Excavation has begun, and plans to build a 6,600 square-foot retail space at 295 Townsend Ave. in Boothbay Harbor, diagonally across from Hammond Lumber, are forging ahead, according to Seascape Investments, LLC property manager Pete Ripley.

E.M. Wood Construction of Edgecomb is overseeing the excavation at the former site of the Harbor Motor Court. The site preparation will include a storm water runoff retention pond required by the Department of Environmental Protection due to the size of the development.

The 55-foot by 121-foot building is being built by Seascape Construction, and will include the new site of Pinkham’s Seafood and two other potential retailers, along with a retail store featuring exotic woods including mahogany, kona, teak and Alaskan cedar.

According to Ripley, the building will be an energy-efficient, traditional New England coastal design with two double-pitch roofs, large overhangs, shingled roofs, clapboard siding and granite foundation sills. “There will be lots of glass, and it will be handicapped accessible.”

The building will be enclosed before “bad weather” sets in, Ripley said, and completion is expected by next spring or summer. “A lot of the parts for the building have already been cut. They are being trucked here from Nevada, and should start arriving toward the end of the month.”

Ripley said the excavated dirt at the site is being stockpiled for possible expansion, including four or five house lots, at the far end of the lot, which borders the Boothbay Harbor Country Club. Ripley hopes to build a big lumber warehouse and a smaller building for boat storage next year.

The total size of the property is 18 acres, with 500 feet of road frontage. A sidewalk, slated for construction in the spring, will run along the front of the property, from the YMCA to Boothbay Center.