Case Study

Town of Thomaston

THOMASTON GREEN DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION
TAX INCREMENT FINANCING DISTRICT

EPCG assisted the Town of Thomaston in designating a downtown municipal development and tax increment financing district.

For nearly two centuries (1823 to 2002), the Maine State Prison dominated the landscape of its host community, the Town of Thomaston. The maximum security prison was prominently situated on 15 acres of land on U.S. Route One at the southern gateway to the community, in close proximity to surrounding residential areas and the village center. In many ways, it was a keystone of life in Thomaston, and for 179 years, the words “state prison” and “Thomaston” were synonymous in the minds of most Mainers.

In 1979, the State Department of Corrections announced that it would close the Thomaston prison site in favor of a new facility to be constructed in nearby Warren. Municipal officials, including members of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee, began discussions with the State to determine the re-use options for the prison property. A community visioning process led to consensus among all parties that the prison should be demolished, and the site redeveloped.

The prison was demolished in the summer of 2002 and voters authorized the Board of Selectmen to accept title to the former prison property.

In early 2005, the Thomaston Redevelopment Committee was established and charged with developing a proposal and funding mechanism for the site that achieves the Town’s goal of re-establishing the former prison property as an integral component of the village center, with high density development consisting of mixed residential, commercial and institutional use compatible with existing neighborhood development.

On June 10, 2008, voters approved a Master Plan for the southern expansion of Thomaston’s downtown, a smart-growth, mixed-use redevelopment plan to be known as Thomaston Green. The plan envisions several new buildings surrounding a central green that connects Main Street to walking trails and an overlook of the Saint George River. On the west side of the site a large elderly housing facility is planned, with associated health care services and functions. On the eastern side, up to twenty market-rate, multi-family condominiums are planned. To the northern side of the site, adjacent to Route One, two retail sites are planned that will provide the town with new services. New pedestrian walkways will weave between the buildings and green space, providing access to the site’s facilities while unifying and expanding the village center and adjacent existing neighborhoods.

It is anticipated that the Town will retain ownership of a lot on the site to encourage development of a community use. Current plans contemplate a two-story building to house a satellite YMCA on the first floor and a medical clinic on the second, providing the community with new health and wellness services that are currently not available in Thomaston.

The mixed-use development plan for the site is proposed by Developer’s Collaborative of Portland, Maine, and is expected to yield up to $12.3 million of new taxable value on a site that was previously tax-exempt. The master plan enjoys broad support from Thomaston residents and voters, who have undertaken changes to the Town’s zoning map and land use development ordinance needed for the project to proceed. The plan recognizes the site’s importance as the village area’s southern gateway and encourages a high quality, moderate density neighborhood that expands and enhances the physical, aesthetic and social quality of Thomaston’s downtown village area.

The Eaton Peabody Consulting Group worked closely with the Town and the developer in designating approximately 44 acres of land located on 49 contiguous parcels as a Downtown Tax Increment Financing District designated as the Thomaston Green Downtown Revitalization Tax Increment Financing District. Creation of this district will promote the Town’s vision for the former prison site, and further revitalization of the Town’s entire village center. Additionally, the district provides the Town with a framework to spur additional economic development in the Town, increase the Town’s tax base, increase employment and stabilize existing businesses in the village center.

The Thomaston Green Downtown Revitalization Tax Increment Financing District captures and retains seventy (70%) percent of the increased assessed value from real property improvements in the District. The TIF district is expected to yield upwards of $12 million in planned private sector investment is expected to generate approximately $3.5 million in TIF revenues over the 30-year life of the District to support economic development efforts within the district.

The Town will retain all (100%) of the tax increment revenue attributable to the District’s real property improvements to help finance the public improvements both within the former prison site and throughout the entire Village District.

TIF revenues may be used to fund such additional investments as sidewalk improvements, lighting improvements, a façade improvement program and conversion of Watts Hall–a municipally-owned three-story facility located in the Village business district that currently hosts municipal offices and an auditorium that is most commonly used for town meetings. The Town has committed to a long-range municipal facility plan that would relocate those municipal functions to another site and prepare the Watts Hall retail storefronts for sale to commercial/retail interests through a condominium arrangement.

Without the benefit of the TIF program, the Town would not have access to the resources to invest in this critical infrastructure in order to bring this cornerstone of their community back into a vital and productive contributor to the community. Development within the entire district will retain and create jobs and motivate private investment, thus increasing the Town of Thomaston’s tax base.