A national chain drugstore is poised to expand to Windham, eyeing the junction of routes 115 and 302, commonly known as Boody’s Corner.
Massachusetts-based Richmond Company, Inc. recently submitted an application to the town of Windham to redevelop the southeast corner of routes 115 and 302. The company plans to build a 14,000 square-foot drugstore, along with a 1,300 square-foot adjoining retail building.
Developers are waiting to announce which pharmacy will make its new home on the corner, but were willing to say the new owner is a well-known “large chain drugstore.” While the 14,000 square foot building will be a drugstore, officials have yet to disclose the type of retail operation in the adjoining 1,400 square-foot building.
The new drugstore will encompass the entire southeast corner of the intersection, including the current site of Champion Glass (still in operation), the former site of Squirrel’s Crossing (which closed last September) as well as a branch of Martin’s Point Health Care, which closed in early 2005.
Vice President of Richmond Company David Latulippe, whose office is in Freeport, said the opportunity presented itself last year and his company decided to purchase the land viewing Windham as a “good solid community” to conduct business.
The drugstore will face the intersection, he said, and include entrances from both Route 302 and Route 115.
Windham’s economic developer Keith Luke said the Richmond Company seems “very willing” to work with the town’s new design guidelines in their redevelopment of the corner. These guidelines offer a variety of suggestions to guide the aesthetic appearance and layout of new commercial and residential structures in Windham.
“It really goes a long way in making a case for championing the design standards,” Luke said of the company’s cooperation.
The drugstore application is now in the hands of town planning staff, and developers are working on engineering sketches. Due to a backlog of development applications, the current wait time for a preliminary Planning Board hearing is 30 to 60 days.
If approved, Latulippe said the new drugstore would take about six months to complete.
“We anticipate a fast-moving project,” Latulippe said. “Most of the engineering work is already done.”
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