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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 A U G U S T 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 F O C U S G R E AT E R B A N G O R / N O R T H E R N M A I N E CITY OF BANGOR To hear more, please reach out to us. You'll like what we have to say! comm.dev@bangormaine.gov 207.992.4280 www.bangormaine.gov Every year the Bangor region's colleges and universities graduate over 3,000 potential employees for YOUR business. If workforce development is a challenge & priority for your organization, come see what the Bangor region can provide you and your workforce — a great quality of life, incredible parks, arts and culture, and affordable real estate make Bangor a great place to locate your business. What do the number 3,000 and the Bangor region have in common? WWW.BOWMANCONSTRUC TORS.COM (207) 368-2405 Your Commercial Building Solution BANGOR FEDERAL CREDIT UNION With generations of experience in the construction management field, Bowman Constructors offers value and service for a wide variety of projects throughout Maine. The diversity of our work and the specialized needs of our clients demands the ability to adapt to individual project conditions with innovative solutions and results — this is what we do at Bowman Constructors. To learn how we can bring our design/build expertise to your project contact us, today. — Kevin Bowman, Brian Bowman An award winning, family- owned, general contracting firm since 1987 Law fi rm beefi ng up litigation staff Rudman Winchell, a Bangor law fi rm, hired political heavyweight Joshua A. Tardy, who served four terms in the state House of Representatives as a Republican from District 25. He also served as House minority leader. Tardy will be part of the Rudman Winchell litigation team. During the legislative session, he will continue to counsel clients and politicians through his affi liation with Mitchell, Tardy and Jackson in Augusta. J.B. Brown's investment signals confi dence in market J.B. Brown & Sons' purchase of 80 Exchange St., in Bangor, signals the Portland commercial real estate and asset management fi rm's confi dence in the city as a growing market. e sale involved one of the most visible offi ce structures in Bangor. e 88,478-square-foot, six-story Class A offi ce building, on 1.2 acres, was built in 197 and renovated in 2007, according to the broker, to CBRE| e Boulos Co. e purchase price was $.5 million, according to the City of Bangor Assessing Department. e asking price had been $5 million and the property took more than a year to sell. "We had it on the market for a lengthy period of time," says Charles Day, who represented the seller. " e offi ce market in Bangor seems to be evolving. It's starting to come back a little bit." Dead River Co. had occupied two fl oors of the building, but decided to sell the building when the company downsized and vacated one fl oor, said Day. e Boeing Co. also had a full fl oor but vacated last year. "It made sense to put it up for sale," he said. "We had a lot of local interest. But they couldn't get to the price we needed." e building now has 2½ fl oors available for lease. e building is anchored by the law fi rm Eaton Peabody. Camden National Bank occupies the fi rst fl oor and Dead River continues to occupy one fl oor. Eastern Maine Psychiatry & Behavioral Health also has a small suite. "It's usually the Bangor people going down to Portland," Day says. "But between what's going on with the Bangor waterfront, the investment that Bangor Savings Bank is making down there, and the whole resurgence of the downtown with the restaurant scene and lots of the older buildings being converted into apart- ments, there's some real energy there right now. So it's signifi cant that someone like J.B. Brown, which has been around for 200 years, sees some value there. at's the message I want to get out — that you have someone that's not in the local market who's bullish on Bangor." A downtown resurgence Bangor's downtown has what are sometimes called "good bones." Historic buildings made of granite and brick, combined with good pedestrian access, convenient park- ing and foot traffi c provide some of the ingredients retailers look for. Tanya Emery, Bangor's economic development director, cites the addition of the Black Bear Brewery and Bangor Arts Exchange on Exchange Street. "[ ey are] two awesome additions to a formerly dark section of downtown," she says. She also notes the addition of Novio's Bistro and City Drawers, which has a location in Belfast. P V A , M a i n e b i z e d i to r, c a n be r e a ch e d a t @ . and @ ME P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N Joshua A. Tardy P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y R U D M A N W I N C H E L L L S , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r writer, contributed to this report. She can be reached at @ . 80 Exchange St., which is under new ownership.