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V O L . X X V I I N O. X V J U LY 2 6 , 2 0 2 1 22 R E A L E S TAT E / C O N S T R U C T I O N / E N G I N E E R I N G F O C U S hard costs, but banks have also become more interested in the soft ones. at led to Weeks joining the company. e detailed financial report banks increasingly seek "is where John's expertise comes in," Milley says. Weeks worked for MBNA for 15 years, then Webster Bank in Connecticut, with different roles that positioned him for what he does now. "I saw what was important to the cus- tomer, and I saw what was important to the bank," Weeks says. Problem solvers Bar Harbor Bank & Trust has financed developments using CSC for seven or eight years, Delano says. Recent ones are the Aloft Hotel in Portland, the 256-unit Latitude at South Portland apartments devel- opment and several projects at the Downs in Scarborough. Delano says that construction delays and issues that drive up costs with big projects are inevitable, but the bank relies on CSC to assess them properly. "Ron knows when to flag things, knows when to push things," says Delano. "But he doesn't overreact," he says. e company is also popular with commercial real estate brokers looking for pre-sale inspections. Justin Lamontagne, of NAI e Dunham Group, says that he sees the CSC team as problem solvers. "ey don't just identify an issue and panic," Lamontagne says. "ey identify issues, or potential issues, and explain a path to resolution. Whether they are working for an existing prop- erty owner or a potential buyer, their approach is educational and calming." He recently toured an industrial building with a buyer and Weeks. "e buyer was so impressed by the breadth of knowledge he showed for this mixed- use building," Lamontagne. "We rarely sell a brand-new, perfect building, so to understand how to navigate whatever deferred maintenance we inevitably find is invaluable." Small crew, big projects When Milley took over the company, Russo told him he could double its size if he made connections. "I thought it was pie in the sky," Milley says. But the doubling came in the first year, and every year since. At first, CSC was a one-man show. ings began picking up when he hired project manager Terry Place. It's now a seven-person team. While that may not seem like a big crew, besides the 211,000-square-foot 86 Newbury development, CSC has been involved in almost all the recent projects on Portland's eastern water- front, including 0 ames, the WEX Inc. headquarters, and WEX's 100 Fore St. office building. It has done inspection reports for most of the hotels recently built or under construction in southern Maine, including the recently opened Canopy by Hilton in Portland. CSC also monitors developer Jim Howard's Brunswick Landing projects. e latest by Howard's Priority Real Estate Group is the under-construction 20,157-square-foot building for software company Vivid Cloud. e company also works with Avesta and other affordable housing developers, including the 58 Boyd St. development in Portland, and Szanton Co's Hartley Block in Lewiston, as well as the Portland Housing Authority's projects. While CSC may be under the radar, the principals feel a connec- tion to their jobs. When Milley and Weeks talked to Mainebiz, they were buzzing about the 230,000-square- foot Lincoln Mill redevelopment, in Biddeford by Chinburg Properties and Tim Harrington, of Kennebunk. e $50 million redevelopment includes 148 luxury apartments, a 33-room hotel, a rooftop bar with a pool, restaurant and retail space and is due to open soon. "A historic mill with a swimming pool on the roof," Weeks says. "It's just incredible what they're doing. at mix of history and modern." But they also speak glowingly of sin- gle-family home projects. All of them, big and small, are basically the same, just different in scale, they say. "We approach it as, 'is is what it is,'" says Weeks, no matter who the client or developer is. "ese are the facts. Here you go." Maureen Milliken, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at mmilliken @ mainebiz.biz » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Our engineers are working to deliver Our engineers are working to deliver safe, reliable electricity throughout safe, reliable electricity throughout northern and eastern Maine. northern and eastern Maine. Learn more and see current job openings at www.versantpower.com. 2021-07-12 Engineers Edition.indd 1 2021-07-12 Engineers Edition.indd 1 7/14/2021 3:54:32 PM 7/14/2021 3:54:32 PM Ron [Milley] knows when to flag things, knows when to push things, but he doesn't overreact. — Joe Delano Bar Harbor Bank & Trust

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