Courtesy / Google Earth
PRO Moving Service will consolidate operations from several leased facilities to 174-192 College Ave. in Waterville.
Updated: October 29, 2019
What happens to former big-box stores? A moving company snags one in Waterville
Courtesy / PRO Moving Service
PRO Moving Service’s co-owner and sales manager Peter Carey (far right) and his team prepare to transport a Bernard Langlais sculpture to new quarters. Moving artwork is a specialty of the company.
For one moving company, a former big-box store provided an affordable space to consolidate and expand operations.
PROBETA LLC bought 174-192 College Ave. in Waterville from College Avenue LLC for $350,000. Don Plourde of Coldwell Banker Plourde Real Estate brokered the deal, which closed Sept. 17.
The retail facility, built in 1972, was once home to Marden's Surplus and Salvage. It has also housed the Salvation Army. The site is located on heavily traveled College Avenue and is 1.5 miles from Interstate 95 and Waterville’s downtown district.
PROBETA LLC is owned by PRO Moving Service.
The building had been vacant at least three or four years and possibly longer, said Plourde.
The property was originally part of a larger package, of 86,595 square feet in three mixed-use buildings on 34.58 acres, that went up for auction, through Keenan Auction Co. in October 2018 but didn’t sell, he said.
So the seller decided to separate the property into three offers. The 174-192 College Ave. section comprises 43,689 square feet on 5.2 acres.
Plourde said the sale of another section is pending and about 20 acres of land with multiple street accesses remains for sale behind 174-192 College Ave.
Plourde said the seller priced 174-192 College Ave. for a quick sale and it saw a lot of interest, including another potential buyer. But PRO Moving Service acted more quickly, he noted
Consolidate operations
Up to now, the company has been leasing a total of 40,000 to 45,000 square feet of space in three separate facilities in Winslow, Westbrook and Waterville, said Jason Brann, PRO Moving Service’s co-owner and operations manager.
“We’ll use this space to consolidate operations to one campus,” Brann explained, adding that the property also provides room to expand.
The company has been doing some renovations of the building since the purchase was finalized. That includes replacing the exterior siding, removing floor tiles in order to install an industrial floor, painting, and adding loading docks out back. It’s expected some repaving will be done next year.
The additional investment is expected to be $100,000 to $150,000, he said.
“Mostly it’s just getting it cleaned up and ready for more of a warehouse use,” said Brann. “It works for our warehousing needs.”
Eventually, the plan is to put up another building on the property, he added.
Sculptures and pianos
PRO Moving Service was founded in 2003 by Peter Carey, who has been servicing the relocation needs of Maine for almost 40 years, according to the company’s website.
Carey is the majority owner and Brann the minority owner of the company. It’s currently headquartered in Winslow.
Courtesy / PRO Moving Service
PRO Moving Service’s co-owner and operations manager Jason Brann chips away floor tiles, in preparation for installing industrial flooring, at the company’s new facility in Waterville.
The company specializes in commercial relocation, piano moving and installations. It also does household moves, offers a wide selection of new and refurbished Herman Miller products for offices looking to add cubicles or furniture, and offers refurbishing of existing cubicles.
One of the company’s niches is moving specialty items. It moves hundreds of pianos annually, as well as artwork and valuable antiques.
“Business has been very good,” Brann said. “We service a lot of niche industries. We do a lot of work for museums and commercial office spaces.”
The owners have an artistic streak. Brann said they’ve accumulated a collection of harps from grand pianos that they’ve disposed of over the years, and plan to integrate them into a fence along the road.
“That should be interesting,” he added.
Clients include the Farnsworth Art Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, Maine State Museum and the estate of sculptor Bernard Langlais.
They nailed down the museum niche thanks to Carey, a Colby alumnus.
“There are not a lot of people who do the kind of detailed moving that’s required for museums,” Brann said.
Moving museum objects takes care, time and specialized packing materials, he said.
The company tries to group its piano moves together. Brann recalled moving 11 pianos in one day.
“The largest days are when we go to the New England Music Camp,” he said. “They move pianos between the practice areas or for events.”
Warehouse storage is needed mainly for householders. Although self-storage is a growing industry, the typical mover’s model involves storing household belongings until the owner calls for delivery.
“We have a fair amount of that,” he said.
The company also needs space associated with the work it does with disaster remediation services like Servpro.
“We store the belongings from houses that have been affected and we give those entities a place to clean it,” he explained.
The company employs 18, including the two owners. It has a fleet of eight trucks, two vans and enclosed trailers.
Leases at its three current facilities expire at the end of this year, so the plan is to be at the new space by then. The company’s primary service area ranges between Portland and Bangor, with further travel as needed.
The site suits them, he said: “For our purposes, the price was right and it’s a good location for us.”
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