Developers looking to revitalize the Olde Federal Building in downtown Augusta are asking the city council for a financing agreement to help them pay for the upgrades.
Andrew LeBlanc and Nathan DeLois want to create a 40-room boutique hotel, café, event space and a rooftop bar with views of the Kennebec River in the historic Water Street building.
The project is expected to create 40 to 50 jobs and add nearly $13 million in new taxable value to the city, according to Keith Luke, economic development director for the city.
The federal building was built from 1886 to 1890 and is considered one of the state’s best surviving examples of Romanesque Revival architecture, according to Main Street Maine. It’s been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974.
The building served as a courthouse and post office until the 1960s, when a larger federal building was built on Sewell Street not far from the State House.
The building continues to serve as a satellite post office, along with office space. LeBlanc said they purchased the building in March and have been preparing redevelopment plans since.
“The ability to rehabilitate this building, that truly is underutilized now is very exciting, and to be able to convert it into a use that’s public facing is exciting,” DeLois said Thursday at an Augusta City Council informational meeting.
The developers, called Uncommon Augusta LLC, are asking for a credit enhancement agreement over 20 years. The project is expected to generate about $5 million over the term, with half going to the developers to help cover their costs and half to the city for public infrastructure improvements and economic development in the downtown.
The city will need to hold two public hearings on the project, starting in November.
City councilor Stephanie Sienkiewicz said she’s excited to see what the building can become.
“That building is eye-catching, it’s this amazing piece of architecture we have in our downtown,” she said. “I know my kids are not the only ones to call it the castle of Augusta.”