Nonprofit healthcare provider MaineHealth has no immediate plans to redevelop the Union Station Plaza shopping center in Portland, Maine, which it acquired in December for $16.8 million, but the company said in a news release that "the acquisition will help position the health system and its flagship hospital, Maine Medical Center."
The retail plaza at 240 to 290 Saint John St., which currently is occupied by tenants including Maine Hardware and Buckdancer's Choice Music Co., is adjacent to a Maine Medical Center employee parking garage and office building, which the hospital has leased long-term.
The buyer's investment in and commitment to improving the neighborhood earned the sale a 2023 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
“This was a unique opportunity that we could not ignore. This allows us to consider a very long-term approach to meeting the health needs of our community and helps ensure the viability of the investments we have already made in that area,” said Jeff Sanders, MaineHealth's southern region president. “We understand and respect the significance the property and tenant businesses have to the neighborhood and city, and we intend to honor the business leases currently in place.”
MaineHealth expects the cost of the acquisition, which closed Dec. 15, 2022, to be offset by the property's revenue-generating commercial leases.
According to a company news release, Maine Medical Center has provided the city of Portland $300,000 for improvements in parks in the Western Prom, Parkside and St. John Valley neighborhoods, and has established an annual $30,000 Caring Community grant program for neighborhood associations or other entities in the St. John Valley, Parkside, West End, Western Prom and Libbytown neighborhoods.
“We had a number of offers before listing the property for sale. I’ve owned the property for 30 years, and finding the right buyer was important to me,” Bob Connor, former owner of the Union Station Plaza, said about the deal. “In MaineHealth, we had a local buyer with a positive impact on our community and a vision for the future that benefits all Mainers. I am pleased that I could work with MaineHealth, Gendron Commercial and Malone Commercial Brokers to complete this transaction.”
About the project: MaineHealth acquired the Union Station Plaza Shopping Center at as part of a strategy to continue to invest in and develop its Maine Medical Center, a premier medical facility just blocks away.
What the judges said: "The underlying six acres will allow for many options for MaineHealth, the state's largest hospital and major employer," said Joe Malone, founder and president, Malone Commercial Brokers.
They made it happen: The deal was spearheaded by Mark Malone, vice president, principal and broker of Malone Commercial Brokers; Joe Malone, Malone Commercial Brokers' founder and president; and John Gendron, developer and broker of Gendron Commercial.