Courtesy / John Spritz
The Woodfords Corner neighborhood in Portland has experienced revitalization in recent years.
August 14, 2019
Benchmark Real Estate to unveil ‘Benchmark Box’ at Portland neighborhood event
Photo / Tim Greenway
Tom Landry of Benchmark Real Estate will introduce the agency’s new “Benchmark Box” at Woodfords Corner's Third Thursday at Trinity Park. The real estate firm plans to use the pop-up as a community space during charitable events.
Benchmark Real Estate of Portland plans to unveil its new "Benchmark Box" on Aug. 15 at Third Thursday at Trinity Park, a community event in the Portland neighborhood of Woodfords Corner.
The Benchmark Box was made by OpBox, a growing Maine manufacturer of pop-up spaces for retail and hospitality businesses. This will be the first OpBox pop-up for Maine's real estate industry, according to a news release.
In coming weeks, Benchmark plans to find uses for its new OpBox at local neighborhood events and to support local charitable groups.
"We are excited to participate in Third Thursdays and give back to the local community that has supported us for so many years," Benchmark owner Tom Landry said in the release. "We are just as excited to unveil the Benchmark Box and explain how we plan to use it to bring awareness to local businesses, events and charities by bringing people together across the city.”
Woodfords Corner revitalization
“Third Thursdays at Trinity Park” is a series of community events designed to support the revitalization of the historic Woodfords Corner neighborhood, according to Friends of Woodfords Corner.
Benchmark and Friends of Woodfords Corner are co-hosts of the series.
Friends of Woodfords Corner reached out to Benchmark to be the fiscal sponsor and support the initiative, Amy Landry, Benchmark's communications director, told Mainebiz.
“It’s about bringing the community together, revitalizing the corner and celebrating what makes this neighborhood great,” she said.
The Landrys themselves live in the neighborhood, she noted, and have seen its revitalization in recent years. That includes new eateries and immigrant businesses, along with older “mainstay” businesses, she said.
The Benchmark Box, she said, can be a mobile community space that will allow the agency to better support charities and events like Third Thursdays.
“This is a way for us to get into the neighborhoods to support them,” she said. “We give back 10% of profits to charity each year. This allows us to do more.”
The Aug. 15 event will be held from 5-7:30 p.m., next to Trinity Episcopal Church, 580 Forest Ave. Scheduled activities include music, lawn games, local art for sale, an artist and craftsman supply exhibit, puppet making and more.
Attendees can get a gift from Benchmark, sample local food and drinks, buy from local vendors and win gift cards for local businesses.
Benchmark and volunteers with the Maine Access Immigrant Network will also collect items to create home kits for new Mainers, including recent asylum seekers, according to a news release. Attendees can donate an item at the event and be entered to win $200 to the Woodfords Corner business of their choice.
For more information about the event and suggested items to donate, such as toiletries and cleaning supplies, click here.
Woodfords Corner was part of the town of Falmouth until 1814, and then a Westbrook neighborhood until seceding to become the town of Deering in 1871. The area became part of Portland when Deering was annexed by the city in 1899. Today, Woodfords Corner meets at the intersection of the Portland neighborhoods of Back Cove, Deering Center, and Oakdale.
Helping others
Benchmark has a tradition of supporting local causes, Amy Landry said. Benchmark hosts two events of its own each year, she said. One is called Four A Cause and benefits four charities chosen by the public. The other is the Portland Kids Duathlon to benefit the Foundation for Portland Public Schools.
In the past year, she said, Benchmark has also supported a wide range of charities and events, including Girls on the Run, the Root Cellar, EqualityMaine, Portland Downtown Workers Appreciation Day, the Maine Jewish Film Festival and others.
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