A downtown Ellsworth building that was emptied out and locked up a year ago after being a community focal point for over a decade has been sold to a new owner.
The property at 192 Main St., a large 11,000-square-foot brick building that looms over Main Street, sold on Nov. 21 for $969,000, according to a real estate transfer tax declaration form filed with the state.
A Hampden entity called 18 High St. LLC bought the building, which was first built in 1934 and served as the local Masonic Lodge for more than 70 years. It had been listed on the market in the fall of 2024 for $1.2 million.
The Hampden company lists 59 Griffin Ave. as its address on the state tax declaration form. According to Hampden’s property tax records, the house at 59 Griffin Ave. is owned by Allyson Leeman and Kevin Wright.
The seller was Ravenswolf LLC, a company registered to Heather Florio, who also serves as CEO of Desert Harvest, which operated out of the building from late 2020 until November of last year, when it moved to Colorado Springs. The health supplements product company was founded in Colorado Springs in the 1990s, but relocated to North Carolina in 2014 and then to Maine in 2020.
The company now lists its location as Whitefish, Montana, on both its website and its Facebook page.
The sale of the building comes two months after the city of Ellsworth put a lien on the property over back taxes. According to a lien certificate filed in the Hancock County Registry of Deeds, which has yet to be discharged, Ravenswolf still owes the city $230 on an $11,000 annual property tax bill.
The building was a hub of activity in the late 2010s, when it was home to a cafe and other specialty retail businesses that drew people and helped revitalize downtown after Main Street saw several longtime businesses close. In the years immediately before and since the COVID pandemic, empty spaces downtown have been scarce.
When Desert Harvest bought 192 Main St., the building housed Flexit Cafe, Maine-focused home goods shop 207Mainer, and several professional offices on the second floor. The cafe and the Maine good shop have since relocated a few doors farther down Main Street.