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V O L . X X I I N O. I I JA N UA R Y 2 5 , 2 0 1 6 20 P atriot Insurance's purchase and planned development of a his- toric motel complex on Route 1 in Yarmouth will give the company a permanent home and further connec- tions to the town where it is based. Patriot is under contract with the owners of the Down-East Village motel property, a seven-acre complex that comprises four motel buildings, a restaurant, office and pool. Powers Real Estate listed the property at $2.2 mil- lion. Patriot President Lincoln Merrill declined to cite the final purchase price. Patriot Insurance has 69 employees, 64 of whom are in Maine. Its annual payroll is $4.5 million. Patriot expects its workforce to top 100 employees in the next five to 10 years. e space, which is expected to open in the summer of 2017, will be designed to accommodate that expected growth. "is will be our permanent home," says Merrill. "So as our growth con- tinues, we'll be able to continue to add onto the site." e company has grown from $28 million in revenue in 2002 to $81 mil- lion in 2015. It has contracts with over 100 independent agents. Patriot has leased space in Yarmouth since 2008, most recently at Tyler Technologies Inc., about two miles south on Route 1. (Tyler also has expansion plans in the works.) At the Down-East Village site, the plan is to tear down the existing buildings and build a new corporate headquarters. e property is situated on the Royal River in a mixed commercial develop- ment and residential neighborhood. Frontage and property are in the town's new Route 1 character-based codes. Down-East Village goes back to 1950, when Herbert and Barbara Ferrell opened the motel and a Gulf gas station. eir son Ed and his wife Sue even- tually took over. It was built at a time when "motor hotels" were booming across America, but was only the second so-called motel built in Maine. "at's one of the things we're trying to be respectful of as we develop the site," says Merrill. "What's the histori- cal significance of the site, what would we like to preserve? I've spent time with Ed and gone through historical aspects of the property. I was president of the Maine Historical Society at one time, so I want to make sure that what we do on this site appreciates the history of the community and the Ferrell family. I don't know what form that will take yet, but it's a commitment I have." e building specs and project finan- cial investment are not nailed down yet, but initial estimates put the space at 10,000 to 20,000 square feet. Spending on construction is ball-parked at $200 per square foot. e site provides space to add on. As a corporate headquarters, the building "won't be on the cheap side," says Merrill. "We'll be attentive to details. It will be attractive. We're a low-impact business. Except for our employees, few people come to see us. We're quiet for the neighbors." Patriot projects more growth Patriot, a policyholder-owned mutual company, began as Patriot Mutual, a health insurance company, in 1966. In 2002, the company began writing prop- erty and casualty insurance and merged with Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance of Michigan in 2007, yet remained as a Maine-based subsidiary company. Today, Patriot Insurance writes several Lincoln Merrill, CEO of Patriot Insurance Co., and Denise Clavette, director of economic development for Yarmouth, at Down-East Village, the site of Patriot's future headquarters, on Route 1 in Yarmouth. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Welcome mat Patriot Insurance move spurred by Yarmouth's shift in Route 1 policy B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r F O C U S www.hammondlumber.com | Toll free 1-866-HAMMOND

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