An aerial view is own of the east side of Saco Island. A public auction scheduled for Friday for the Saco Island East project has been postponed until March, and could likely be canceled. FILE PHOTO
SACO — A public auction scheduled for Friday for the Saco Island East project has been postponed until March, and could likely be canceled, according to the attorney handling the sale.
Saco Island, once a booming mill district, is located in the Saco River situated between downtown Saco and Biddeford. The island is now home to a brew pub, a deli, condominiums, apartments, a train station and office space.
The Saco Island east property has long been vacant and spans about six acres on the eastern side of Main Street. According to city records, its assessed at $379,000.
Developer Bernie Saulnier of J & B Partners proposed a $40 million mixed-use project on the property called The Waters, but needs approvals from the city of Saco and the Saco River Corridor Commission which regulates land use along the Saco River. The project has yet to receive these approvals.
Joan Kurker, who holds a $375,000 mortgage on the property, had scheduled a public sale on the property at 3:30 p.m. Friday at 110 Main St. due to breach of conditions of the mortgage, according to documents filed in the York County Registry of Deeds.
The borrowers are working very hard to get the necessary approvals for the project, Jonathan Flagg, the Portsmouth attorney handling the sale, said in a phone interview on Thursday. If the approvals are obtained, he said, the borrower would begin making steps to pay off the mortgage, the auction would be canceled and the proposed project would move forward.
Flagg said he will be at 110 Main St. Friday to publicly announce the postponement of the sale.
—Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 780-9015 or email egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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