The Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce will move from its longtime location at 443 Congress St. to more efficient space at 93 Exchange St.
The move shifts the offices from Monument Square more to the Old Port area.
The lease deal was brokered by Cam Foster and Drew Sigfridson of the Boulos Co., which represented the tenant, and Pete Harrington of Malone Commercial Brokers, which represented the landlord.
The chamber plans to be up and running in its new home by June 1.
“Our new office space is key for the organization,” Chamber CEO and President Qunicy Hentzel said. “It will serve as a hub for collaboration as well as a place for our members and the business community to gather and build relationships.”
The chamber is moving from one historic building to another. The current Congress Street quarters are in the Clapp Memorial Building, built in 1924, according to the Portland Historic Resources Inventory. The seven-story brick and limestone commercial block replaced the early-19th-century home of a merchant named Captain Asa Clapp.
The chamber’s new lease at 93 Exchange St. is in a building called the Centennial Block, built in 1876 with a brick and stone façade and mansard roof.
Reduce costs
The chamber hired Foster and Sigfridson last May to begin the search for a new headquarters. With its lease expiring last month, the chamber saw an opportunity to reduce real estate costs by eliminating unneeded square footage.
Must-haves included a downtown location with a brick-and-beam feel, a large conference room, a retail presence, and most importantly, easy access for the community
The project team, which included Gretchen Boulos of Boulos Commercial Design to help design the new workplace, evaluated options, doing test-fits and financial analyses to show how the organization would lay out and operate.
At 3,357 square feet, the first floor of 93 Exchange St. checked all the boxes. The historic brownstone sits across the street from the Press Hotel, one block from Post Office Park, and around the corner from the chamber’s old location.
“For many years, businesses looking for office space in downtown Portland haven’t had a lot of options,” said Foster. “As companies reassess their needs amidst the shift to hybrid workplace, we’re seeing a rise in available office options, and I’s creating enticing new opportunities.
“Business leaders are asking, ‘What do we want to give our employees and clients access to? How can we streamline our costs and spend more on what matters to us? And what are the available options?’”
Foster said he anticipates plenty of activity in the office sector going forward.