Jim Howard invests big at Brunswick Landing
Jim Howard remembers when an armed guard protected the entrance to the Brunswick Naval Air Station and getting onto the Navy property required a security check. Soon, Howard's Topsham-based commercial real estate investment firm, Priority Real Estate Group, will own that gateway.
Developer Jim Howard intends to build a multi-use complex on six lots adjacent to the former Brunswick Navy base's main road. Fully developed, Howard says his project will reflect a $27 million investment to build a light manufacturing facility, a high-speed diesel and compressed natural gas fueling station and nearly 100,000 square feet of office space. Construction on those projects, Howard says, could begin as early as next fall.
Mainebiz spoke with Howard recently about his plans at Brunswick Landing and neighboring Brunswick retail plaza Cook's Corner:
Mainebiz: What drove you to pull the trigger on this investment now?
Jim Howard: First of all, the subdivision got approved; second, demand is back now that the economy's starting to pick up.
There are 23 businesses [at Brunswick Landing] here now. They employ 170 people with projections over 48 to 60 months to grow to around 600 employees. You've got the community college with 500 students — projected to grow to 2,000 students. You've got George Schott — the developer from Lewiston-Auburn — who's got a lot of projects planned. So, you've got a lot of activity now and it just leads to a good environment to developing all the properties.
During the commercial real estate boom — from 2004 to 2008 — we got to a point here in the midcoast area, specifically Brunswick and Topsham, where it was very difficult to find land to do projects on and land costs were getting very high. Right now, as the economy starts to pick back up, the land is available.
M: Are there any downsides to developing at the [former] base?
JH: No... You know, I don't look at it as the base anymore. It's 3,200 acres of land that's part of Brunswick. To us, it's just available land that has good infrastructure in it.
M: What are the upsides?
JH: You happen to have the benefit of an airport next door, which is quite an asset. You've got roads that are in place and zoning is in place and infrastructure with natural gas and utilities in place. I mean, it is set up to do shovel-ready projects. There are very few places in Brunswick and Topsham where you could put up to 25, 35, 55,000-square-foot buildings and have enough land and enough parking to do it.
M: Looking out 10 years from now, what does Brunswick Landing and Cook's Corner look like?
JH: Well, we're certainly going to see a more active airport with probably some private — but also public — air service at least to Boston and New York. And you're going to see — when you add in the projects we have planned and what other developers have planned — hundreds and hundreds of jobs and local businesses out here.
M: Your plans for Cook's Corner avoid more retail development. Why?
JH: There is 125,000-square-feet of empty retail space at Cook's Corner, so I think what we need to focus on is filling that space up. The core of our projects are professional office buildings, medical office buildings, light manufacturing and service businesses. The more of those businesses we bring to Cook's Corner, the greater the chances that we're going to fill that retail space, because we've got more customers. So, the success of Cook's Corner — and the redevelopment of Cook's Corner — depends a lot on how fast Brunswick Landing develops and brings more people out here.
M: Will development incentives at the base help attract tenants?
JH: You've got to add it all up. Is it the right location, can we build out what we want? Do we have the infrastructure in place? Natural gas is a key for any type of industrial buildings that are built today. You have easy access to I-95. And then you get down to the specific programs that help [companies] build the facility out and purchase their equipment. That's what the Pine Tree [Development] Zone and [Military] Redevelopment Zone programs do.
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