This week the Buzz is . . . wait . . . what’s that smell?
The iconic Krispy Kreme sign sits empty above the Center Street shop in Auburn in April. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file photo
A piping hot rumor.
The “HOT NOW” sign has only been down for two months since Krispy Kreme left Center Street in Auburn and now the speculation is on about who will be moving in.
WJBQ 97.9 wrote last week that it was hearing word of a certain burrito and rice bowl establishment: “Keep in mind, this is strictly a rumor as nothing has been confirmed, but we heard on some pretty good authority that a Chipotle Mexican Grill will be moving into the former Krispy Kreme space in Auburn.”
Maybe. But also, maybe not, according to city staff.
“We are working with a couple of restaurants interested in that space, but that is all I can say for now,” said Eric Cousens, Auburn’s deputy director of economic and community development. “Chipotle would be a great addition to Auburn’s food choices.”
So wait and see, but maybe keep the barbacoa warm.
Lewiston growth
Dunkin’ is next to the former Cathay Hut on Lisbon Street in Lewiston. Dary Slover/Sun Journal file photo Buy this Photo
The Cathay Hut is coming down and plenty else is going up.
The Lewiston Planning Board has been busy this week, approving four projects with 7-0 votes, according to City Planner Doug Greene.
Those projects:
• Saxon Partners will go ahead with its 244-unit, $35 million Residence at Great Falls project at 10, 35 and 37 Avon St. in the spring.
The former lumberyard is a total of almost 7 acres and will see two, four-story buildings connected in the middle, according to the application to the city. It’ll have 120 studio apartments, 124 one-bedroom apartments and 296 parking spaces.
Greene said Saxon agreed to pay $10,000 toward intersection improvements near Main and Middle streets. A representative also agreed to revisit preserving an old chimney on the site.
• Roopers Beverage and Redemption Center will move slightly up Main Street into the former Neokraft Signs at 686 Main St. with a larger convenience store and 20-seat drinking establishment.
“The Planning Board was supportive of Roopers move to a new location, creating a tasting room and recommended that a traffic island that directs traffic to a right out only be modified to create a safer pedestrian space,” Greene said. “Roopers wants to open very soon.”
• KP Realty LLC will knock down the former restaurant at 1128 Lisbon St. to make way for a new 2,158-square-foot commercial building and two-lane drive-thru for the Dunkin’ at 1124 Lisbon St.
Dunkin’s current entrance will be removed and the new drive-thrus will “wind behind the future building site and create stacking space for 20 vehicles,” according to the application.
The estimated cost for the new building and site improvements is $600,000 and construction will start immediately.
They already requested a demolition permit for Cathay Hut on Wednesday, Greene said.
• Lewiston Public Schools also got the OK to construct the long-anticipated $13.4 million, 19,450-square-foot, two-story addition to Lewiston High School. There’s no word on the timeline for that project to start.
Across the river
Can’t get enough of school construction?
The new Edward Little High School construction project is set to go in front of the Auburn Planning Board in July, according to Cousens.
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
