🔒Rockland’s Navigator Motor Inn has new owners and plans

Location, location, location is the mantra of real estate development. And as Rockland enjoys a surge of arts, business and infrastructure development, the midcoast city is becoming an increasingly hot location for hotels.

Recently, Maine Course Hospitality Group announced plans to buy the Navigator Motor Inn, a 70-room hotel across from the Maine State Ferry Terminal.

“You're walking distance from downtown, which is becoming a cool thing,” says Sean Riley, president and CEO of Freeport-based Maine Course Hospitality Group. The influx of new businesses and arts into Maine's downtown, plus the close proximity to Camden, “provides a real anchor for that strip.”

Brand name amenities with a twist

Maine Course Hospitality Group owns 15 other properties throughout New England, including five Marriott-branded properties, three Fairfield Inns, three Hampton Inns, one Homewood Suites and two independent brands.

Once the transaction is complete later this year, Riley says his company plans to renovate the hotel and add conveniences like free Wi-Fi and key cards that are industry standards in branded hotels — while still preserving the nuances and local charm of the property.

“We have the freedom and excitement of doing something new, which really fits into the community, but infuse it with all of the modern amenities that really make the branded hotels successful and that people are used to,” Riley says. “It makes for a good combination.”

The hotel will close as it typically does after Columbus Day. Amid the renovation, the current restaurant will be closed and made into a larger lobby that's more inviting to passersby. A breakfast area and fitness center will be added. The property will employ roughly 25 seasonal and part-time workers. Riley says he hopes to finish renovations and reopen by June. Room rates have not been determined yet, but will likely be $129 to $229 per night, he says. A new name has not yet been chosen.

Rockland's resurgence

The purchase is one of three hotels in the works in Rockland as the city enjoys a wave of development that promises to draw more year-round visitors and residents, and spark yet more activity on its working waterfront. More than $20 million is being poured into various arts, business, and infrastructure projects. To name a few:

• In July, investors Richard Rockwell and his daughter Jennifer opened Main Street Market, a 3,000-square-foot grocery and cafe in the historic Kimball Building — one of a string of investments Rockwell is making along Main Street.

• Jake Dowling, owner of Dowling Walsh Gallery, plans to build a five-story building in back of his Main Street gallery to house street-level retail, plus storage and management for art on the upper floors. The $3 million project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2017.

• The Maine Center for Contemporary Art is building a new home in Rockland at 21 Winter St. The $3 million site is expected to open next July.

• The Farnsworth Art Museum recently completed a $3.75 structural upgrade to buildings on its Rockland campus, the Wyeth Center and its Olson House in Cushing. The project includes improvements to its heating, cooling, and humidity systems, roofs, floors, windows, clapboards and sidewalks surrounding the museum.

Audra Caler-Bell, Rockland's community development director, says that the hotels are critical to the growth of downtown and the city of Rockland.

“I think it's essential,” she says.

Hotel rooms have been in demand for events like the Maine Lobster Festival, the North Atlantic Blues Festival and the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Show. Overnight places like the Navigator and the Tradewinds Motor Inn have traditionally filled up quickly. And so have facilities nearby in Rockport, as well as The Hampton Inn & Suites in Thomaston.

When that happens, “we don't end up getting to take full advantage of the injection of money from outside visitors,” Caler-Bell says. “If visitors end up elsewhere, like Augusta, they spend more time on the road traveling. They spend less time shopping and eating in local restaurants and experiencing other attractions that [this] area has to offer. Having guests that are able to stay close by really has such a knock-on benefit to the surrounding businesses.”

Other hotels coming online

When the renovated Navigator reopens, it won't be the only new hotel on the market.

Cabot Lyman, owner of Lyman Morse Boatbuilding in Thomaston, is developing a five-story, 26-suite hotel at 250 Main St. The $2.9 million project is expected to open later this year.

Stuart Smith, who owns the Lord Camden and Grand Harbor Inns in Camden, has plans to develop The Rockland Harbor Inn, a 65-room boutique hotel at 12 Water St. Plans for the $6.5 million project include a 200-seat banquet facility. The ground breaking and opening dates have not been set yet. The developer, Bayview Development, is now focused on completing 16 Bayview, a 21-room boutique hotel in Camden, that is slated to open in December. The facility will include a conference space plus rooftop dining, says Matthew Levin, director of hotels and marketing for The Bayview Collection, which includes the three properties. The rates will range from $179 in the off season to $600 per night in the peak of the season.

“It doesn't bring more rooms online, but it does positively redevelop and update that property and will greatly benefit the town,” says Levin. “I think that there's still capacity in Rockland at this point.”

Riley says he's not worried about competition, and that each hotel will likely serve a different part of the market. And collectively, the crop of new hotels will elevate Rockland's status as a destination.

“People see that they can go there, walk downtown and now Rockland has things to offer,” he says.

“If you just have one hotel that's 50 years old, people figure, 'We'll drive through and keep driving,'” he says. “Now that there's some vibrancy and excitement, they might say, 'Let's stay overnight.'”

What's more, with all the new hotels, each property has to raise its game for customer service and amenities.

“When there's competition, businesses treat guests better and they go home saying that Rockland has a nice hotels and is a nice place,'” he says.

Levin, of The Bayview Collection, noted that the purchase of the Navigator won't increase supply, only enhance what's available on the market.

“It doesn't bring more rooms online, but it does positively redevelop and update that property that will greatly benefit the town,” says Levin. “I think that there's still capacity in Rockland at this point.”

Connie Russell, general manager of the Samoset Resort in Rockport, says that the influx of new hotels would not impact what they do, since they offer amenities like meeting space, event facilities, golf, spa and dining.

“We're a resort property, and it's a different experience and a different clientele than what we cater to,” he says.

What's more, he thought that the influx of new rooms was good for the market as a whole.

“It's growth,” he says. “It's good for the economy, it's good for the industry. It's going to create newer product and it's just good for the guest.”

Caler-Bell also says that she isn't worried.

“For so long, we've had such a shortage of short-term accommodations,” she says. “A lot of people took notice, that this is a real kind of open space in the market here. I think they've really done their homework to figure out what's needed.

“For a long time, Rockland wasn't necessarily a popular tourist destination,” she says. “It shows that we're really coming into our own as a place that's exciting for visitors.”