Milltown Park LLC, a company formed by Wellesley, Mass.-based brownfields redeveloper Renova Partners LLC, has started cleanup of a former Louisiana-Pacific Corp. mill site in Sandpoint and plans to seek approval of a multimillion-dollar planned-unit development on that property soon.


The 26-acre site, which Renova Partners bought last September from Louisiana-Pacific, is near the northwest corner of U.S. 95 and Larch Street, a few blocks north of downtown Sandpoint and a short distance west of Sand Creek.


Terry Everley, a San Francisco-based project manager for Renova, says the company is performing the remediation work and is preparing the property for development, but wont develop the property itself. Rather, its marketing the property for sale to potential developers.


In preparation for development, Milltown Park plans within the next month or two to apply to the city of Sandpoint for approval of a planned-unit development on the property.


Itll make it an easier path for the developer, Everley says.


The company envisions a development there that would include an 11.5-acre retail-and-office complex on the southern portion of the site, a three-acre hotel site just north of there, and a mix of condominiums and townhouses north and west of the hotel.


The proposed retail area would be large enough to accommodate about 120,000 square feet of floor space, Everley says.


In the residential portion, Milltown Park has a few alternatives with various densities of housing, Everley says.


We think the best fit is a slightly higher density than Sandpoint has seen, Everley says.


One idea calls for an equal number of condominiums and townhouses92 of eachwhile another calls for 350 condominium units on the site. A third proposal would include 162 condominium units and 60 townhouses, he says.


Cleanup of the site started earlier this summer and is expected to be completed this fall. Everley says the company hopes to receive approval of the cleanup effort and a no-further action required letter from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality by the end of October.


Everley says that Louisiana-Pacific operated a planing mill on the site but didnt treat wood at the facility. Consequently, he says, the soil contamination stems solely from vehicle-related petroleum pollution.


Renova Partners invests in property and handles environmental cleanups on sites throughout the U.S., and Everley says contamination of the Sandpoint site is at the far low end of the scale of what the company takes on.


Its relatively clean, he says.


Rob Kannapien and Craig Hunter, both of Coeur dAlene-based Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty Inc., are marketing the property.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at linnp@spokanejournal.com.