Affordable waterfront real estate in Maine has proven hard to come by as housing prices have shot up in recent years, but there’s one property in downtown Eastport that is hard to beat in terms of location, square footage and price.
It can be yours for only $150,000. That’s roughly $57,000 less than Maine Housing’s estimated 2024 median home price in Washington County, a region long considered one of the poorest counties in Maine.
But there’s a catch. It is a large former sardine can manufacturing plant that overlooks the strait that separates the U.S. and Canada — and it needs many repairs.
The 30,000-square-foot building used to house the American Can Company, which manufactured metal tins that were widely used by Maine sardine canneries in the industry’s heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The building’s fortunes declined as the industry waned — Maine’s last cannery closed down in 2010 — and for decades it has sat largely empty.
Three years ago, it was included by Maine Preservation on its list of most endangered historic properties for 2022. The nonprofit historic preservation group said that repair projects in recent years have focused on more than 130 concrete piers that support the building, much of which extends out over the water.
“Prolonged neglect of the nearly flat roof and clerestory has meant the deterioration of the roof decking, interior timber structure, and flooring,” the group wrote. “The brick exterior walls have also suffered from the failing roof and exposure to the elements.”
The owners of the building, however, have worked out a proposal for fixing up the building in hopes of making it a vibrant part of the city again. For more than a decade, the trio of local women behind Dirigamus LLC, which owns the property, worked with consultants and sought out partnerships to redevelop the can factory into a mixed-use building that would include retail, event and office space; residential units; and rooms for lodging.
Environmental assessments of the property, data on the building’s condition, cost estimates for stabilization and other repairs and design plans all are available to potential buyers, the Sotheby’s real estate listing says.
“We’re very lacking in hotel rooms in Eastport,” said Meg McGarvey, one of the three owners of Dirigamus,
McGarvey said after 20 years of trying to find a partner in the project, the building’s condition has become more acute and the hurdles Dirigamus has faced in finding funding have grown more steep. Two or three times, she said, they came “very close” to lining up a suitable partner to realize the project, but each time the suitor fell through.
But she and her partners still want to find a buyer who sees the same potential for the building that they do. They also own The Commons building, less than 200 feet to the north, and will be happy to assist a new owner in any way they can, she said.
“I jokingly say ‘I come with the building,’” McGarvey said.
A developer with experience in restoring historic properties would be ideal, she said. The number of tax credit options for renovating the building has shrunk since they bought it in 2005, but it still qualifies for a state historic tax credit program.
“We realized we need to pass it on to someone who has the resources to address the building’s immediate needs,” she said.