COURTESY / HOSPICE OF SOUTHERN MAINE
Hospice of Southern Maine broke ground in June 2019 on a $5.8 million center, shown here in a rendering, to support growing demand for home-based services.
April 20, 2020
Scarborough CPA firm finds new headquarters with visibility and parking
Courtesy / NAI The Dunham Group
The Scarborough accounting firm Johnson & Co. will move from leased space at 200 U.S. Route 1 to new headquarters at 180 U.S. Route 1.
It’s a case of musical headquarters in Scarborough, and a preference for ownership over lease.
Glenn Johnson, founder and owner of the accounting firm Johnson & Co., bought an office building at 180 U.S. Route 1 to move his company there from leased space at 200 U.S. Route 1, just down the road.
First, he will wait for Hospice of Southern Maine to vacate its leased space at 180 U.S. Route 1 when the organization moves into its new headquarters at 390 U.S. Route 1. That building is under construction and the move is expected this summer.
Johnson bought the property from 180 US Route 1 Associates LLC for $1.51 million.
Tom Moulton and Katie Millett from NAI The Dunham Group represented the seller and Joe Porta from Porta & Co. represented the buyer in the sale, which closed Feb. 28.
Price testing
The 6,032-square-foot building, built in 2007 on 1.17 acres, was marketed as office, retail or medical space for sale or lease. The property is prominently located with excellent visibility on Route 1, with traffic counts over 27,000 cars per day. It’s within five minutes of I-295 and I-95 and within one-tenth mile from MaineHealth’s Scarborough campus.
“We originally listed the property for both sale and lease and saw quite a bit of activity from both buyers and tenants,” said Millett.
The property went under contract within about a month of listing.
“It’s a perfect owner-user play,” she said. “The owner will occupy the smaller suite and lease out the remainder of the building for additional income. For these reasons we were able to get pretty close to our asking price. We originally thought our pricing might be slightly aggressive, but in this market you really need to test the limits to properly represent your seller clients.”
“We talked about a number of properties as they’ve come across his plate or mine,” said Porta, who represented Johnson. “This turned out to be perfect. He’ll occupy about 2,000 square feet and rent out the remaining to one or two users. The building divides very easily.”
However, Johnson has to wait to move in until the building’s tenant, Hospice of Southern Maine, moves to its new headquarters, which is under construction at 390 US Route 1 in Scarborough.
Eying the property
Johnson started his business in December 2005 as a small tax accounting firm. He's been leasing space for 13 years at 200 U.S. Route 1, just down the road from 180 U.S. Route 1.
“I’ve been eyeing this building a couple of years,” Johnson said of 180 U.S. Route 1. “It’s a great facility. We were looking for just a little more space. I also wanted to own a building.”
Johnson knew that Hospice of Southern Maine was constructing new quarters and would be moving out at some point.
“So I kept an eye on this building for when it went up for lease or sale,” he said. “And because it’s just a block from us, it’s an easy move. I want to stay in Scarborough.”
The building’s interior was originally designed as three 2,000-square-foot units, he explained. Hospice of Southern Maine occupies the entire building. When the organization moves out, Johnson & Co. will take one unit and plans to rent out the rest. Moderate renovation will be needed before the company can move in. That includes installation of interior walls, carpets and paint, Johnson said. New signage will also go up.
The company has four full-time staffers year-round and up to six during tax season. The numbers have remained pretty steady through the years. The property’s 47 parking spots were a big plus, he added.
Larger hospice center
In June 2019, Hospice of Southern Maine announced the public phase of its $5.6 million capital campaign to fund a Home Hospice Center.
The 14,550-square-foot building, at 390 U.S. Route 1, will be the central hub for supporting, mobilizing and dispatching home care clinical teams. The new building will house clinical and access departments and act as a coordination center for home care clinical teams. It will offer a family bereavement suite for free community grief counseling; a community room for education, special events and volunteer training; and a new a learning and simulation lab.
The center will be powered with 100% geothermal and solar energy, making it a near net-zero energy building and resulting in a 98% decrease in CO2e emissions. Any excess solar power will be used to supplement electricity needs at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House.
Construction was deemed an essential business, so construction of the center is still underway and on track, said Heidi Farber, the organization’s director of development and outreach.
“We’re scheduled to move in mid-July,” Farber said. “The exterior is finished. They’re fitting out the interior.”
Organized in 2001 and providing direct patient services since 2004, Hospice of Southern Maine cares for more than 1,600 patients annually, at the patient's home, current care facility, and Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough.
Currently, said Farber, the organization is operating out of two leased spaces, at 180 U.S. Route 1 and at 136 U.S. Route 1, where the Southern Maine Agency on Aging is located.
“We’re squeezing into two leased spaces and have no more room,” she said.
The new quarters will be slightly larger than the combined leased spaces, she added.
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