Courtesy / Porta & Co.
82 Winter St. in Portland was a value-add investment opportunity in the West End.
July 27, 2020
Hot Portland market and low risk attract Maine firm to multi-family properties
Courtesy / Porta & Co.
Maine-based family business BJB Realty LLC specializes in multi-families. Its most recent transaction was 257 Ocean St., in South Portland.
A Maine-based family business specializing in multi-family assets has seen plenty of opportunity over the past couple of years on both the buy and sell side of the market.
BJB Realty LLC’s most recent sale was 257 Ocean St., a multi-family building in South Portland. The buyer was Kevin Nguyen and the purchase price was $445,000.
Vince Ciampi and Peter Gwilym of Porta & Co. represented BJB Realty and Hoang Nguyen of F.O. Bailey Real Estate represented the buyer. The deal closed July 3.
“That’s a great three-unit,” said Ciampi, who has represented BJB Realty in a number of transactions. (BJB Realty has also worked with other agents.) “It’s got really big apartments and it’s in a great location.”
The 5,610-square-foot, three-story building dates back a hundred years or so. It was marketed as an excellent Knightville location close to shopping, a school and the waterfront. Each unit has a large porch in the rear of the building. The property includes a detached garage.
The listing received a lot of interest, Ciampi said: “It sold for $150,000 per unit, which is pretty consistent for that size range in South Portland as long as it doesn’t need a tremendous amount of work done; $150,000 seems to be where the market is settling right now.”
BJB Realty LLC is a family-owned and -operated small Maine business formed in 2009, according to its website.
It now owns over 30 rental buildings.
Sold
Over the past two years, other sales included:
• 82 Winter St., Portland, four-unit multi-family sold to Liv Modern Green LLC for $450,000. Ciampi and Gwilym brokered the deal, which closed May 22.
Built in 1840, Portland’s 82 Winter St. was a value-add investment opportunity in the West End. “It’s an A-plus location but it needed a little bit of work,” said Ciampi.
• 82 North Kelsey St., South Portland: four-unit multi-family building sold to Robert Beardsley for $582,000. Ciampi and Gwilym, and Timberly Muncey of Realty ONE Group, brokered the sale, which closed March 23.
• 807 Broadway, South Portland: three-unit multi-family building sold to Colton Gross for $445,000. Ciampi and Gwilym brokered the deal, which closed Jan. 30.
• 3 Clifford St. and 88 Cleaves St., Biddeford: five-unit multi-family sold to 4A Property LLC for $470,000. Ciampi and Brandon Mitchell of Malone Commercial Brokers brokered the deal, which closed Aug. 20, 2019.
• 1006 Forest Ave., Portland: 5,235-square-foot office building sold to 1006 Forest Avenue LLC for $745,000. Tony McDonald and Jon Rizzo of the Boulos Co. and John Doyon of Malone Commercial Brokers brokered the deal, which closed Nov. 8. 2018.
In addition, noted Ciampi, BJB Realty is looking to sell 258 Sawyer St., a five-unit building in South Portland.
Bought
Over the past four years, BJB Realty’s purchases included:
• 142 Park Ave., Portland: 12-unit multi-family building sold by 142 Park Ave LLC for $1.75 million. Ciampi and Gwilym brokered the sale, which closed Oct. 21, 2019. It dates back about a century but was in turnkey condition, said Ciampi.
Courtesy / Porta & Co.
BJB Realty bought 12-unit multi-family building at 142 Park Ave. in Portland last October. It dates back about a century but was in turnkey condition.
• 162 and 168 Washburn Ave., Portland: 17-unit multi-family building sold by Martina M. Baldwin for $2 million. Ciampi brokered the deal, which closed Aug. 1, 2019. It was an off-market deal. “After running the numbers and walking through the building, that seemed like great value-add play,” Ciampi said.
• 596 Preble St., Cape Elizabeth: 9-unit multi-family sold by Preble Street Apartments LLC for $1.05 million. Matthew Lamontagne of Signature Homes Real Estate Group and Brit Vitalius of Vitalius Real Estate Group brokered the deal, which closed Aug. 20 2018.
• 100 Forest Ave., Portland: 5-unit apartment building sold by 100 Forest Ave LLC for $439,900 Thomas Gadbois of F.O. Bailey Real Estate and Joe Flynn of Flynn and Co. brokered the deal, which closed Feb. 9, 2018.
• 6 Oregon Ave., Old Orchard Beach: 11,408-square-foot, 16-unit multi-family property sold by Bratt Realty Trust for $1.35 million. Katie Millett and Sylas Hatch from NAI The Dunham Group and Flynn brokered the sale, which closed Dec. 30, 2016.
• 124 Emery St., 59 Bramhall St. and 503 Cumberland Ave., Portland: Three apartment buildings sold by BrickLight Properties II LLC, 59 Bramhall Street Realty LLC and East End Realty LLC for $2.5 million. Ciampi and Flynn brokered the deal, which closed July 21, 2016.
• 395 Lisbon St., Lisbon: 24 townhouse apartments sold by Brandon Park LLC for $1.275 million. Dan Greenstein and Tony McDonald of CBRE|The Boulos Co. brokered the deal, which closed May 13, 2016.
In total, BJB Realty has 205 units, mainly in the Greater Portland, said Ciampi.
“The overall goal is long-term hold,” he said. “The selling comes down to finding efficiencies in where they can best utilize their funds. If they’ve done everything they can with one asset and they’ve seen the returns, then they put the returns into another value-add asset. It’s a pragmatic decision: If the numbers make sense to sell, they’ll sell. If the numbers make sense to buy, they’ll buy.”
On the buy side, “They’re pretty open-minded as far as what they’re looking for,” he explained. “The top priority is what the returns will look like over the long term.”
Multi-family buildings are one of the most popular assets in the Greater Portland market, he said.
“The vacancy rate on multi-family in Portland right now is 1%,” he said. “For the past seven years that I’ve been in the business, vacancy rates have stayed below 5%, with little fluctuation. So multi-families in this market are very low risk, and you see a lot of local buying and selling.”
Porta & Co. founder and broker Joe Porta has completed $300 million in multi-family sales since 2011 and Ciampi has completed approximately $60 million in multi-family sales since 2013.
“We are able to use that experience to our clients’ benefit and make sure we are providing the solutions that make the most sense for each specific client,” said Ciampi.
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