Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – The Presque Isle Armory, located on north Main Street, now has a new owner.
According to Lisa Sessions, master planner for the Maine National Guard, the building was officially sold by the State of Maine, Military Bureau to BLD LLC, a real estate development firm based in Yarmouth, Nov. 6.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
THE PRESQUE ISLE ARMORY, located on north Main Street, was sold Nov. 6 to BLD LLC, a real estate development firm based in Yarmouth. According to a member of the southern Maine partnership, the company is “presently doing survey and existing conditions analysis and market studies to get an idea what will work there.” Though unsure at this time what the site will be used for, possibilities include retail, a multiple retail site, a big box store, or office buildings, which would be sold as condominiums. The company’s successful bid, which was submitted in early September, was $795,000.
“The appraised value of the property was $685,000,” said Sessions. “There were entities that made bids, and one of those was three or four partners together, which was BLD LLC, and they got the winning bid.”
Sessions said the company’s successful bid, which was submitted in early September, was $795,000.
Jamie LeBlanc, a member of the BLD LLC partnership, said the company is “presently doing survey and existing conditions analysis and market studies to get an idea what will work there.”
“We’re really learning about the property in detail because when you do a bid like this for property that’s up for closed bid, there’s not a lot of time to do due diligence,” said LeBlanc. “We just thought it was a great site and had some potential, but frankly we aren’t really sure yet what’s going to happen. We’re still exploring a number of different opportunities and may not know for a couple of months.”
LeBlanc said opportunities include “retail, a multiple retail site, or a big box store.”
“We’ve also done office development in the past where we’ve built office buildings and sold them as condominiums,” he said, “which have been very successful especially with professionals who prefer to own space rather than lease it.
“We’re looking at a couple different options,” said LeBlanc. “Hopefully before the new year we’ll have a firm idea of what our plans are.”
Until a decision is made, LeBlanc said BLD LLC may opt to lease the building as warehouse space.
“In case our plans take a year or so,” he said, “we could advertise it as light industrial leasing.”
LeBlanc said he and business partner, Roger Beaulieu of Van Buren, were in town and noticed the building was up for bid.
“We saw it and called the Maine National Guard,” he said. “The property has good visibility, high traffic, and an overall nice site … high and dry, a good location, with a lot of potential.”
In addition to the Van Buren connection, LeBlanc said years ago he used to teach school in Aroostook County.
“We love the county,” said LeBlanc. “This is an opportunity to get back and do something in the county. It’s a great spot to do development, and because it’s been an armory for so long, the site itself has been neglected. We’ll look at it and try to do the best project we can there.”
LeBlanc said the property is 5.5 acres, while the building is 28,000 square feet.
“If we develop the entire site, the building would be removed,” he said.
The proceeds of the sale of the armory are designated to reduce the substantial backlog of maintenance and repairs at other state-owned Readiness Centers across Maine.
The Maine National Guard’s long-term construction plan includes a new readiness center, which will be located in Aroostook County.
There are several planning and construction events scheduled at the Fort Kent and Houlton armories, which include roof replacements, controlled humidity storage building, cold storage building, and site drainage improvements.
“The projects are in our 10 to 20-year plan, and depending on what Congress wants to give us for money, will depend on when we can do all of our work,” said Sessions. “We do have a Readiness Center that’s on the books for the Caribou-Presque Isle area.”
