Sanford is on the Move
- December 6th 2024
- City News
Photo credit: City of Sanford Growth Council
By Kendra Williams
The Sanford Regional Growth Council Director Keith McBride provided a 2024 fourth quarter report, full of positive developments, to the City Council at its November 26 meeting.
He began by noting some changing trends. The labor market is cooling, which means fewer available jobs but also makes labor costs for employers more sustainable. The housing market is slowing a bit also. Listings are staying on the market for an average of 37 days in Maine, which is the longest it’s been since the pandemic. These factors are driving interest rates and inflation down. The inflation rate is predicted to reach the normal rate of 2% early in 2025, which hasn’t been seen for about five years, and a recession has been avoided. All of this is good news for the local market.
The Growth Council’s work plan has focused primarily on business attraction, expansion and retention as well as public/private partnerships. McBride noted there has been some success in all three areas and said, “One of the stories of the year for us has been small business growth.” The Growth Council’s Small Business Advocate Mary Hastings has worked to provide assistance to many small businesses which have recently opened in Sanford and Springvale. They include Downhill Bagels; Guerrero Maya; Dayton Trailer Sales; Knots and Bolts; Hammer and Stain; Sanford Brake and Tire renovation and Sebago Technics. New businesses that opened just this week are Otto Pizza in South Sanford and the Meeting Grounds Café in Springvale.
Public/Private partnerships have also been very active. Money received in 2023 from the Community Development Block Grant Program has been used to make some façade improvements in the downtown area. Recently news was received that the grant will be renewed so the work can continue.
Federal Brownfields Grants are also being used for cleanup and assessment. Recently, representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency joined city leaders in a walk through in the Heritage Crossing area to discuss options for the International Woolen Mill and to see the impending project to remove the Boiler House building. There’s also a plan for the stabilization of the Pioneer Avenue area. Funding also allows for assessment of potential cleanup sites.
Tax Increment Finance Subsidies have been utilized to encourage and incentivize increased housing, infill development and revitalization of buildings in downtown Sanford.
It’s not difficult to notice all the building and economic activity going on in the city. A new Starbucks building in Shaw’s Plaza and a new Chase Bank at the former Burger King site are both close to completion.
More housing is also on the way. McBride said, “We see housing as a workforce development strategy. The number one question heard from business developers is about the workforce. If people can’t live here, they can’t work here.”
Central Park Apartments has two foundations ready, and building has begun on the first twenty of the thirty apartments being built on School and Bodwell Streets. Construction is underway at Main Street Apartments for 12 units on a previously vacant lot near Aroma Joes. And a plan is in place for a 24-unit building on Roberts Street at the former site of Ballenger Auto.
McBride concluded by noting things that have been talked about are coming to fruition and he predicted much more to come in 2025. “We’re starting to hear more and more that people are taking notice, and soon, everyone’s going to notice that Sanford is on the move. People are coming to Sanford and they’re coming fast.”
