Wal-Mart is still investing money in the Saunders Brothers mill property – an indication that the retail giant is still interested in building a store on the site.
“We’re certainly still hoping Wal-Mart decides to put a store here, but at this point I can’t tell you if they are or not,” said Saunders Brothers President Josh Saunders. “I think there are signs that Wal-Mart is still interested in the property, but there’s nothing concrete.”
Last week, crews were at the Saunders property taking engineering surveys of the site. Saunders said the crews are from Old Town-based engineering firm J.W. Sewall. Westbrook-based Sebago Techincs had previously surveyed the property, but Saunders said Wal-Mart has since switched engineering firms.
It has been unclear whether Wal-Mart would continue with its plans to build a Supercenter at the site since the City Council restricted the potential size of the building on the site to 160,000 square feet – approximately 40,000 square feet less than Wal-Mart wanted.
Phil Serghini, Wal-Mart’s community affairs manager for the Northeast region, did not return multiple calls seeking comment for this story.
Kevin Daniel, a project surveyor for Sewall, said a realtor working for a potential developer of the property had hired his firm, though he did not have any more details. He referred all other questions to Project Manager Aaron Shaw. Shaw was out of the office and unavailable for comment.
Saunders said he has not had any conversations with Wal-Mart or the company’s developer about the project, but that doesn’t mean the project is dead. “They haven’t told me they’re coming,” he said. “But they haven’t told me they’re not coming.”
Director of Economic and Community Development Erik Carson said the city has not had any proposals from Wal-Mart or any indication that the company is walking away from the project.
The future of the proposed store was cast in doubt in August when the City Council voted to cap the size of retail projects in the gateway zone at 160,000 square feet. The gateway zone pertains to much of the land around the city’s two Turnpike exits.
The restrictions passed by the council also contain provisions for increased buffering for the surrounding neighborhood and controls on lighting and hours of operation and delivery. However, the size of the store was the largest problem for Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart had originally proposed building a 203,000-square-foot Supercenter on the mill site. In 2004, the City Council voted to change the property’s zoning from industrial to gateway, clearing the way for the Wal-Mart.
At the urging of Westbrook Our Home, a neighborhood group organized to fight the project, the council asked the Planning Board to come up with a series of restrictions that would be applied to large retail projects in the zone. The board worked for almost a year on those standards, sending them to the council in July.
While Wal-Mart had originally proposed a 203,000-square-foot store for the site, the company had indicated they would be willing to comply with all of the restrictions as long as the store size was increased to 180,000 square feet.
Since the vote, Wal-Mart has been silent on its future plans for the property.
Saunders said while his company waits for Wal-Mart to make up its mind, Saunders Brothers is slowly continuing to move its operations out of Westbrook. The only things operating on the old mill property are the company’s main offices, the brokerage division and a warehouse, which is being used to distribute sleds and toboggans this winter.
Saunders said there is “minimal” staff in the warehouse now, and he expects the warehouse to close at the end of the winter. He added he expects the brokerage division and the company’s offices will remain on the property “until the sale gets resolved.”
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