One of the core elements of the Naval Air Station redevelopment project is to actively engage the private sector in the revitalization effort. I’m pleased to report that the private real estate development community has contributed a great deal to the redevelopment story thus far.

We have been extremely fortunate to attract seven quality developers for projects at both Brunswick Landing and the Topsham Commerce Park, who all have paid fair market value for the former base properties. These projects, with a blend of refurbishing former Navy buildings and new groundup construction, collectively total over $60 million in exciting new development projects, so far. This substantial investment activity is creating new quality jobs and expanding the tax base for the towns of Brunswick and Topsham. Following is an overview of these key private development activities by each developer:

Affordable Midcoast Housing (George Schott)

• Acquired the former 650 units of military housing from the Navy and the land underneath from MRRA. To date AMH has sold nearly 200 units and is renting the remaining to area families (the units are nearly fully occupied);

• Acquired the former 250-room Navy Hotel and facilitated the sale to Rousseau Enterprises for development as a senior housing project (Coastal Landing);

• Acquired the former Wing headquarters that currently houses Oxford Networks Data Center;

• Acquired the former single sailor housing units and the former Nightflight building to provide housing support to the Navy at BIW and support short-term business needs; and

• Is in the process of acquiring the former Sea Cadet and Thrift Store buildings to house AMH administrative offices.

The Priority Group (Jim Howard)

• Acquired and refurbished the former Navy Lodge and Rec Center that currently houses the Pathways Inc.’s school facility and administrative offices;

• Acquired a lot and constructed the Sun-Ray Veterinary Clinic;

• Acquired a portion of the former base mobile home park and facilitated the sale to Northbridge Corporation for the construction of a 60-bed 50,000 square foot Avita memory care facility;

• Acquired several vacant lots for future construction; and

• Is in the process of acquiring and refurbishing the former 50,000 s.f. Navy Exchange building ( future home of Wayfair), the former police station, hobby shop and additional vacant properties to accommodate new business activity starting this spring.

Thomas Wright

• Acquired the former Navy support offices that houses Seeds of Independence, Harpswell Coastal Academy and Goodwill Workforce Solutions;

• Acquired and expanded the former Vet clinic that now houses the New Beet Market restaurant; and

• Acquired and refurbished the former Navy Gymnasium that now houses the new Landing YMCA facility.

Rousseau Enterprises (Mitch and Janet Rousseau)

• Acquired the former 250- room Navy Hotel from George Schott and developed it into 80 senior citizen apartments and a 40-room assisted living facility.

JHR Development (Hilary Rocket)

• Acquired and refurbished the former Navy Commissary in Topsham and sold it to Wicked Joe’s Coffee Company, where it underwent additional construction.

Cardente Properties (Doug Cardente)

• Acquired the former Navy SERE School that now houses the American Bureau of Shipping and the Rollease Innovation Center.

Northbridge Corporation

• Acquired a portion the former Navy Mobile Home Park from the Priority Group and is in the process of constructing a state-of-art 50,000 s.f. 60-room memory care facility.

As one can clearly see, the collective investment of these visionary developers is having a significant and profound effect on the NAS Brunswick redevelopment and has been a key element in the overall pace and success of the reuse effort. We at MRRA couldn’t be happier with the quality and attention to detail that these companies are developing and activity managing their respective properties. They are true pace-setters for the type of future development that will surely follow at Brunswick Landing and the Topsham Commerce Park. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for believing in the reuse vision and appreciate their significant investments at the former Navy base.

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Steve Levesque is the executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.