BANGOR, Maine — The sale of the 114,448-square-foot former Home Depot building on Longview Drive was finalized earlier this month, according to brokers of the deal.
The building will be the future site of BJ’s Wholesale Club.
The sale price was $3.55 million, according to NAI The Dunham Group and Atlantic Retail, brokers on the deal. The closing announcement was posted in a Mainebiz newsletter and on the brokerage websites.
The sale, which closed Jan. 8, puts the site in the hands of Massachusetts-based Saxon Partners, which formed Longview Development LLC last year to pursue the sale and redevelopment of the site.
Saxon is the preferred developer for BJ’s Wholesale Club, which will be setting up shop at the old Home Depot location after significant renovation efforts are completed.
The original listing price for the site, which has been vacant since 2008, when Home Depot shuttered and moved to a new building off Stillwater Avenue, was $5 million. The brokers were NAI The Dunham Group and Atlantic Retail.
Brian Leahy, director of acquisitions for Saxon Partners, said the $3.5 million final sale price was the result of negotiations with Home Depot real estate officials.
Longview Development officials have said they plan to spend up to $11 million on renovations. 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 square feet.
The smaller unit is still available to a tenant, according to Leahy.
BJ’s also will operate a gas station in the parking lot, as well as an on-site tire center.
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.
Officials behind the purchase met with city officials back in November to outline their site development plan. Saxon closed the sale close to its timeline estimate of late December.
Leahy said Saxon is pursuing contractor bids and hopes to start construction in mid-February.
BJ’s Wholesale is scheduled to open in Bangor this fall.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.