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V O L . X X V I I N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 8 , 2 0 2 1 14 C O M M E R C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T worried traditional floating members, the freelancers and remote workers, will get comfortable working at home and won't come back. e office vacancy issue also looms. Both he and Feldman are wary of what impact the changing market will have, particularly the possibility of large empty spaces being renovated into small private offices, siphoning away the coworking crowd. "I think there's a lot of concern that [commercial property owners] will start to pivot toward small offices and dilute what little ground we've gained," Roche says. e commercial real estate industry is also waiting to see how things play out, though there's a hunger now with many businesses to get back together in one space, says John Finegan, of Boulos Co. One key is the new Maine residents, Finegan says in this year's Boulos Co. market outlook. "Will some of these newcomers turn into new office tenants? Will they bring new jobs with them? Coworking spaces could see an uptick in demand if companies headquartered in other states provide a budget to help satel- lite employees." Lewiston quick pivot If traditional office space owners are like the new owner of the 20,000-square- foot Professional Building at 145 Lisbon St., in Lewiston, the change to mini- offices may not be a permanent one. J.L. Dale LLC bought the building in December. It has a couple larger ten- ants, but its 85% occupancy rate is mostly tenants of micro-offices, who share wifi, bathrooms and a copier, says Frank Carr, of Maine Realty Advisors. e 10-story building is 25 feet wide and 100 feet long, so it lends itself to the pandemic market. Each floor is 2,000 square feet "and it's difficult with that floor plate to lease two, or six or eight- thousand square feet to one tenant." But it's not difficult to lease smaller offices to people working from home who "want to get away from the refrig- erator, get away from the dog." ose tenants are snatching up small spaces. While it's not the traditional coworking model, it's the model people ยป C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Join us as we come together to Make Change SM . For every qualified purchase* made with the new Make Change debit card, we'll donate 10 cents to support minority-owned businesses right here in Maine. Together, we can make a difference. To learn more, visit GorhamSavings.Bank/MakeChange * Member FDIC. For every qualified debit card purchase that posts and clears, GSB will donate 10 cents to support minority-owned businesses in Maine. P H O T O / M A U R E E N M I L L I K E N F O C U S The Professional Building, at 145 Lisbon St. in Lewiston, has several "mini-office" tenants.