A popular Searsport restaurant and event space, Hey Sailor!, has been put up for sale after contributing to the revival of the community’s downtown in recent years.
Co-owners Charlie Zorich and Kirk Linder, first opened the restaurant at 27 Main St. in 2022 and plan to keep running it in its current form until any sale goes through, according to Zorich.
“We don’t have any intention of closing the business,” Zorich said. “We’re hoping to pass on the restaurant to someone else that will carry on in whatever fashion they see fit.”
The owners, who expanded the restaurant in 2023, helped to kickstart a resurgence of new businesses and activity around downtown Searsport in recent years. It has been complemented by an extensive renovation of Main Street that wrapped up last year.
Hey Sailor! has also become a bustling space for live music and other events.
The current asking price for the 6,500-square-foot property is $1.7 million, according to its listing. It includes four residential units above the restaurant.
“The ground floor features a fully outfitted, turn-key restaurant and flexible performance space with strong visibility and consistent traffic from both locals and coastal tourists,” the listing says. “Ideally suited for a new or expanding food and beverage concept looking for infrastructure, character, and foot traffic.”
The property went on the market on July 8, according to the listing.
Zorich and Linder also formerly ran the Hichborn, a restaurant in Stockton Springs, but they closed it and that historic building is also for sale.
“We’re not expecting it to go next week. It’s not like people are clamoring to buy restaurants in the midcoast right now,” Zorich said of the Hey Sailor! property.
Zorich did not offer a reason for the sale.