BANGOR, Maine — A development group plans to invest $11 million in the old Home Depot building, giving BJ’s Wholesale Club and another yet-to-be-determined business a new home in Bangor, according to documents filed with the city.
On Tuesday night, Bangor’s planning board approved a conditional use and site development request submitted by Longview Plaza LLC and BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. The Longview Plaza LLC was formed by Saxon Partners, a Massachusetts-based real estate investment firm, to purchase and redevelop the site.
The former Home Depot at 164 Longview Drive near the Bangor Mall closed in 2008, after the company moved to a new facility off Stillwater Avenue. The old Home Depot was built in 1998.
Longview Plaza plans to spend $11 million at the site, according to development documents. A portion of the building will be demolished, but an addition will be built, making the building slightly larger than its current footprint. The renovations will divide the building into two retail spaces, with the BJ’s portion totaling about 94,000 square feet and the smaller space about 28,000.
BJs also will operate a gas station in the parking lot, as well as an on-site auto service station.
BJ’s already has Maine locations in Auburn and Portland. The Massachusetts-based company has more than 200 stores in 15 states, mostly along the East Coast.
The chain is similar to Sam’s Club, requiring shoppers to purchase a membership to access benefits including discounts, rewards programs and special coupons.
“The former Home Depot site has been the source of much speculation since it’s been vacant,” Tanya Emery, Bangor’s director of community and economic development, said. “This is a substantial redevelopment.”
Longview Plaza officials declined to reveal the purchase price, but the 114,500-square-foot building has been listed online with a retail price tag of $5 million. Few companies are looking for spaces that large, Emery said, so big-box stores of that size sometimes need to be divvied up by developers to make them palatable for retailers.
Emery said BJ’s expects to hire about 100 full- and part-time employees. Additional employees are expected to be hired by whatever store ends up in the other portion of the building.
Saxon Partners, through Longview Plaza LLC, is working to complete the purchase, according to Brian Leahy of Saxon Partners. The plan is to close on the property by late December with construction starting soon after.
Leahy said Saxon hopes to have the property ready to open sometime in the fall of 2015.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.