Courtesy / Richard Hale
Richard Hale.
Updated: December 20, 2021
Lewiston industrial property sells for $4.4M
Courtesy / The Dunham Group
The 36,207-square-foot industrial building at 17 Foss Road in Lewiston has long been leased to a specialty chemicals company.
The sale of 17 Foss Road in Lewiston uncovered a meaningful story that goes well beyond real estate.
Richard Hale sold the 36,207-square-foot industrial building to Gastown LLC for $4.4 million.
TC Haffenreffer, Sylas Hatch, Greg Hastings and Tom Dunham, all with the Dunham Group, brokered the sale.
The building has long been leased to a specialty chemicals, Clariant Corp. The company was recently acquired by Ohio-based Avient Corp., which continues to occupy the building, said Dunham.
Good marketplace
Hale is a native of Battle Creek, Mich., and today lives in Saco and Punta Gorda, Fla.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy upon graduation from high school and served nine years, including six years of sea duty on three ships. He was honorably discharged in 1964 as a petty officer first class, then took up a career in engineering and technology, including leading several electronics technology firms.
He later invested in real estate in California at a time when values were skyrocketing, he said. He later moved to New England and began investing in the New Hampshire and Maine real estate markets, including 17 Foss Road.
“I paid about half a million dollars and sold it for $4.4 million 25 years later, so it’s a pretty good marketplace,” he said.
Hale said he’s tapped into Dunham’s expertise throughout that time.
Awareness for PTSD
Now 84, he’s also undertaken a project to increase awareness of the challenges for military veterans dealing with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
In 2019, he wrote and self-published a novel called “Never Give Up!” It tells the story of a Navy Seal who survives a brush with death but emerges with PTSD and survivor's guilt. The story chronicles the resources available to veterans as they fight to overcome post-service depression.
The novel has been an opportunity for Hale to give presentations on the topic; proceeds from sales of the book are donated to the Navy Seal Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Hale himself suffers from PTSD.
“An incident happened 60 years ago when a Navy shipmate of mine was killed and I witnessed his death,” he said. “His last words were, ‘Don’t leave me.’ There hasn’t been a day that goes by that I haven’t thought about him. He was only 22 years old.”
Hale noted studies that show the risk of suicide is higher in people with PTSD. He recently lost a friend of 40 years who served in Vietnam.
“One of the things about PTSD is it never leaves you and it can surface at strange times,” he said.
The goal of the book is to raise awareness. Ultimately, he added, there needs to be better screening and treatment to combat the problem.
“You’re trained in the military to be strong,” he said. “When you find out you’re not alone, you start to gain strength.”
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