HOULTON, Maine — Construction has begun on on a new 6,000 square foot speculative building on a lot at the industrial park at the airport, Houlton’s town manager said Thursday.
Town Manager Butch Asselin also said that there is “active interest” from a company interested in purchasing the building, which was being constructed in an effort to create new jobs.
Peter Chase and his company, Building’s Etcetera, are constructing the shell of a building on 1 acre of land that has already been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“I am very pleased with the work Peter’s company is doing,” Asselin said Thursday. “We have gotten active interest from a company that is interested in purchasing the building, but I can’t go further into detail. But if it goes as planned it will create additional jobs in Houlton.”
The board of directors of the Shiretown Development Corp. voted in May to construct the building. The SDC, which consists of all seven town council members, functions as an economic development arm for the town.
The $270,000 to construct the building will come from the town, then the structure will be put up for sale by the SDC.
The structure is not being built for any specific business but in hopes of attracting an existing business to expand or a new business to move in and customize the building to suit its needs, according to the town manager.
The building will have connections for water and sewer, a concrete foundation and two doors with a loading dock.There also will be room for expansion on the opposite side of the loading dock.
Asselin said that construction is expected to be completed by October.
