Courtesy / J.M. Arbour
Jac Arbour
Updated: October 31, 2022
Growing wealth management firm to relocate headquarters to Gardiner
Courtesy / Maine Realty Advisors
Plans are on tap to move J.M. Arbour, a private wealth management firm with offices in Hallowell and Arizona, to larger headquarters in Gardiner and grow the staff.
A financial planning and investment advisory firm headquartered in Hallowell will relocate to Gardiner to accommodate its growing team.
Kennebec Offices LLC bought 1 Brunswick Ave. and a neighboring parking lot at 348 Water St. from Peter Johnson for $450,000.
Matthew Pouliot of Pouliot Real Estate and Ben Spencer of Maine Realty Advisors brokered the deal.
The 8,000-square-foot office building was built in 1875. Highlights include an elevator shaft, basement and 17 parking spaces. It was marketed as a landmark downtown building that was ready for redevelopment. Highlights include an elevator shaft, basement and 15 parking spaces.
The seller is from Gardiner and now lives in Miami, said Spencer. The seller did a lot of work on the property. However, the building sat vacant for several years.
Multi-faceted career
The buyer is Jac Arbour, a certified financial planner and the founder and CEO of J.M. Arbour, a private wealth management firm with offices in Maine and Arizona.
Arbour, a Maine native, began his career in the financial services industry after graduating from Bowdoin College in 2007. He is the author of four books and financial guides.
As an investor, his background includes wealth management, real estate, “software as a service” models for entrepreneurs, outdoor adventure gear, vaccine and organ transport equipment, second-hand smoke elimination devices, fusion cell technology, and gamified financial literacy and banking applications. He serves as an advisor to start-up companies looking to scale and a conduit through which some companies raise capital.
He is co-founder of Wasilla, Alaska, start-up PacBak, which has developed a rotomolded cooler with insulated compartments, a removable processing table with foldout legs, and a battery-operated vacuum sealer that this year began presales and received “best in category” for soft and hard coolers and “best in show” overall at the American Sportfishing Association’s International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades.
Arbour also founded 1% to F.E.E.D. KIDS, which encourages companies to give 1% of their gross revenue to buy food for children to eliminate weekend hunger and to provide books, speakers and access to educational and career opportunities.
Wealth management
In Hallowell, Arbour has eight people on his private wealth team.
“At this time next year, we’ll be about 15,” he said.
Thus the need for larger quarters.
Arbour attributed the growth of his business to a fee-based model that provides comprehensive in-house services and works with outside vendors through all aspects of a client’s financial management needs.
“We’re comprehensive in our planning,” he said. “Our partnerships across the country are extremely strong.”
Search parameters included square-footage large enough for a minimum of 14 office spaces plus conference and meeting rooms.
“This is the only building where we could create our own space that best serves our needs,” he said.
The building underwent renovations in recent years that were completed by Brad Hendrickson of B. H. Builders Inc. in Farmingdale.
“Brad and his team did an amazing job bringing this building and its structural integrity to a place where the vision was easy to see once inside,” Arbour said.
Now Arbour is picking up with the framing.
What’s needed to get in there?
“Absolutely everything,” he said. “It’s down to the studs — plumbing, heating, electrical, floors, more windows, interior doors, lighting, phone system, HVAC, technology systems.”
There’s no projection yet on when the renovation will be complete.
“We’re turning it into a Class A office space,” he added.
The property was secured with cash generated by an IRS Section 1031 exchange, which allows the swap of one real estate investment property for another with a deferral on capital gains taxes.
“We had been looking for an office building for two years because we’re growing and want to continue to grow,” he said. “We want to provide the most transparent, comprehensive and robust financial services to the people of Maine.”
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