Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 13 JA N UA R Y 2 5 , 2 0 2 1 S O U T H E R N M A I N E T hermoplastic self-bonding rib- bon. Ultraviolet light sanitiz- ing machines. Giant abstract public sculptures. Life science product prototypes. ese are some of the enterpris- ing things being produced at the Mill Brook Business Center, a new devel- opment of 16 industrial condominium units at 10 Mill Brook Road in Saco. e center has proven to be a suc- cessful draw for a diverse collection of small businesses. at's just how Portland-based Baha LLC developers Dave Smaha and Anthony Barbano envisioned it. "I love the variety of different busi- nesses," says Smaha. "At the end of the day, these businesses own their space. eir payments are similar to what they'd pay on a lease basis, but instead go into their building equity. It's a win- win situation." Reasonable price, opportunity to own In a tight industrial market where the vacancy rate in southern Maine is about 3%, and whatever is avail- able tends to be sprawling buildings or carved out of vast mills, developers have identified demand from startups and small businesses for smaller indus- trial spaces that are affordable to own and flexible enough to accommodate a range of uses. at demand materialized at the Mill Brook Business Center, which in two years has become a microcosm of enterprise that's even attracting out- of-state startups. Smaha says he and Barbano designed the center to sell units at an affordable price to small businesses. "A small-business owner can pay less in acquisition costs and fees than they would pay if they leased, and actually own something and build equity," Smaha says. Smaha has been engaged in real estate development — primarily small- residential but also commercial — for the past decade. Barbano owns Elite Construction Services in Saco. In 2017, they bought 3.7 acres at Saco's Mill Brook Business Park. e overall park itself is 70 acres located a mile from Interstate 195 and developed with water and sewer access. Smaha and Barbano developed a plan to build 16 flexible industrial condo units across three buildings. Marketed by Michael Anderson of Malone Commercial Brokers, the units began selling in 2018. irteen units have sold and construction of the last three is expected to begin this spring. Unit sizes range from 1,520 square feet to 3,477 square feet, with 17-foot- high ceilings. Prices start in the mid- $200,000s and go into the $300,000s. "ere's been a high amount of interest in these units, partially because there's high demand for flex units," says Anderson. "ere's a very low amount of inventory." "is commercial condo fills a real need," says Tom Yale, who bought one unit in November and has a second on option. "While popular in other parts of the country, they are relatively new to Maine." 'Duct tape on steroids' Yale was the long-time owner of Yale Cordage, a high-end rope manufacturer on nearby Industrial Park Road, which he sold last July to a private investment group. Now he's focusing on a spin-off company, ResinFiber LLC, to manufac- ture a high-strength, lightweight ther- moplastic tape-ribbon called Forj. With a bit of heat, the ribbon molecu- larly fuses to itself in seconds. Once cooled, the self-bonding plastic hard- ens, creating a bond as strong as steel, and can be used for repairs for house- hold, outdoor, marine and other uses. e idea is similar to duct tape, but the ribbon can be used repeatedly and it's much stronger, Yale explains. "It's duct tape on steroids," he says. Yale and his team launched the product in 2018, when he was still at Yale Cordage. After selling Yale Cordage, Forj remained an interest. Yale searched quite some time for space. "Mostly I was confronted with hav- ing a corner of some much larger space that would have been little less stable than owning a facility," he says. He discovered the condo complex by chance. "I was exploring and they had a sign," he says. e size was perfect for racks of inventory and several machines that manipulate extremely strong filaments into fiber bundles, impregnate the fibers with resin, wind the resulting ribbon onto bulk wheels, then feed it into retail- size sleeves and tins. e operation can produce about 450 million feet annually. Recently he had on hand 10,000 tins, each containing 20 feet. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » I love the variety of different businesses. — Dave Smaha Baha LLC Saco's Mill Brook Business Center meets demand for small industrial space B y L a u R i e s C h R e i B e R Microcosm of enterprise F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Baha LLC developer Dave Smaha, with his partner Anthony Barbano (not shown), responded to high demand and tight inventory in the development of 16 industrial condominiums for small businesses. Tom Yale established ResinFiber, a maker of a thermoplastic bonding product called FORJ ribbon, amid Mill Brook's community of like-minded entrepreneurs.

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