Planning board approval for a disputed 34-unit housing project in Gardiner expired last month, confirming many neighbors’ concerns and representing an uphill battle for the site’s developer.

The Gardiner Planning Board approved the renovation and redevelopment of a former MaineGeneral hospital building at 150 Dresden Ave. in July 2023 after nearly three years of contentious meetings. That planning board approval started a two-year timer for obtaining permits and beginning work on the project — but developer Hathaway Holdings has failed to meet that deadline, Gardiner Code Enforcement Officer Kris McNeill said Monday.

“There’s no way for the project, as presented, to continue without returning to the planning board,” McNeill said.

Cheryl Clark, a Dresden Avenue property owner who opposed the project since it first came to light, hopes Paul Boghossian, the developer, sells the property to another developer. She said other housing developers in the Gardiner area — including Matt Morrill, who developed Stevens Commons in Hallowell and the Iron Heights project currently under construction on Bridge Street — have been able to succeed on a much quicker timeline.

“I’d like some other developer to offer him more money for it, because he could certainly make a profit,” Clark said. “I don’t think he ever is the man that has the technical or financial capacity to do this.”

Hathaway Holdings obtained an option for the site in 2021 and Boghossian quickly presented conceptual plans to turn the hospital complex into more than 60 one- and two-bedroom apartments and townhouses. Residents came out in force against the project, saying it would disturb the character of the established residential neighborhood, which is primarily composed of large lots and single-family homes, even though it is zoned for high-density residential development.

But after receiving approval from the planning board for the reduced proposal, which would have brought nearly three dozen apartments and townhouses to the 5-acre lot, Boghossian and Hathaway Holdings never secured a building permit for the redevelopment, McNeill said.

“They still had some planning left to do,” he said. “They had a general plan, they knew what they were doing, but they didn’t have full engineered plans done up or priced out. They still had work to do before construction, and I think that they just never got around to finishing that work.”

The hospital building has been unoccupied since 2019, when MaineGeneral moved its family practice facilities to a new building on Brunswick Avenue, near Interstate 295. Behind the Dresden Avenue hospital, MaineGeneral still operates a memory care center.

McNeill said many of the windows and doors have been boarded up after several instances of vandalism, and that city staff will continue to monitor the property.

Otherwise, the building has remained virtually untouched — a fallen tree lies across the lawn, and the parking lot still has several signs reserving spots for X-ray patients.

Nearby residents opposed the project in 18 meetings over three years leading up to the planning board approval. Neighbors appealed the board’s decision afterward, too, but that appeal was denied.

During those meetings, some residents expressed concerns about the track record of Hathaway Holdings’ owner, Boghossian. A Rhode Island native who specializes in historic restoration, Boghossian shepherded the redevelopment of Hathaway Creative Commons in Waterville from 2006-09 with a partner, but he has struggled to complete other projects.

During planning board meetings on the project, nearby homeowner Ian Burnes said he was concerned the Gardiner Green project would end up like Gehring Green, Boghossian’s project in Bethel. That project received approval but lay dormant for more than five years before he announced financing had been secured for the project.

Even after that announcement, little work was done to renovate the historic house. Boghossian sold the property in 2022 to the Northern Forest Center, which has since renovated the building into nine new apartments.

“Unfortunately, this is fully anticipated,” said Burnes, a former member of the Gardiner Planning Board. “This is consistent with the developer’s track record that we pointed out, and it’s really disappointing that we now have a blighted property. It’s unfortunate for the whole neighborhood.”

Boghossian did not respond to requests for comment.

A major sticking point for many neighbors — and a central part of their appeal — was Boghossian’s financial capacity to finish the project. Burnes said Boghossian’s proof of financial capacity for the $3 million project was based on a “sketchy” letter from a bank, and that the planning board was forced into a difficult, subjective decision.

“We presented evidence that said he didn’t (have financial capacity), and the planning board didn’t think it was sufficient,” Burnes said. “I recognize how hard that is, but here we are, and unfortunately, we’ve been proven right.”

McNeill, the code enforcement officer, said he has been in touch with Hathaway Holdings and Boghossian on next steps — including returning to the planning board with a new proposal — but that no plans have yet been finalized.