Bangor-based mechanical contractor expands reach into Portland
Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers
ABM Mechanical Inc, a Bangor-based mechanical services contractor, will expand its physical presence in the Portland market with the purchase of 11 County Road in Westbrook.
Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers
An aerial view of ABM Mechanical Inc.'s new property at 11 County Road in Westbrook, which it purchased in March for $887,500.
WESTBROOK — ABM Mechanical Inc.’s purchase of 11 County Road represents the mechanical contracting firm’s push to expand its presence from its Bangor and Hancock home base to the Portland area.
The site includes a 4,896-square-foot industrial-service building on 4.09 acres.
ABM purchased the property from Liversidge Properties Development LLC for $887,500. It was represented by Tim Millett and Chris Paszyc from CBRE|The Boulos Co. The seller was represented by Mark Malone from Malone Commercial Brokers. The deal closed March 10.
The Westbrook property, located in an industrial park near the Portland-Westbrook line, is less than a mile from the Maine Turnpike at Exit 46, in an area with a daily traffic count of 17,000.
Buyer’s rep Millett said that when he and his firm started working with ABM in October 2016, they introduced ABM to a variety of properties — including options to buy land and build, buy an existing building or lease. The search area ranged from Biddeford to Falmouth.
“They already do a lot of business in the greater Portland area,” said Millett. “It was a relatively quick turnaround.”
While the exterior and yard are in pristine shape, the existing building, built in 2002, was somewhat rundown and would need some rehab, said Millett. ABM did consider building new, he said, but becoming operational quickly was more important, and when this property came up, the purchase plus rehab outweighed the time and money that it would take to build new.
“So it works out great for them,” Millett said.
The building is a former Saab automobile repair shop, built by seller Sandy Liversidge for his business, Swedish Solution, according to Marie Gresik, an associate broker with Malone Commercial Brokers. Saab stopped production, which limited the future of the repair shop, said Gresik.
A foothold in southern Maine
ABM Mechanical, founded in 1995, has worked with a range of industries, including hospital and healthcare, college and university, laboratory and medical research, aquaculture, retail, multi-unit housing, industrial and government. Last year it had revenue of $30 million. It has about 100 employees.
Notable recent and ongoing jobs include mechanical installations in Brewer-based Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems’ seven-story tower and Jackson Laboratories’ expansion in Ellsworth.
“We have historically served most of the state from our central location in Bangor,” said Albert Allen, one of ABM’s three founders. “We have significant construction projects come to us, and the geography is more convenient when it’s in within 90 miles of Bangor. But we venture beyond that quite often. And we understand that Portland and southern Maine have the bulk of the construction activity going on.”
For the past five years, Allen said, he and his team wrestled with the decision on how to best serve the southern Maine market.
“We’ve kept our eyes open for places and for partners in the area, and we’ve been fairly patient with our thought process,” he said. “The property in Westbrook, which is really right on the line between Westbrook and Portland, came to our attention four or five months ago. It’s in a good location and it looked like it would serve us well size-wise. It’s the perfect size for us to start with, and there’s room for expansion.”
ABM already works with larger general contractors that are based in southern Maine, he said. But having a physical presence in Westbrook should benefit its southward expansion.
ABM expects to spend $75,000 to rehab the Westbrook property. It is painting and installing new flooring. It will reconfigure the space to create management offices in front and shop space in back.
The company expects to be operational there by June. As soon as the space is ready, Allen said, the firm will hire six to 10 additional employees, in addition to the employees who have already traditionally traveled from the Bangor region to ABM’s jobs in southern Maine.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments