The Bangor Daily News was the first to report this story. What you’re reading here would likely not be made public without the efforts of professional journalists asking questions, interviewing sources and obtaining documents.
The old Marden’s property in Brewer has been sold to a longtime real estate investor who plans to redevelop and lease it, the Bangor Daily News has exclusively learned.
Buyer Larry Springer doesn’t yet have a particular tenant in mind, but said he envisions that retail and housing could both be part of the property’s future.
The nearly 60-acre property at 564 Wilson St., which was home to Marden’s for more than four decades before the store moved across the river to Bangor earlier this year, has been the subject of much local speculation around what it could become.
Charles Day, the realtor with Porta and Co who listed the property, confirmed the sale to the BDN on Wednesday.
Springer said he plans to start looking for tenants right away and envisions that some of the property could be used for storage and some for retail. He said he liked the idea of bringing in a gym or a car showroom, but there’s no firm plan yet for the space.
He may end up renovating the existing building or tearing it down and building something new.
“It needs some TLC for sure,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Springer has owned a number of properties in the Bangor and Portland areas over the years, including Orono’s Penobscot Valley Country Club, the former headquarters of Cross Insurance on Gilman Road, the old Shriners building on Main Street and a $12 million Portland office building and parking garage.
Part of the reason why he bought the Wilson Street property was for storage space, as he’s considering selling the Shriners building.
“I need some of it anyway, so I just said, what the heck, right?” Springer said.
He closed on a deal with Marden’s in just a couple weeks and said he made a cash offer below the listing price, although he wouldn’t disclose how much he paid.
The property, which sits on Brewer’s major thoroughfare, was initially listed at $2.75 million before the price was lowered to $2.25 million.
Along with the 11-acre Marden’s lot and 87,000 square foot building, the purchase also included a 45-plus-acre undeveloped parcel behind the store — most of which is zoned for high-density residential use.
Springer said he’d be interested in clearing out trees and putting in roads to develop that land for multifamily housing.
“There’s always need [for] housing,” he said.