The move is on: Brunswick’s planning board has given its nod to the project that will allow Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) to move its headquarters there, from the nonprofit’s longtime home in Wiscasset. CEI first announced its plans in 2013.

The Brunswick panel approved the building proposal on May 27, CEI spokeswoman Liz Rogers states in a May 29 email.

The organization’s May 29 press release follows:

CEI, a nonprofit organization that specializes in rural business development and financing, is pleased to announce the relocation of its headquarters from Wiscasset to Brunswick, Maine, in the third quarter of 2015. Founded in 1977 in with an initial focus on supporting Maine’s value-added natural resource industries of fish, farms and forestry, CEI has grown to become one of the nation’s leading Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and Community Development Corporations (CDCs).

CEI’s move to Brunswick will consolidate offices in Wiscasset and Portland, including CEI’s for-profit subsidiaries, CEI Ventures, CEI Community Ventures, CEI Housing, CEI Capital Management, and CEI Investment Notes.

“Our move to Brunswick aligns with a 36-year trajectory of growth for CEI as well as a deep commitment to the people and places where we work,” said Ron Phillips, president and CEO of CEI. “We look forward to expanding our partnerships throughout Maine, New England, and rural America from our future home in Brunswick. Consolidating multiple offices offers us an opportunity for greater collaboration and efficiency among our staff members, who share a common purpose in our mission to create economically and environmentally healthy communities in which all people, especially those with low incomes, can reach their full potential.”

CEI’s new headquarters will be located at 30 Federal Street, in a redevelopment of the site of the former Brunswick Town Hall and Brunswick Recreation Center. Over the next year, as approved by the Brunswick Planning Board on May 27, CEI will demolish the two existing structures and build a new LEED-certified, two-story professional office building with an approximately 10,800 square-foot footprint. Approximately 72 of CEI’s 88 staff members will move to the new building, which is centrally located in the Midcoast, between Wiscasset and Portland. A number of CEI business counselors, loan officers, and program development specialists will remain in their existing offices to serve clients in the regions of Springvale/Sanford, Portland, Bath, Wiscasset,  Lewiston, Farmington, Augusta, Fairfield, Farmington, Ellsworth, Bangor and Machias. 

“We are confident that we will add value to the downtown of Brunswick in great part due to the vision and skills of our architect, CWS Architects, general contractor, Allied Cook, and landscape architect, Sebago Technics,” said John Egan, CEI’s director of housing and real estate development. “The new building is designed to take CEI into coming decades as a good neighbor and leader in sustainability practices. For example, our energy efficiencies will actually increase over time with state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling system technologies.”

Related: Coastal Enterprises eyes Brunswick move