combustion engine as well as finding a substitute for fish meal – will be part of the growing mix in the developing business park. But with financing untenable, he’s not sure when he’ll join the party.

“Right now, things are moving at a snail’s pace, which is very frustrating, but you just have to work with it,” der Kinderen said. “I keep telling myself you may be frustrated that it’s moving at a snail’s pace, but the movement is in a forward direction so you’ve got to be happy with that.”

The plans for Sebago Farms in Windham called for 37 acres of greenhouses on a 72-acre parcel. The project isn’t dead yet, despite a year delay, said the project’s backer, John der Kinderen, who is trying to raise start-up money.