A developer once poised to purchase the former Twin City Foods site near downtown Lewiston has decided against moving forward with the deal.
The Lewiston Tribune reports that during an Urban Renewal Agency meeting, Lewiston Community Development Director Laura Von Tersch said the company has decided not to go through with the buy due to all the site’s infrastructure needs, including upgrades to the electrical, water and sewer systems. The entire parcel also needs to be replated into city blocks and streets. Officials estimate the cost to accomplish those needs would be somewhere north of $8 million.
Another obstacle to development is the site’s status as a brownfield due to arsenic contamination in some of the soils. That could be fixed by hauling soil to a landfill, but that presents another expensive predevelopment task for a potential buyer.
For now, the city and the URA will work on plans to address the site’s needs in hopes of making the property more attractive to future development. (Lewiston Tribune)
