In the late 1990s, developer Richard Berman faced a dilemma familiar to many builders working in New England: build another formulaic shopping center anchored by a big-box retailer, or push for something more meaningful. Berman chose the harder path, spending two years trying to create a mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented community on 100 acres near Portland, Maine. His story holds lasting lessons for anyone involved in residential and commercial construction. For historical context on how the region’s building traditions shaped such tensions, see History Construction New England Stone Walls.
The Vision for West Falmouth Crossing
Berman held an option on a prime 100-acre site at Interstate 95’s Exit 10 in the suburban town of Falmouth, Maine. A conventional plan already existed that would let him build a big-box store such as Wal-Mart along with several satellite retailers. The financial returns were predictable, the approvals straightforward, and the timeline short. “I could have built one big box store, made a big profit, and moved on,” Berman told the Journal of Light Construction. “And I still could. But I wanted to do something a little different.”
The Community Planning Process
Rather than submitting the standard plan, Berman invited 40 Falmouth town leaders and citizens to participate in a collaborative design process. The goal was to create a development that would “actually build community.” The group developed a rough vision for a transit-oriented development called West Falmouth Crossing. The concept was ambitious:
- Shopping and retail space configured as a village-style center
- Medical office buildings
- A hotel
- Condominiums
- Affordable apartments located above retail stores
- A day care center
- Elderly housing
- Twenty acres of preserved open space along a riverfront green
The total projected cost was $34 million. The entire site would be laid out in a pedestrian-friendly manner designed to draw the residential, commercial, and office areas together.
Social Infrastructure as a Design Feature
What set West Falmouth Crossing apart from conventional developments was its social interstitching. Berman planned a system of shared activities across resident groups:
- Rent credit for apartment residents who volunteered at the elderly housing center
- Elderly housing residents would help at the day care center
- Shared dining and common facilities modeled on cohousing principles
- Walkable connections between all zones to encourage foot traffic over driving
Berman had previously brought a 27-unit cohousing community to completion over most of the early 1990s, a project planned together with its residents. That experience shaped his belief that developers could build for an entire community rather than just building off-the-shelf products.
Where the Plan Unraveled
Falmouth initially appeared to be the right setting for such an experiment. The town planner and some town council members had participated in or been briefed on the initial planning meetings. The town had progressive zoning and a town plan that seemed to accommodate the sort of alternative, concentrated development Berman had in mind. But once the formal submission was made, a larger group weighed in.
Public Opinion Splits
The town council held public hearings, and the feedback was sharply divided. Roughly half of Falmouth residents supported the plan. The other half opposed it on grounds of scale. “They just did not want something that large,” said town planner George Thebarge. Falmouth was a suburban community, and many residents balked at the density and mixed-use nature of the proposal, even though those features were central to its community-building purpose.
The town council responded by suggesting Berman submit a less ambitious proposal. He complied in late October 1997. The revised plan called for:
- A large supermarket
- A service station
- Medical office buildings
- Several other storefronts
- A possible future hotel
- Fifty acres along the river preserved as open space at the town’s request
The new plan included careful architectural review to achieve the look of a rural New England village, and both sides expressed confidence it would gain approval.
The Cost of Compromise
The compromise satisfied the town, but Berman admitted privately that something essential had been lost. The revised plan would look much better than a strip mall, but it lacked the social interstitching he had originally envisioned. “I believe in working with communities,” Berman said. “And I will make money, whether we do this or the other thing or I just put in a big box. And I would rather stretch to do something like this instead of a big box, even though a big box would make the same money and take less of my time. But I am starting to feel like I am at the end of my stretch.”
His final assessment captured the paradox: “It is funny: The result is better than the off-the-shelf shopping center, and it comes from a community-oriented planning process. But I am not sure we are ending up with a really community-oriented result.”
Lessons for Builders Working on Mixed-Use Projects
Berman’s experience offers several takeaways for builders and developers considering mixed-use or community-oriented projects in New England, especially in suburban settings. For more on adapting traditional New England building forms to modern floor plans, see Open Floor Plan for a New England Farmhouse Renovation.
Engage Early but Plan for Broader Pushback
Berman correctly involved town leaders from the start. The town planner and council members participated in early sessions. However, their buy-in did not translate into broader public support once the project became widely known. The gap between elite consensus and public opinion is one of the most common failure points in community-oriented development.
Suburban Zoning Resists Density
Even with progressive zoning in place, Falmouth residents pushed back against density. Builders planning mixed-use projects in suburban New England should budget for a longer approval timeline and prepare for the possibility that the project will be scaled down. The gap between what the zoning allows and what the community will accept can be significant. For guidance on preparing older New England structures for renovation work, read Preparing Historic Homes Exterior Paint Field Lessons Coastal.
The Developer’s Role Shifts with Project Type
Berman noted a personal cost to large commercial development that residential builders may recognize: “Doing this commercial development, you work with lawyers and bankers and accountants. Being a contractor, you get to go on site, get your feet dirty, bring the guys coffee. I miss that.” Builders transitioning from residential work to larger mixed-use projects should anticipate that the day-to-day role changes significantly. The field work gives way to meetings, negotiations, and public hearings.
Comparing Development Approaches
The table below summarizes the three development paths Berman considered for the Exit 10 site and their outcomes.
| Approach | Time to Approval | Community Benefit | Developer Role | Profitability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big-box shopping center (original option) | Fast | Low (standard retail) | Investor-manager | High with less effort |
| West Falmouth Crossing (community vision) | Two years and ongoing | High (mixed-use, affordable housing, open space, elderly and day care) | Community organizer and developer | Comparable but more time-intensive |
| Revised plan (approved compromise) | Approaching approval | Moderate (better than strip mall but less integrated) | Developer with oversight role | Comparable |
The Bigger Picture for New England Builders
Berman’s story was not unique in the late 1990s New England construction market. Several parallel trends shaped the environment for builders during this period.
Connecticut’s Construction Rebound
Connecticut, long a laggard in the region’s economic recovery, finally saw significant growth in 1997. Housing permits and construction jobs rose sharply, particularly in Fairfield County, which benefited from the booming New York City economy. Unemployment in the state dropped below 5 percent for the first time in many years. Builders across the state reported being busier than they had been in nearly a decade, driven by demand for high-end homes and increased consumer confidence.
Economic Trends Reshaping Residential Work
A broader shift was also underway in how housing starts translated into actual construction activity. While total housing starts in the mid-1990s were lower than peaks in the 1980s, the amount of work per start had increased significantly. Key data points include:
- Single-family homes made up 78.6 percent of all starts in 1996, up from 61.6 percent in 1985
- Average new single-family home size grew from 1,785 to 2,120 square feet between 1985 and 1996
- Average new multifamily unit size grew from 922 to 1,070 square feet over the same period
- Total residential investment in 1996 was higher than at any other point in the previous two decades, despite lower total starts
This trend favored small builders, who dominate the single-family home market. For them, the overall housing market had grown even as market indicators measured by total starts suggested otherwise. The lesson remains relevant today: builders who track square footage built and total investment rather than raw permit counts get a truer picture of market demand. For more on adapting New England residential designs to modern requirements, see Open Floor Plan for New England Farmhouse.
Code Compliance and Public Trust
Also in the New England construction news at the time was a troubling case in Portland, Maine, where furnace chimneys in newly built homes failed to vent properly. An owner-builder had installed chimney pipes designed for fireplaces rather than oil-burning furnaces. Though the pipes carried UL stickers, the inspector missed the mismatch. The Oil and Solid Fuel Board ultimately found the chimneys noncompliant with National Fire Protection Association standards, but the consent agreement that followed failed to satisfy homeowners, who reported feeling abandoned by the process. The incident underscored the importance of verifying that installed components match the intended application, not just checking for labels.
What Berman Did Next
After the West Falmouth Crossing experience, Berman turned his attention to smaller-scale projects. He began planning small affordable housing communities for elderly people, typically 8 to 10 units each. “Something of small scale that still meets their needs,” he said. The shift reflected a return to the kind of development that had drawn him to the profession in the first place: projects where he could work directly on site, get his hands dirty, and see the results take shape at a human scale.
The lesson for builders is straightforward. Community-oriented development is not impossible in suburban New England, but it requires realistic expectations about timelines, public engagement beyond the initial stakeholders, and a willingness to accept scaled-down outcomes. The alternative is what Berman could have built from day one: another big-box shopping center that would have made the same money with less effort. The fact that he tried something harder, even if the result fell short of his vision, is worth remembering the next time a builder faces the same choice.