Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I I N O. I JA N UA R Y 1 0 , 2 0 2 2 6 Prices rising, but tight inventory slows home sales For the fifth straight month, the num- ber of homes sold in Maine dropped during November while prices contin- ued to climb amid low inventory. Home sales across the state fell 8% while prices rose 11.1%, the Maine Association of Realtors said. e median sales price reached $300,000 in November, com- pared to $270,000 a year earlier. From January through November, residential real estate transactions were 4.1% above the comparable period in 2020, Maine's historical high. e results for this year were 12.3% higher than the compa- rable time period of 2019, prior to the pandemic. Inventory remains tight. ere were 33% fewer homes for sale in November than in the period a year ago, and 59% fewer than in November 2019. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E The U.S. Department of Justice awarded a total of $2.1 million to three Maine organizations to sup- port the state's criminal justice system. Recipients included: Maine Department of Corrections, $965,000; Maine Prisoner Re-Entry Network, $750,000; and Maine Department of Public Safety, $398,892. Iconic Portland hotel sold e Press Hotel, a former newspaper building transformed by developer Jim Brady into a 110-room boutique hotel, has been sold to a private equity investor. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Brady's Fathom Cos. sold the hotel, at 119 Exchange St., to KHP Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based real estate private equity firm focused on investments in the hospitality sec- tor. Fathom Cos. will remain to run the hotel's day-to-day operations. e Press Hotel opened in 2015 and became part of the Autograph Collection by Marriott. e century-old building was the headquarters of the Portland Press Herald until 2010. N O T E W O R T H Y S O U T H E R N Members of IBEW Local 1837 at WGME-TV 13, a CBS affiliate in Portland, approved a three-year con- tract agreement with raises in 2022 for all members in all job classifications, ranging from 5.2% up to 49.9%. Most members will see a wage increase of at least 7% in 2022, followed by an ad- ditional 5% over the next two years. The Portland Public Schools received a $175,000 grant from the New Schools Venture Fund to support educational technicians in their process of becom- ing certified to teach. This grant is part of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools' Addressing the Opportunity Gap Campaign, a community campaign to accelerate and deepen the school district's equity work. The 2021 Gorham Savings Bank Maine Marathon, Half Marathon and Relay announced it raised a record- breaking $430,000 for nearly 40 area nonprofits, including a $20,000 gift to Camp Susan Curtis. Northern Light Health said it donated $10,000 to Community Housing of Maine in Portland. Habitat for Humanity York County announced that it received a $20,000 grant from the Joseph and Anna C. Dias Family Foundation to support the construction of the first of two new homes to be built in Cape Porpoise. The Portland Water District's board of trustees unanimously approved a com- bined $50.1 million water and wastewa- ter operating budget which represents a 4.4% increase over 2021. In addition, a $30.7 million capital improvement plan was approved. The plan allocates $10.6 million in water projects, $7 million of that to replace aging water mains, and $18.2 million in wastewater projects, 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 B R I E F After 200 years, a new owner for Union Wharf on Portland's waterfront B y J e s s i c a H a l l The sale of Portland's oldest continuously used wharf was completed in late December, ending five generations of fam- ily ownership for Union Wharf and moving its stewardship to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. The institute, a nonprofit marine science and research center nearby on Commercial Street, has said it will keep the wharf as part of the city's working waterfront. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Poole family, which has owned the wharf for five gen- erations, is keeping one building, 1 Union Wharf, and has sold the remainder of the wharf, said Chris Craig, a broker with the Dunham Group real estate firm. That building, which faces Commercial Street, is a retail building and home to the Black Tie Co. restaurant and other tenants, Craig said. "The sellers kept one building to keep as their own. The rest goes to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and stays as working waterfront," Craig said. "Everyone's happy. The buyers make so much sense." Tony McDonald, partner with real estate firm Boulos Co., represented the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Before the sale, the deal had to go before the city Planning Board to review the subdivision to split 1 Union Wharf from the remaining, larger wharf. Union Wharf, which includes 4.3 acres on Commercial Street, went on the market earlier this year. The Poole fam- ily selected the institute's bid because of its commitment to steward the wharf as a centerpiece of the city's working waterfront and because it offered a fair price. The institute's plans for Union Wharf include expanding its capacity to support innovative fishermen and fish proces- sors, the aquaculture industry, and other marine economy innovators. Overall, the wharf contains 12 primary buildings totaling 61,872 square feet of net rentable space. The property sits on 3.3 upland acres and one acre of submerged land. Union Wharf was built in 1793 at the foot of Union Street. It's been owned by the Poole family, operating as Proprietors of Union Wharf, for the last 160 years. In March, Proprietors of Union Wharf, led by Charlie and Malcolm Poole, began working with the Dunham Group to find a new owner. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F N A I T H E D U N H A M G RO U P After two centuries of ownership by one family, Union Wharf, in the foreground, officially changed hands. The original wharf dates to 1793.

• Cover