Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I N O. X X V I I I D E C E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 2 5 12 M I D C O A S T / D OW N E A S T F O C U S in shipbuilding and lumber. Over the years the Morses invested heavily in Bath's downtown, acquiring a total of 19 buildings. After more than a century of property ownership, in 2017 the family began divesting of some of its hold- ings and by 2022 had sold nearly all of its downtown buildings. John Morse IV told Mainebiz he gave retailers first dibs and sev- eral, including Reny's, Now You're Cooking, Brackett's Market and Lisa- Marie's Made in Maine, are now their own landlords. e sales marked a turning point in the downtown district, which for years had been stewarded by the Morse family. Jane Parker Morse had taken over running the family real estate business after her father passed away in 1993 and she was instrumen- tal in helping the downtown district prosper, until her death in 2016. "Jane was quite active in fill- ing empty spaces where people had moved out or couldn't make a go of it," John Morse says. "She was always shopping around, looking for a store that would fit into Bath. "We would offer them a rent that for the first year was what you might call subsidized, to get them in here," Morse explains. "We tried to keep the rents at a level at which we could make a profit but the people who were renting could also make a profit. "About the time my father died, we had paid off all of the mortgages, so we could charge lower rents. I looked at it as doing good business — you're mak- ing a couple of dimes and also allowing the people to make a nickel or two." Morse was purposeful in his selec- tion of buyers when he decided to sell, with a preference for locals he felt would be invested in Bath, not just financially but philosophically too. Rehab projects spark growth Sean Ireland, owner of Windward Properties, was one who fit the bill. Ireland purchased from Morse four dis- tinctive downtown properties and under- took significant renovations. His rehab of the Medanick building at 160 Front St. won design and preservation awards. Ireland's biggest project, with partner and real estate broker Mandy Reynolds, was developing the Grant building at 31 Centre St., a few doors down from Front Street, into a mixed-use commercial, residential and co-working space, called Union & Co. e building had been a Grant's department store that closed in the 1960s and was later occupied by draftsmen from Bath Iron Works, but it had been vacant for 10 years. At 23,000 square feet, "It was a white elephant," Reynolds says. "It had been listed for sale or lease for six years — but people couldn't figure out what to do with it." With tax-increment financing and historic tax credits, they built out four residential units upstairs, commercial space and art studio space and put 74 solar panels on the roof. "We looked at this building as a model, a difficult model, but we knew that Union & Co. was something that Bath needed and that we could make work," Reynolds says. Union & Co. now has 80 co-working members and has become a bellwether for other buildings around it and a vital community connection space, even serv- ing as an indoor 'park' for safe gatherings during the pandemic. Parker calls the project "the largest investment in downtown in over a decade." Mixed-use development has been key Ireland says making the building mixed- use was the way to make it work, and fully utilizing every floor of a building is core to creating healthy downtowns. "From a development strategy, ours has always been to fully occupy these buildings. e Morse family had done a really good job of maintaining the buildings, but the upper floors were often empty. Each one I bought was either empty or unoccupied, but we're full now," Ireland says. "If you want a full downtown, you have to fill entire buildings. We have to bring back both commercial and residential to these buildings. Residential upstairs supports ground floor retail." Ireland says there are no eleva- tors and a sprinkler system was a costly addition. "at's the future of our downtowns though; people want to live down- town where they can walk to work and shops," he says. Ireland also bought and renovated 141 Front St. — which had not been owned by Morse — for friends Mike eriault and Terry Geaghan who opened Bath Brewing at the site. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E If you want a full downtown, you have to fill entire buildings. We have to bring back both commercial and residential to these buildings. Residential upstairs supports ground floor retail. — Sean Ireland developer P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Sean Ireland and Mandy Reynolds in Union & Co., the co-working site they rehabbed at 31 Centre St. in downtown Bath.

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