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V O L . X X I I I N O. X I X A U G U S T 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 6 Port of cial set to take over Cruise Maine A rm led by port o cial Patrick Arnold won a bid to run CruiseMaine. Cruise Industry News reported that Soli DG Inc., a mari- time business consulting rm owned by Arnold, won over a single compet- ing bid. Arnold serves as director of operations and business development for the Maine Port Authority at the International Marine Terminal. He is also involved in the New England Ocean Cluster and the Sunanna music festival at ompson's Point. For CruiseMaine, Soli DG proposed an annual budget of ,, with total xed costs of , com- bined with a variable , bud- get, according to documents posted online by the Maine State Legislature and cited by the trade publication. e contract will run for a full year before being reevaluated, with the potential for two -month options. Final approval must still be given by the State Procurement Review Committee, said Steve Lyons, acting director of Maine Tourism. Maine farmland prices among lowest in nation Maine farmland is selling for well below the national average of , an acre. Bloomberg News reported that Maine farmland is selling for , an acre, among the best values in the country. In the continental United States, Maine has the cheap- est farmland east of the Mississippi. A number of western states, known more for grazing than farming, have cheaper land, with the best bargains in New Mexico at an acre. Farmers 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 BAR HARBOR September 28 | 5–7pm | Harborside Hotel FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #OTRBarHarbor17 PR ES ENTI NG S PONS OR AT TENDANCE IS FREE BUT SPACE IS LIMITED! Please be sure to register ahead. Let Mainebiz help you build your professional network! Join us as we make our fifth stop at the On the Road event series in Bar Harbor. This free event is a great forum to put a face with a name as well as make new business connections. Free admission Cash bar Complimentary hors d'oeuvres R EGI ONAL S PONS OR S For more information or to register: www.mainebiz.biz/OTRBarHarbor Historic Bangor building signs second tenant B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r B A N G O R — A second tenant has signed onto Bangor's historic Nichols Block building and owner-developer Adam Moskovitz says he has other prospects interested in the site. Moskovitz — who heads ANM Properties LLC, a Bangor- based property management firm specializing in luxury apartment rentals, design-build and commercial develop- ment — leased the 1,600-square-foot ground fl oor for a 10-year term to Thompson-Hamel LLC, a fi nancial planning and payroll-processing fi rm. Earlier this month, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra signed a lease for the building's second fl oor, the third-fl oor ballroom and gallery and the fourth-fl oor kitchen and storage. While the orchestra will continue to perform at the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine, Orono, its four-member executive staff will move to the Nichols Block, and the BSO will host small concerts there. The BSO will share the space with Launchpad and the Bangor Ballet — joining forces to create a new artistic hub called the Bangor Arts Exchange. The BSO's move-in day is Sept. 5. The Nichols Block, on the corner of Exchange and York streets, was part of a package of six buildings purchased by Moskovitz in October 2016. The buildings date to the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Nichols Block was the only building on the block to survive Bangor's Great Fire of 1911. 'A more visible ground- oor location' The move represents an expansion for Thompson-Hamel, said the fi rm's managing partner, Brian Hamel. Thompson-Hamel was founded in 1962 in Presque Isle. In November 2016, the fi rm purchased Farrington Financial Group, on the second fl oor of 27 State St. in downtown Bangor. "But we were looking for a more visible ground-fl oor loca- tion since we moved in there in November," said Hamel. Moskovitz has renovations underway for his new tenants. "We're going through and patching and repairing any defects," Moskovitz said. Code review tasks include installing new fi re doors and fi re walls and fi xing penetrations between buildings. Additional renovations include a new bathroom for Thompson-Hamel, and new fans and LED lighting throughout the building. Also in the planning stage are restorations of the storefront windows. "That will give the exterior a nice lift," said Moskovitz. The window project alone is expected to cost $100,000. Investment to date for Nichols Block renovations are about $300,000, and is expected to be upward of $1 million by the time everything is complete, he said. Thompson-Hamel's renovations of its new space include installation of a new engineered-hardwood fl oor and new paint, said Hamel. "We hope to have renovations done in September and, toward the end of September, we hope to move in," Hamel said. The space is double the current State Street space. The fi rm employs 17 people; two of those employees are at the Bangor offi ce, with Hamel and his partner, Bryan Thompson, traveling between Bangor and Presque Isle. "Our intention is to add a couple more employees to our Bangor base," he said, adding that the fi rm expects to expand its payroll processing division due to considerable interest from potential clients. In addition to its primary client base in Maine, where the fi rm has had a client base in Bangor for years, the company also has clients across the nation. Moskovitz said he has a couple of additional prospective clients on tap, which would fi ll the Nichols Block and part of another building. "We're marketing spaces in the other buildings, too, look- ing for the right fi t for the right space," he said. B R I E F Adam Moskovitz, who last year bought a package of six downtown Bangor buildings, signed two key tenants recently. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A L O N E C O M M E R C I A L B RO K E R S

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