Village Parcel could address ‘actual need’

To the editor,

Local Realtor Bill Case (March 13, 2020) wrote that Kennebunkport is “stuck” with the $10 million purchase of the “Village Parcel” and that “… there’s no way they could ever sell the ‘parcel’ for anywhere near what they paid for it.”

Bill, of course, is absolutely right if one used conventional reasoning, existing land use ordinances, the town’s apparent lack of a clear vision about what to do with the property, and its unwillingness to say why they bought it in the first place.

There is a use of the property which addresses an actual need (rather than shared wants), that could pay back the $10 million.

The town needs to develop the Village Parcel as a Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), sometimes called Smart Growth, or the Great American Village.

A TND on the Village Parcel would consist of a cohesive and compact grid-matrix of streets and alleys centered around, and within walking distance of, a central plaza. Blocks would be laid-out with 280, 1/8th-acre, 54-foot x 108-foot dwelling unit lots, occupying about 20 acres.

Based on current Kennebunkport land sale values, 54-foot x 108-foot lots could be priced at $40,000 to $50,000, and dwellings could be built for – but not limited to – around $210,000, satisfying the Housing Needs Analysis and assessment recommendation for homes to be priced between $254,000 and $382,000.

A 10-year development sale of 280 lots at $50,000, would total $14 million.

A fully-developed village, with 714,000-square-feet of building construction, would have an improvement value of about $150 million with an associated land value at 20 percent, of $30 million, which allows $20 million for roads and infrastructure.

A development value of $150 million, assessed at 10 mils, would bring in $15 million a year.

Peter H. Frink
Kennebunkport