Wilder hired to bring Scarborough’s downtown vision to life

Scarborough, ME Since 2006, the development of a true Town Center has been a goal of local residents and municipal leadership. Today, The Downs has formed a national strategic partnership that will bring the vision of a balanced Town Center to life. The Downs has joined forces with Boston-based Wilder, a nationally recognized leasing, management and development company, to cultivate interest for the Town Center among national retailers, restaurants, local and national businesses.

“The Downs has always delivered a balanced development guided by community input and market demand,” said Peter Michaud, managing partner, The Downs. “Adding Wilder to the team will allow us to continue following that principle so we can deliver a strong mix of local and national amenities,” Michaud said. Developers used Scarborough’s Downtown Committee Report and the Town of Scarborough’s Comprehensive Plan as a roadmap to build a Town Center that’s strong enough to attract large-scale amenities, but personal enough so that Maine-based businesses and restaurants feel at home.

Wilder has led numerous mixed-use developments across the country including the recently completed Boston-area Arsenal Yards, a mix of retail, residential, hotel and life science. Wilder’s approach for Scarborough will include developing a leasing strategy that is focused on local, high-quality retail stores, one-of-a-kind chef-driven restaurants, distinctive quick-service eateries, boutique fitness, specialty services, mixed with national retailers that serve the needs of the local community.

“The unique and special flavor that locally owned businesses bring to any development must not be overlooked,” said Tom Wilder, a principal at Wilder. “Rooted in community, local establishments offer distinct charm and authenticity that fosters a sense of belonging and pride among residents – it is important to us to preserve that in the leasing process,” Wilder said.

Wilder is engaged with local brokerage firm, The Boulos Company, a Portland-based leasing group. Boulos has worked with The Downs since 2018 and sold out the Innovation District five times faster than anticipated. Established as a light-industrial business hub, the area is home to 630,000 s/f of commercial space including Costco, IDEXX, Throttle Car Club, and 50 other small businesses.

“Collaborating with The Downs, Boulos and the community is a unique and inspiring opportunity,” said Wilder. “We look forward to combining our strengths and expertise to create a dynamic and sustainable community hub that will serve as a cornerstone of growth and innovation for the community and the region,” Wilder added.

Valued at $300 million, Town Center will add 320,000 s/f of retail space, 60,000 s/f of medical office space, 240 residential units and a boutique hotel. The Town Center also includes a main anchor building reminiscient of the iconic Scarborough Downs Grandstand in design, and it will house restaurants and breweries with outdoor and rooftop dining spaces that overlook a central greenspace. Additional mixed-use buildings will be situated around the green offering first-floor restaurant and retail, with upscale, amenitized housing on the second and third floors. Healthcare provider, InterMed, is finalizing permitting and will be breaking ground in the fall of 2024. Allagash will break ground in 2025 with a tasting room. Overlooking the Town Center will be 96 luxury condominium units and 60 market-rate apartments, and Maine’s first-ever affordable housing building for people with physical disabilities, 3iHoME.

Scarborough’s Town Center broke ground in late 2023 making Maine history as the first new-build downtown within an established community. As the most desired part of the 577-acre development, the Town Center will link the mixed-use residential portion of The Downs which is a mix of 540 housing units of various types, including condominiums, apartments, senior and affordable, and some single-family homes.

Honoring its commitment to deliver community-wide public benefit, The Downs donated 25 acres to Scarborough Land Trust and will conserve one-third of the development area. Developers have made $65 million in private investment into Maine’s infrastructure, which includes building public roads and delivering utilities and fiber optics to previously unserved areas. In addition, The Downs closed a critical gap in the public transit route from Falmouth to Biddeford and is leading the state’s largest comprehensive traffic improvement project. Throughout the 577-acre development project, 10 miles of recreation trails and tree-lined sidewalks link the entire project together, making it walkable and bikeable.

The first phase of the Town Center will be completed in 2025. At full buildout, the entire project is estimated to create over $615 million in new value; over $10 million in new tax revenue per year; two million s/f of commercial space and as many as 3,000 new jobs.