Southport Boats’ lease of 70,056 square feet in a Gardiner warehouse once owned by Associated Grocers of Maine has helped to nearly fill the sprawling space on River Avenue.
The move into the 138,832-square-foot building more than triples the size of the yacht manufacturer’s space from its former location within the Kenway complex on Riverside Drive in Augusta.
The warehouse on River Avenue (Route 24) was built in 1955 for the grocery distribution business, which closed in 2011.Â
SVN | The Urbanek Group, of Portland, represented Commercial Properties, in the transaction and CBRE | The Boulos Co. represented Southport. SVN is Commercial Properties in-house marketing division.
Southport is leasing some of the building’s large bay area as well as using some of the former freezer space as storage, said Dan Catlin, CEO of Commercial Properties. The building has 20-foot ceilings, making it ideal for the type of manufacturing Southport does. It also has 13 loading docks and three drive-in doors.
With other tenants in the building, there is still about 30,000 square feet available to lease, Catlin said.
Southport Boat was acquired by Tuxedo Yachts in August and, at the time, COO George Menezes told Mainebiz plans were to double production.
The company moved its entire operation, including the business end, from Augusta to Gardiner at the end of December, Jonathan Kirby, marketing and sales director, said Wednesday.