Maine accounting firms merge and find new SoPo headquarters with a water view

Courtesy / Kelly, Dawson & Souter LLC Good square-footage, proximity to downtown Portland and off-street parking checked all the boxes.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Two local accounting firms at 22 Free St. in Portland recently merged and are now preparing to move to a permanent headquarters with a water view in South Portland.

373 Broadway LLC bought 373 Broadway from Hornby Zeller Properties LLC for $825,000.

Tim Millett of Porta & Co. and Peter Harrington and Joe Malone of Malone Commercial Brokers brokered the deal.

The property consists of a three-story, 3,786-square-foot office building.

It was marketed as being between two of the city’s coastal neighborhoods, Ferry Village and Knightville, and in close proximity to downtown Portland. The property abuts the South Portland Greenbelt Walkway and sees traffic counts of over 14,000 cars per day. It has unimpeded water views of downtown Portland.

Merger

Brown & Kelly LLC merged with Dawson and Souter LLC last November.

Dawson and Souter was founded in 2020, after the principals — Ryan Dawson and William Souter — left a larger firm and went off on their own.

“We wanted a small, local company and wanted to focus on our own clients in the area and get back to business as we knew it as a local company,” said Dawson.

Dawson and Souter leased a suite at 22 Free St., where Brown & Kelly was also leasing offices.

Last year, they decided it was time for the two like-minded firms to join forces. Together, they have eight full-time and two seasonal employees. The merged firm, now called Kelly, Dawson & Souter LLC, specializes in tax compliance and planning for individuals, small businesses, trusts and estates and nonprofits.

Separately, the two firms occupied three segmented suites on the third floor of 22 Free St. They decided to look for a building to purchase and liked 373 Broadway for a number of reasons, including proximity to the Greenbelt Walkway and Portland Harbor, and views of downtown Portland.

Renovations

“This building was good square footage, a great location — five minutes from downtown Portland,” said Dawson. “It has off-street parking — we really wanted that for clients. This one checked all the boxes. We wanted to buy and we’re glad we were able to find a building that fit our needs so well.”

About $75,000 was planned for renovations, which included repositioning a couple of walls. The plan is to move in imminently, while renovations are still underway.

The purchase was financed by Maine Community Bank. The cost of renovations will be funded out of pocket.

The firm plans to add another associate, possibly this summer.

The goal, said Dawson, is to retain the client-centered responsiveness of a locally owned business.

“Our main focus at Kelly, Dawson & Souter is client service. We know how a business should be run and how employees should be treated,” he said. “We pride ourselves on our responsiveness and on our attention to detail.”