Kittery to see hotel boom in 2024: Big projects at outlets, Warren's Lobster in works
KITTERY, Maine — A surge in hotel development is coming to town in 2024, and at least part of the demand is believed to be connected to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
Four separate hotel projects, along with an application for two inns on one property, were all proposed in Kittery last year, combining for 415 beds, according to town planning director Jason Garnham.
One of the proposals calls for a four-story, 107-room hotel to be built at the former site of the Days Inn, which burned down in a fatal five-alarm fire in mid-May.
Applicants filing plans to bring hotels to Kittery have told town officials they perceive a demand for extended-stay lodging, which Garnham believes is tied to shipyard employees and contractors.
“I think that's the most significant development for what we have in the permitting pipeline in the town,” he said.
Garnham referenced the almost-complete, 282-unit, Seacoast Residences project and the groundbreaking of Mainspring, a social services hub and affordable housing site to illustrate more housing is needed in Kittery. As the town and Maine municipalities work to implement LD 2003, a law calling for increased housing opportunities throughout the state, progress could be made in 2024.
“That’s the challenge is to try and find a way to make the in-between stuff work for property owners and to work in a way that can make it attractive and competitive for developers to try to do it,” Garnham said.
Here’s a look at development projects that could be approved, commenced or completed in Kittery in 2024:
Kittery's second recreational pot shop expected to open
Kittery resident Joshua Seymour, founder and operator of Green Truck Farms, received the town's second retail marijuana shop license in October. The opening is expected in 2024. The green light came after Seymour’s land-use application to renovate his existing business location at 89 Route 236 was approved by the Kittery Planning Board.
The Route 236 commercial unit is located next to an Aroma Joe’s and was used by Green Truck Farms in the past as a now-closed cannabidiol (CBD) boutique.
In the fall, Seymour stated in an interview he hopes for his recreational cannabis business to be in full swing by spring 2024. The shop will offer cannabis flower, concentrates, vapes, edibles, drinks, CBD and medicinal products for sale.
What will happen to Warren's Lobster House?
Taking many past and present Warren’s Lobster House customers by surprise, news broke in August the iconic 350-seat restaurant could be demolished, along with the Chrissy D. Lobster Company and an adjacent duplex residence.
Plans originally filed by applicant Green & Company Real Estate, which had a purchase and sale agreement on the 9-13 Water Street property, called for a new development. The proposal was for eight condominium units, a 20-slip marina and a new wharf system, pending approval by town boards.
The plan has since been revised. While all the existing site structures would still be demolished, eight condominiums and a new 1,200-square-foot lobster pound would be built rather than the marina. The incorporation of a new lobster pound allows the plan to comply with a working waterfront requirement.
“The property is in Kittery’s Commercial Fisheries/ Maritime Uses zoning overlay, where ‘functionally water-dependent commercial fisheries/ marine activities’ are the only permitted/conforming uses,” Garnham said. “The town’s position is that the current lobster pound business (Chrissy D’s) is a conforming use and that any redevelopment of the site must therefore retain a working waterfront (conforming) use in accordance with the applicable regulations.”
Warren’s Lobster House has remained open while the approval process progresses. It remains to be seen if the project will happen in 2024.
Will the Outlets at Kittery be demolished?
The Outlets at Kittery at 283 U.S. Route 1 could be demolished if a major development is approved. A five-story, 107-unit apartment building, a four-story 119-room hotel with an indoor pool, and a 6,000-square-foot restaurant building are proposed.
Eleven of the apartments would be marketed as affordable housing, meeting a town requirement. In those units, rental prices would be reduced and people with certain income levels would qualify to live in them.
In the town’s Commercial 1 zoning district, where the project was proposed, developments proposing five or more dwelling units must have 10% of the units designated as affordable housing. Town ordinance permits developers to pay a fee to the town instead of providing the affordable housing units.
A total of 316 parking spaces are included in the proposal, in addition to a dog park. The Outlets at Kittery are located directly next to the Kittery Trading Post.
The plan was first proposed in April by Two International Group, the Portsmouth commercial real estate company that owns the 283 U.S. Route 1 property. It has not yet been fully approved by the Kittery Planning Board.
Holiday Inn Express coming to Route 1 Bypass in Kittery
The Kittery Planning Board approved a three-story, 63-room Holiday Inn Express to be built at 90 U.S. Route 1 Bypass.
The 13,308-square-foot building is planned to include a 1,411-square-foot canopy at the entryway of the hotel and 67 parking spaces, according to a site plan.
The property was formerly home to the now-demolished 10-room Little Guest House motel. The site currently has only a parking area with driveways that access Old Post Road and the U.S. Route 1 Bypass, as well as woodlands on the eastern part of the lot.
New hotel proposed at former Days Inn site
In June, less than one month after the Days Inn burned down, the owners of the ruined 85 U.S. Route 1 Bypass site proposed a new four-story, 107-room hotel to take its place.
The plan to replace the circa-1956 Days Inn, where a 57-year-old Virginia resident died, was filed before the blaze occurred. The former hotel did not have a sprinkler system, as it was built before Maine law required them.
The redevelopment proposal calls for the Days Inn’s existing outdoor swimming pool to be removed, while a new 110-space parking lot would be created.
The Days Inn has been owned by Kittery Motor Inn Inc. since 1994, with state records listing Rohit Patel as the company’s registered agent.
The proposal is still seeking approval from the Kittery Planning Board.
New 102-room hotel approved on the U.S. Route 1 Bypass
Three neighboring parcels — 112 and 120 Route 1 Bypass and 139 Old Post Road — will be used for the construction of a new four-story, 102-room hotel.
The plan was approved by the Kittery Planning Board after being proposed in June. Adjacent to the town traffic circle, the site previously was home to a gas station.
The hotel’s outdoor patio area will face Old Post Road.
The property owner is listed as Kittery Circle LLC, which is owned by James Mitchell.
Two inns to replace Enchanted Nights bed and breakfast
The old Enchanted Nights parcel is set to be converted into two new inns at 27 and 29 Wentworth Street. Madbury Real Estate Ventures, a Wakefield, Massachusetts company, is under contract to buy and redevelop the properties.
The proposal calls for two separate 12-room inns side by side. Each three-story structure would house an ADA-accessible innkeeper’s suite on the ground floor, with the two stories above both containing six bedrooms.
The Kittery Planning Board approved the project on Dec. 14.
Mainspring social services hub coming in 2024
Fair Tide and Footprints Food Pantry are gearing up to relocate to 22 Shapleigh Road late next year upon the completion of Mainspring. The new social services hub and affordable housing development is planned to serve thousands of people in southern Maine and the Seacoast.
Mainspring will become the home of several nonprofit agencies, a project formed in order for ease of access to public services. It will be located in the old Kittery Family Practice building, with renovations and the construction of six affordable housing units on-site requiring leaders to undertake a $5.45 million capital campaign.
The affordable housing units at the address will be owned by Fair Tide. Five of the units in the development will be one-bedroom units, while the sixth is slated to be a studio apartment.
Emily Flinkstrom, Fair Tide’s executive director, and Megan Shapiro-Ross, executive director of Footprints Food Pantry, are aiming for Mainspring’s doors to open by the fall of 2024.
Fair Tide and Footprints are not merging, though they jointly purchased the building using a $750,000 federal grant from American Rescue Plan Act funding allocated to York County. York County Community Action’s outreach and Women, Infants and Children programs, among other services, will be located in the building.
The proposal was approved last April, and leaders broke ground on the project in the fall.
ARQ Architects oversaw the design of the facility. TPD Construction is serving as the project construction manager.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kittery ME expected to see hotel boom in 2024
