In downtown Freeport, a five-property commercial portfolio changes hands

Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers 76 Main St., housing an outlet for outdoor sports store FjallRaven, is across the street from L.L. Bean.

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By Laurie Schreiber

An investment portfolio of four commercial buildings and a 45-car parking lot in downtown Freeport sold to local investors for its value-add opportunity.

The buildings — at 6 Mill, 24 Bow, 42 Main and 76 Main streets — total 48,886 square feet and include retail tenants Orvis, Polo Ralph Lauren, FjallRaven, Estee Lauder and the Loft. The parking lot is at 32 West St.

“We saw tremendous potential here for the right buyer who could see the strong bones Freeport Village already has and to grow that into the new vision currently taking hold there, and we think we found the perfect buyer at the right time and are excited to see how the new owners will contribute to the Freeport community,” said Mark Malone of Malone Commercial Brokers, who represented the seller.

Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers

Like the other locations in the portfolio, 42 Main St. is within a close cluster of national retailers centered around Freeport’s anchor, L.L. Bean.

Josh Soley of Maine Realty Advisors represented the buyer.

Freeport Group LLC, Freeport Premium LLC, Shulport LLC, Pendland Freeport LLC and Freeport Retail LLC sold the package to 6 Mill LLC 24 Bow LLC 32 West LLC, 42 Main LLC and 76 Main LLC for an undisclosed price. The list price was $8.626 million.

The buildings are in good condition and were all built from 1980 to 1984, said Malone. The sellers owned the properties for about 15 years.

Malone started marketing the properties in March and the portfolio went under contract with the buyer in August. The portfolio was extensive and gathering information on the nuances of each parcel was a notable project to work on, he added.

The value-add opportunity comes as the town of Freeport looks for housing in the downtown area, “and we believe that the upper floors of the retail spaces could be converted into residential units that would bring year-round residents to the Main Street,” said Malone.

The buyers are local investors interested in the portfolio’s potential for value-add, niche opportunities, according to a news release.

“It is so rare to find a value-add opportunity like this in Maine that hasn’t already been picked over, and we are excited about Freeport,” the lead investor said in a news release.

The portfolio has a handful of vacancies to fill.

Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers

24 Bow St. is a block from the street’s western terminus, which is across from L.L.Bean on Main Street.

Malone said the sale came at a time when Freeport has taken steps to re-envision its downtown in an “experiential live-work-play model” desirable to residents, employees, retailers, restaurants and other businesses.

“Changing national retail trends had left Freeport slightly out of step, and playing catch-up with other retail markets over the past several years,” he said. “Recent announcements and developments have shifted the momentum, however, and Freeport has been quietly gaining lost ground, and fast.”

The shifting momentum, he said, is in part due to the anticipated spring 2023 opening of a new $110 million L.L.Bean headquarters that is expected to be a magnet for approximately 1,000 employees.

Additionally, he noted, the town adopted a new Downtown Vision Plan earlier this year that promotes more housing density. Several new developments, including a 67-unit complex on Depot Street and 30-plus units at Freeport Village Apartments, are either in the planning stages, have broken ground, or have been built.

Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers

6 Mill St.

The developments build on Freeport’s reputation as a New England tourist destination, its proximity to Portland and neighboring towns, and its affordability. Malone said those factors will lend to the town's up-and-coming cachet for southern Maine.

The locations of the retail properties are also located within the downtown area that were the subject of the Freeport Downtown Vision Plan, which was launched in 2020.

The plan’s actions include creating a village center, fostering a local small business ecosystem, becoming walkable, bikeable and accessible, embracing the outdoors and supporting local arts and culture.

Main Street and Bow Street are areas of interest, with goals that including giving more land to pedestrians and bicyclists, narrowing automobile travel lanes, widening sidewalks and working with L.L.Bean to improve the plaza and landscaping.

Freeport’s Main Street, which is also Route 1, has attracted much interest of late, with a flurry of restaurants and craft beer pubs lighting up the stretch between Freeport/South Freeport and Yarmouth.

A year ago, international travel website Tripadvisor ranked Freeport as a top shopping mecca and one of its “fastest-growing destinations for Americans” — seventh on a list that included international powerhouses like Paris and Naples.