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V O L . X X I V N O X X V I I I D E C E M B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 8 6 Record year expected for existing home sales Latest figures for existing home sales indicate Maine could have another record-setting real estate year. October sales of existing homes were 3.44% higher than last October and 2.7% ahead of what they were at this time last year, the state real estate industry's "stron- gest year ever," said Kim Gleason, 2018 president of the Maine Association of Realtors, and broker-owner of McAllister Real Estate in Hallowell. Home sales in 2017 were a 20-year high, which is as long as the association has been tracking the data. e sales increase bucked the national and Northeast regional trend, where the month's sales compared to last October, dropped. Median prices were up both in the state, region and nationally. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E Gov. Paul R. LePage and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection announced the 2018 Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence will be presented to Molnlycke, Wiscasset, for sustainability; Maine State Prison, Warren, for stewardship; and Inland Technologies International, South Portland, for innovation. The awards, which are administered by the Maine DEP, recognize businesses, pub- lic entities and individuals for their extraordinary efforts to protect and improve Maine's environment. San Francisco firm opens Portland office Grove Collaborative, an e-commerce company based in San Francisco that sells natural home, beauty and personal care products directly to consumers, hosted a ribbon-cutting event Nov. 20 to celebrate the opening of its first East Coast office in Portland. e company announced in a news release it is actively hiring employees as it ramps up to what After 17 years, Boulos. Co. will end affiliation with CBRE B y M a i n e b i z S t a f f Portland — CBRE | The Boulos Co. is ending its 17-year affiliation with national real estate firm CBRE Inc. at the end of the year. The firm, which began in Portland 43 years ago as The Boulos Co., said in a news release that the move will allow it to broaden and diversify national relationships as well as to hone its local focus. As of Jan. 1, the company will return to the name it began with — The Boulos Co. "Our 17-year partnership with CBRE has been mutually beneficial," said Drew Sigfridson, the managing director and a partner. While the name will change, along with the logo and other brand components, the assets the firm considers most essential will remain in place, he added. The firm's ownership group, associates and support staff are all remaining, and no personnel changes are planned as a result of the change. A family of companies comprises CBRE | The Boulos Co., including CBRE | Portsmouth, and CBRE | Boulos Asset Management. The group is northern New England's largest commercial real estate firm, according to the news release. It serves owners, investors and tenants throughout Maine and seacoast New Hampshire. The firm has 23 employees at its brokerage in Maine, 51 in asset management and four in New Hampshire. It did more than 300 transactions, sales and leases, in the last 12 months and more than $1 billion in transactions in the last five years. The Boulos Co. was founded by Joe Boulos in 1975, beginning in an office on Exchange Street in Portland. The Portsmouth office was added in 1999. Los Angeles-based CBRE has 450 offices world-wide, and is the world's largest real estate and investment firm, based on 2017 revenue, according to its website. Move allows for larger footprint Going forward, relationships with local developers, business owners and property owners won't change, Sigfridson said. He said that the company's commitment to "tap into the national marketplace" will be strengthened with opportunities to broaden and diversify national brokerage relationships with other firms and through its affiliation with organizations like Certified Commercial Investment Member, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors and International Council of Shopping Centers. Relationships with Maine's small businesses and custom- ized solutions for some of Maine's largest organizations will remain a focus, and the new platform will allow brokers to use their discretion and tailor each listing's promotion for maximum exposure in each local market, for that specific property, the release said. "We want to be the go-to resource for business owners seeking to buy, sell or lease commercial property of any size — whether it's 1,500 square feet or 50,000 square feet," Sigfridson said. "We want the most user-friendly resources for our clients and customers involved in any aspect of com- mercial real estate." The company also plans to enhance its in-house training and mentoring program, continuing to develop entry-level associates into fully credentialed brokers and allowing team members from across the company to train in different roles. Boulos said it will continue to recruit top talent in northern New England. is expected to be a workforce of 100 full- time-employees at its 9,000-square-foot site at 123 Middle St. Matthew Bray will lead the Portland operations. Founded in 2016, Grove Collaborative has more than 300 employees between its headquarters in San Francisco and sites in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Nevada. Grove Collaborative has raised more than $100 million in venture capital funding to date. SoPo waterfront site sold to local developer Ownership of a 30-acre prime water- front property next to South Portland's Bug Light Park has passed from one local family of developers to another. e property is considered significant for its history, size and development potential. L+R Northpoint Holding LLC, owned by developer Richard Packard, purchased the property from the Cacoulidis family for an undisclosed sum. e transaction closed Nov. 8. e largest parcel, 23 acres at 149 Front St., had a $3.5 million total valuation by the city's assessor's office in 2018. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N Batson River Brewing & Distilling opened a tasting room at its 12 Western Ave. site in Kennebunkport. Wilcox Wellness & Fitness opened at 275 Bath Road in Brunswick. NBT Bank in Portland announced two $15,000 donations, one to Experience Camps of Maine in Oakland to be used to support camp attendance by grieving children from Maine and one to the Dempsey Center for support of its Clayton's House in Portland. GIS Mapping & Analysis, a Geographic Information Systems com- pany in Portland, was acquired by CAI Technologies, a municipal mapping and Geographic Information Systems services company in Littleton, N.H. Acadia Insurance, a Berkley Co. in Westbrook, introduced Acadia Street Eats, a special insurance program de- veloped specifically for food trucks. Town & Country Federal Credit Union in Scarborough said nearly 20 nonprofits received approximately $1,000 each as part of its first-ever #TCFCUGivesMore initiative. Aimed at empowering employees and increasing the impact of contributions, the credit union matched each employee's contri- bution to the initiative, up to $10. B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N Our 17-year partnership with CBRE has been mutually beneficial. — Drew Sigfridson Managing director and partner, The Boulos Co. Drew Sigfridson B R I E F

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