WESTBROOK – The first thing drivers see when coming into Westbrook from the west is an old warehouse, commonly referred to as the Maine Rubber building.

Now, imagine if it weren’t there.

A new contract zone being considered by the Westbrook Planning Board would expand uses on the property, which owner David Elowitch hopes will make it easier to sell. Elowitch owns and operates Storage Realty Corp. from the Maine Rubber building. He said the warehouse has one tenant.

“We have a nice tenant. It’s a gamble on our part in the sense that we are giving up rent from that person. Hopefully, it’s enough to get someone interested,” Elowitch said.

The proposal could mark a breakthrough in the off-and-on negotiations between Elowitch and the city during the past few years. The new zone impacts 1.5 acres at 942 Main St., where the 27,000-square-foot building sits.

The property, which the Elowitch family has owned for several decades, used to be home to Maine Rubber, which manufactured hard rubber tires for use on industrial equipment such as forklifts. Maine Rubber closed in the 1990s and the Elowitch family has operated the building as a storage warehouse since then.

Since the rubber factory closed, Westbrook officials have approached the family with various proposals to tear down the plant and replace it with a new structure, but issues such as parking and access to Main Street and William Clarke Drive have stalled many of the proposals.

The Planning Board has scheduled a public hearing on what the city is calling the Gateway Contract Zone for Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m., in Room 114 at Westbrook High School. If the proposal passes, it will move on to review by the City Council.

According to Elowitch, the property has been on the market for 15 years, and, despite offering to demolish it and build something new on the site to lease or just sell the lot, the property is still available.

Last year, the city secured a $125,000 Community Development Block Grant to cover the costs of tearing down the building. The city was also responsible for obtaining a brownfield grant for environmental testing on the property to determine if there was any contamination on the site while it was operating as Maine Rubber. City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the assessment showed there was some contamination, but not as much as he had expected.

Bryant said the biggest change in the zoning proposal is that it allows a bank with a drive-through window as a permitted use instead of a special exception. If a bank were to plan a building on the property, City Council approval would still be necessary, but the contract zone would allow Elowitch to market the land to a bank without questions of whether it could open with a drive-through window.

“It gives a level of certainty,” Bryant said.

The contract zone would also allow using a portion of Saco Street to make exiting and entering easier. In exchange, Elowitch would demolish the warehouse and give a portion of the property to the city to build an additional westbound lane on William Clark Drive.

“I think the city and us are both in agreement that it’s a major improvement,” Elowitch said.

City officials are also working on other downtown development projects.

“I really feel like Westbrook is poised for greatness. Our goal is to have mixed use in the downtown area with both residential and commercial buildings,” said Bill Baker, Westbrook’s assistant city administrator for business and community relations.

Like the Maine Rubber property, the Foote property, located on Dana Street in the downtown area, has hit road bumps in the past when the parties sat down to discuss redevelopment of the site. But, Baker said, he had met with several representatives of the family recently and it looked like there was “some exciting potential” with the property. The building once housed the American Journal when it was owned by Harry Foote. Family member Raymond Foote had no comment Wednesday on the talks.

“From what I hear, people are sensing our momentum. We’re keeping our foot on the gas pedal,” Baker said. “I can’t speak to what’s happened in the past, but the mayor had a vision and that was one of the reasons this position [assistant city administrator for business and community relations] was created. I think people are happy having a full-time advocate for businesses. They’re starting to see the positive changes.”

Baker said city officials are looking at both privately owned and city-owned parcels on Main Street and considering a private/public partnership.

One of those parcels could be turned into a new City Hall. The city is trying to sell the City Hall building on York Street. One plan had been to move it to the Westbrook Community Center in the old Wescott Junior High School building on Bridge Street.

“The community center is turning out to be an active place. We’re thinking about whether or not moving City Hall in the downtown,” Baker said.

Another project, one Baker is personally looking forward to, is the recreational development of the Presumpscot River by adding three floating ramps and docks for public kayaks and boats. Baker said in his research, he’d seen more than 35 cities that saw economic improvement after utilizing downtown waterways.

“I think if you look at all those pieces, it’s reasonable to see why the downtown is posed for greatness,” Baker said.