Developers get tax break to renovate old Baxter Library
The historic Congress Street building will give a needed economic boost to the area, city officials say.
By TOM BELL, Staff Writer
November 3, 2009
PORTLAND — The City Council voted unanimously Monday to give a $272,000 tax break to the developers of the historic Baxter Library on Congress Street.
The building, which has recently housed Maine College of Art classroom space, will undergo $2.5 million in renovations and serve as the new home for VIA Group, a national marketing company now headquartered on Danforth Street.
Councilors praised the project, saying it will restore a historic building and help revitalize a section of Congress Street that is one of the poorest areas in the city.
Mayor Jill Duson said the influx of well-paid workers will add vitality and attract additional investment. She said the tax break will prove its value over the long term.
"This is a modest investment to leverage a major development," she said.
VIA's founder, John Coleman of Yarmouth, told the council that the restoration will be done to high standards.
"The end result of this building will be stunning," he said. "It will be an exciting building people can be proud of."
Developers Robert C.S. Monks and Rex Bell of Cape Elizabeth said they needed the tax break to make the $4.6 million project economically feasible.
The Baxter project would be the first major project in the city's new creative economy tax district in the arts district on Congress Street. The program allows a portion of the value of new investment to be used to promote arts and cultural events, and to support innovative business initiatives.
Built in 1889 under six-term mayor and philanthropist James Baxter, the elegant Romanesque Revival building at 619 Congress St. was the city library until 1979.
Coleman, whose lease terms include an option to buy the building, said it has space enough to allow him to double the number of people he employs. The company primarily serves national clients and was recently listed among the nation's top 100 advertising firms, Coleman said.
The Maine College of Art, which is providing a short-term loan for the project, has moved its classrooms to the Porteous Building on Congress Street.
The developers also plan to use federal and state historic tax credits, and are getting financing from the Maine Rural Development Authority.
The developers faced a $165,000 funding gap. To close it, they plan to take out a bank loan, which the City Council agreed to repay. Over nine years, that would amount to $272,000 in principal and interest (65 percent of the taxable value of the property.) After nine years, the tax break ends.
Monks is an investor in MaineToday Media Inc., which owns the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and serves on the company's board of directors.
Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at: tbell@presherald.com