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February 23, 2010 Portlandbiz

Riverside property changes hands

By Robert M. Cook

As difficult as it is in a tough economy to hold onto property until a buyer comes along, the city of Portland recognizes the 54 acres it owns on Riverside Street would someday pay dividends.

Now, Greg Mitchell, the city's economic development director, and the city council are seeing their patience pay off.

After several months of negotiations, the city council on Feb. 17 unanimously approved the sale of four acres to Lucas Tree Experts Inc. for nearly $1 million so the company can consolidate its Gorham and Portland operations near the Maine Turnpike. Lucas currently leases the space from the city. Mitchell says Lucas Tree has offered $954,000 for the parcel and the 14,000-square-foot building that sits on it. Attempts to get comment from Lucas Tree Experts officials in Portland were unsuccessful.

But Mitchell says this was by no means a typical real estate deal between a buyer and a seller.

He explained that Lucas Tree Experts actually owned the entire 54-acre parcel on Riverside Street. Mitchell says the tree service company, which employs about 12 people in Portland, sold the entire parcel to the city in 2006 for $5 million as part of an attempt to revitalize the Bayside neighborhood. The $5 million deal was financed by The Trust for Public Land, he says.

Besides Lucas Tree Experts, Mitchell says the city hopes to sell 13 acres of the land to New England Metal Recycling and set aside another 10 acres so the city can move the Public Services Department from Bayside to the Riverside Street parcel. New England Metal Recycling has agreed to move from its Somerset Street location to Riverside Street. But the owners of a second scrap yard, E. Perry Iron & Metal Co. on Lancaster Street, refused to move there, he says.

There are also two smaller vacant buildings on the site that are 4,500 and 3,500 square feet, respectively, Mitchell says. The city will continue to market these properties to prospective buyers.

There are about 8 acres that can still be marketed to for other industrial uses such as a transportation trucking company or manufacturing. The city is just waiting for the economy to bounce back so it can fully market all of the Riverside Street land it owns, he says. It will take the city planning board another three to six months to parcel out the land for development purposes.

"We view the real estate as very well-positioned," he says.

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