Brewer searches for Lemforder replacement
Photo/Courtesy Epstein Commercial Realty
The ZF-Lemforder manufacturing facility in Brewer
The city of Brewer is being proactive when it comes to losing its second-largest taxpayer, trying to create a smooth transition for the community and employees of ZF-Lemforder.
The Germany-based precision auto-parts manufacturing company announced early this year that it would be closing in 2010, prompting city officials to market and try to fill the building before it shuts down.
"We're working closely with Epstein Commercial Realty Estate and with the Lemforder officials to try to make sure that we're mining any prospects that are out there," says Brewer Economic Development Director D'Arcy Main-Boyington.
She notes that when Lemforder came to Brewer more than 20 years ago, it provided a nearly seamless transition for workers who had been employed by a fire alarm company housed in the building Lemforder purchased.
"Most labor force of the fire alarm company transferred into Lemforder," says Main-Boyington. "That's been our goal from the beginning. We want to have that kind of a seamless transition."
Lemforder owns two properties in Brewer, a more than 125,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at 55 Baker Blvd. and a 54,000-square-foot warehouse at 12 Stevens Road. The company has allowed prospective buyers to tour the properties, which are being sold separately for $3.5 million and $1.8 million respectively.
ZF-Lemforder has manufacturing facilities in about a dozen other states, with more than 100 plants in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., Canada and Mexico, according to the company's website.
"All of their woes can be traced directly to the auto industry in general. As demand for cars constricted, they have to produce less," says Main-Boyington. "It's not something that was a local issue."
At its peak, Lemforder employed about 400 highly skilled workers in Brewer. At the time the closure was announced, it was down to about 150 and will continue to downsize until the official closing next summer.
Ideally, the new owner would be in an industry, such as aerospace, that could take advantage of that skilled work force, Main-Boyington says.
"It's a work force that is somewhat of a rarity, particularly in this part of the world," she says. "We want to attract a business that can utilize that work force. We're trying to make sure the [manufacturing] building gets filled with similar type of business other than warehousing or distribution. If not, the current employees likely could not make the transition because [it would require] a different skill set and wage scale."
Epstein Commercial associate broker Bev Uhlenhake says prospective buyers of the building should be pleased with the well-maintained facilities. "They're at a price that really makes sense for an entrepreneur to get in and moving," she says.
The warehouse space is energy-efficient and easily could be divided to accommodate multiple tenants, says Uhlenhake, while the manufacturing space is highly visible from Interstate-395 and in good shape.
Despite the difficult economy, Maine commercial real estate is, in general, in a relatively good position compared to the national market, according to Uhlenhake. "Maine developers tend to be conservative and don't overbuild," she says. "Maine developers have been smart about what they build [and] in the last 10 years, they've built small, easily divisible buildings."
Brewer has very few vacant commercial properties available; only one site is currently open in its industrial park. "We're working on building a new business park because we're almost out of space," Main-Boyington says.
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