Scarborough's Downs Is Building Its Town Center Around Errands First

At the corner of Market Street and Scarborough Downs Road, an 80,000-square-foot building has been filling with shelving and staff since September. In late September, Mainebiz reported that equipment was being moved in and the exterior sign wasn't up yet. Market Basket was expected to open in November. In late October, the company's homepage still listed open interviews for Scarborough, Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. WCYY reported that a firm opening date would come once the full staff is hired and trained.

It will be the first retail tenant in the Town Center section of The Downs. The tenants confirmed so far show how the developer plans to build that center. The everyday errands come first. Restaurants, shops and the gathering spaces in the drawings are supposed to follow.

A Supermarket as the First Building Block

Market Basket's store locations page lists the Scarborough store as Market Basket #96 at 70 Market St. Mainebiz reported that it is expected to carry more than 50,000 products. It will be the chain's fourth Maine store, after Topsham, Westbrook and Biddeford. The company was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1917 and now runs 90 stores in four states. M&R Development, led by the Risbara and Michaud families, is developing the project, and Shaw Brothers Construction is handling site work.

The timing lines up with a quiet anniversary down the road. Costco's warehouse at 455 Scarborough Downs Road lists its opening date as November 17, 2023. Costco sits in the Innovation District, north of the Town Center. So the first large store at The Downs turns three on November 17, close to when the first Town Center store is expected to open. In between came smaller openings in a single building on Market Street.

Dan Bacon, director of development for M&R Development, explained the order of tenants to Mainebiz in September:

"It is a strong sign that these essential businesses have announced tenancy, and they were intentionally selected to build confidence for the other retailers that we are currently in negotiations with."

In the same interview, Bacon said the company expects "announcements coming soon." He described active talks with home furnishing and apparel companies, restaurateurs, breweries and other retailers.

By the developer's own account, the supermarket, banks and phone store were chosen to go first so they could build confidence among the restaurants and shops still in negotiations.

What's Open at The Downs Right Now

You don't need to wait for the supermarket to find reasons to stop on Market Street. Two of the open businesses share one address, 10 Market St. A car club sits a short drive away on Dynamic Drive.

The Allagash Bungalow is a tasting room. Besides Allagash beer, it pours house-made wine, cider and cocktails, and Bite Into Maine handles the food, lobster rolls included. It opened in early August 2025, and The Downs celebrated its first birthday on August 1 this year. Happy hour runs Tuesday through Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m., with $1 off full draft pours and $5 beer-cheese fries or pork dumplings.

Throttle Car Club offers detailing Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Its members' bar opens Wednesday through Friday from 4 p.m., Saturday from 3 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. The club also hosts public events.

Two Dates on the November Calendar

The Downs event calendar lists two public events after Market Basket's expected opening month begins:

• Sunday, November 8: the monthly Kids' Craft Pop Up at the Allagash Bungalow
• Wednesday, November 11: line-dancing lessons with DeeDee Allen at Throttle Car Club

Both are at businesses that are already open, and none of the November events are in the new Town Center itself. On its Town Center page, The Downs describes a woonerf, a shared street built for people as much as cars. The page pictures outdoor dining, live music, seasonal markets and community events there. All of that is presented as a plan for the future. Nothing on the current calendar is scheduled there yet.

What Comes Next, in Expected Order

Most of the tenants confirmed so far are errand stops. A café and about six open storefronts in the Breakaway building are the first planned spaces where people might stay a while. Here is what was announced through the summer and fall, in the order the projects are expected to open:

1. Market Basket, November 2026. No firm date announced as of late October.
2. NBT Bank, date not announced. Mainebiz reported in July a 2,000-square-foot branch planned beside Market Basket.
3. Maine Community Bank, date not announced. A 4,000-square-foot branch planned near Allagash.
4. InterMed, March 2027. The site was under construction as of September.
5. The Breakaway, spring 2027. Mainebiz described it in June as 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space with 76 apartments above, projected for completion in spring 2027. Verizon plans a 2,039-square-foot storefront there.
6. Café Luna in the Breakaway, spring 2027. Café Luna is moving from its Route 1 location to 2,616 square feet on the Breakaway's ground floor. About six other spaces there are set aside for future restaurants and retailers. In June, the Press Herald reported that Café Luna expected to open by May 2027, with a patio. In July, the paper described the move as happening "next spring."

Café Luna's patio would be the first outdoor seating announced for the Town Center itself. It comes after a supermarket, two banks, a medical facility and a phone store. That order follows the strategy Bacon laid out.

How the Roads Were Planned for This

Errand traffic means cars, and the town has planned for a lot of them. The Town of Scarborough's Scarborough Downs Transportation page lays out the forecast for the full redevelopment between Route 1, Haigis Parkway and Payne Road:

• 2,505 weekday morning peak-hour trip ends
• 3,301 weekday evening peak-hour trip ends
• 2,873 Saturday peak-hour trips

The page also describes a proposed Center Street connection between Haigis Parkway and Scarborough Downs Road and significant off-site improvements along Route 1 and Payne Road. In those forecasts, Saturday is busier than a weekday morning, which fits a center built around shopping trips.

The question of what traffic control the supermarket needs was debated in public before construction. According to the December 16, 2024 Planning Board minutes, developers described several pieces of the road network:

• a Downs Road extension to a roundabout
• a bypass road connecting Downs Road with Market Street
• internal drives meant to spread traffic through the Town Center

At that meeting, the project engineer said traffic signals weren't necessary at The Downs. Board Chair Rachel Hendrickson said she thought a signal would be needed at Market Basket, and another board member suggested small roundabouts as more pedestrian-friendly and cheaper to maintain. That discussion is nearly two years old. The supermarket's first busy weekends will show how the road layout handles real shopping traffic.

The Open Space Around It

The developer's Discover page describes The Downs as having more than 10 miles of trails for walking, running and biking and 200 acres of open space. It also notes 25 acres donated to the Scarborough Land Trust. The property mixes homes, businesses and recreation, and the Town Center is meant to be its gathering and shopping core. For the next few months, that core will be one supermarket on a corner. The Bungalow and the nail spa share 10 Market St., and the woonerf is still a plan.

Andi and Elaine follow The Downs closely as each new tenant changes how this part of Scarborough works day to day. If you'd like to talk about what the Town Center's growth could mean for your home's value, Adrienne Robinson and team would be glad to help. Request a complimentary market consultation.