Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Baxter Building Sold

UPDATE: "The sale price has not been disclosed, and the deal is far from sealed."

Since they are trying to restrict the use of the building to "creative economy professionals", the new owners will be limited as to what they can do with it. I imagine that will drop the price down considerably.

--

Fortunately not going to be 'luxury condos'.

"The Baxter Building, which came to the city of Portland as a gift in 1888 from philanthropist James Baxter, will be used as office space for creative enterprises in a deal announced this week by Maine College of Art and Northland Enterprises LLC.

Maine College of Art has owned the building at 619 Congress St. since 1983. It will sell the building to Northland, which plans to invest $2.2 million in its restoration and then lease it as office space to nonprofit groups and creative economy professionals.

The sale price was not disclosed.

MECA and Northland worked together to redevelop the Everett Hotel on Oak Street in Portland into a residence hall.

The Baxter Building is on the National Historic Register. Northland's plans call for adding a floor and installing an elevator. A closing date on the sale is targeted for mid-December."

- MaineToday.com

1 comment:

Ann said...

As long as the building remains in the creative realm, I'll be happy. BTW--A great interactive site about the creative economy is www.CultureCount.org. It is hosted by New England Foundation for the Arts--lots of tools that discuss these transactions and how it may affect the community.

-AD