Developer buys Quimby's Portland building
Roxanne Quimby has sold a Portland building she originally planned to convert into an artist residency program to a Freeport developer.
Kenn Guimond bought the 125-year-old, three-story building on Congress Street for an undisclosed price, with plans to turn it into apartments and commercial space, according to the Portland Press Herald. Quimby in the fall of 2009 bought the vacant building for $350,000 and proposed turning it into gallery space and studios, which artists could use for free, along with stipends and daily meals. However, she scuttled the project last year because of a lengthy approval process, restrictions from historic preservation rules and an arson fire. The project came under debate after Quimby asked the city council to waive a fee associated with the city's housing replacement program. Quimby has since established the Quimby Colony, a culinary school and art gallery, at the former Roma restaurant.
Guimond has been in the development business for 35 years, he told the paper. He expects renovation of the building to take 18 months.
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