Retail strip seen benefiting from Falmouth, Portland markets
Courtesy / Malone Commercial Brokers
West Falmouth Crossing Retail, at 65 Gray Road in Falmouth. Craig Church, a broker with Magnusson Balfour Commercial and Business Brokers, and Ed Libby, who runs Real Maine Real Estate in Yarmouth, purchased the retail strip for $2.44 million.
FALMOUTH — Buyers of a retail strip at 65 Gray Road say their investment is in a vibrant community that’s adjacent to Portland’s happening scene.
West Falmouth Crossing Retail, located on 1.5 acres just off the Maine Turnpike, was built in 2000. Fully tenanted, offerings include Madden's Pub & Grill, Greener Postures Yoga, SuperCuts, Saigon Nails and Portland Cleaners, with Martial Arts coming onboard shortly.
Craig Church, a broker with Magnusson Balfour Commercial and Business Brokers, and Ed Libby, who runs Real Maine Real Estate in Yarmouth, were the purchasers, operating under the names Church Corporation and Fogg Farm LLC, with Church handling their side of the $2.44 million transaction, which closed Aug. 31.
Mark Malone of Malone Commercial Brokers represented the seller, North River 65 Gray Road LLC. Based in New York, this was the seller’s only Maine property.
Craig and Libby’s partnership occurred as a result of two separate events shortly beforehand. In July, Church sold a century-old building he owned at 630 Forest Ave. in Portland, where he had operated Church Office Equipment, and had his eye out for a 1031 exchange. A month before, Libby had sold a retail building at 374 U.S. Route 1 in Yarmouth and subsequently engaged Church to look for investment properties throughout southern Maine.
“While searching for property for him, we agreed this would be a good investment for both of us as a joint venture,” said Church. “We put it under contract immediately.”
Drawing off Portland
The area is a great market, said Church, in that it’s likely to see continued development as a result of economic benefits expanding outward from Portland’s growth. The crossing also gets huge benefit from proximity to a Hannaford store that attracts a lot of traffic, he said.
“It’s across the road from Exit 53, which brings in a good volume of people, whether they’re coming from the north or south,” Church said. “A lot of people get off at that exit because of its access to the north part of Portland.”
In addition, said Libby, it’s a good investment in terms of potential growth in the rate of return. In the relatively short time since the strip opened 16 years ago, the property’s rents dropped. That was due to a combination of losing Movie Gallery, which occupied one-third of the building, followed by the recession.
“So it was challenged for the last 10 years or so, but it’s been stabilized and we see some long-term potential for having the rate start to increase again,” said Libby. “There’s a great mix of tenants, and the Hannaford next door is very strong. I think, also, that the new zoning that Falmouth has gone through recently will drive more development out to that area in general. That’s positive both for the tenants and for us as the landlords.”
The plaza is in great shape and will require little in the way of upgrade, according to Libby.
In this transaction, as often seems to be the case, relationship proved key when Libby and Craig found they clicked.
“We share a similar philosophy in terms of business relationships. We value long-term relationship over individual transactions,” said Libby. “So that has been a good fit for both of us.”
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