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Pineland
business campus ready for occupancy
Portland Press Herald
July 16, 2002
NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine — Rene Morin said he was feeling
skeptical as he drove up Route 231 from Portland, headed
to look at new office space at Pineland Farms. His reservations
faded as the facility came into view. The mile of white
fence. The manicured pasture. The views stretching to
the western mountains. Then he went inside.
"I
could just envision working there," he said. "It just
had that feel."
Later
this month, Morin will move his company, Downeast Pension
Services, from downtown Portland to Pineland Farms.
Downeast
is the first company scheduled to move into the business
campus at Pineland Farms, the landmark office complex,
working farm and education center taking shape on 2,000
acres here. At least 1,500 people are eventually expected
to work at Pineland Farms. The first 20 or so work with
three companies: Downeast, Christiansen Capital Advisors
and Apple Computer.
With
construction and renovation 80 percent complete, real
estate brokers are aggressively showing the office property
to potential tenants from Maine and elsewhere. Drew
Sigfridson, a broker promoting Pineland Farms for CB
Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co., said his firm has been
negotiating with six possible tenants. They are associated
with technology, financial services and insurance.
These
firms will be moving into a business environment that
the developer says is unique in the country. It's part
of a grand vision that integrates commerce with social
services, agriculture, education and conservation.
"There's
nothing like Pineland," said Owen Wells, president of
the private, nonprofit Libra Foundation. "If you were
trying to replicate this, you couldn't. It wouldn't
make economic sense." Sigfridson said he is talking
to companies looking for more than just work space.
"If
a tenant doesn't care about the surroundings and environment,"
he said, "there's no compelling reason to be at Pineland."
The
heart of Pineland Farms is the former state-owned Pineland
Center, a residential institution for people with mental
disabilities. The center fell into disrepair after closing
in 1996.
Libra
paid $750,000 two years ago for the crumbling center
and 617 acres. It has since spent $50 million renovating
structures, buying more land and building new facilities.
The results are stunning, and it just goes to show that
much can be accomplished with $50 million.
The
business campus has a feel of a college common. Lawns,
ponds, woods and gardens frame sweeping western views
that reach to Mount Washington on a clear day.
The
original institution was designed by the sons of famous
landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and Libra's
contractors have handsomely restored the brick and granite
buildings. With a nod to 21st-century needs, the buildings
sport new windows and modern interiors, and are strung
with fiber optic cable and redundant electric service.
There are 16 buildings with a total of 262,000 square
feet of office space available.
The
office space almost seems secondary to the amenities
available to tenants.
A
4,000-square-foot cafeteria is open for breakfast and
lunch, attached to a dining room-banquet hall that can
seat 200.
An
8,700-square-foot conference center offers a variety
of meeting spaces, including a mahogany-trimmed main
conference room than can accommodate 80 people.
Workers
can play basketball in the renovated athletic center,
which includes fitness equipment, an indoor heated pool
and four lanes of candlepin bowling. Outdoors, there
are tennis courts and a network of trails for strolling
and cross-country skiing.
If
time permits, workers may want to visit the equestrian
center, which features therapeutic riding in the region's
largest indoor arena. Or perhaps the one-acre garden
that boasts 130 varieties of perennials. Or the cattle,
sheep and other livestock being raised on the property.
The
appeal of Pineland Farms, Wells likes to say, is workers
will become part of a community. It's the ability to
share in all that this community has to offer that stands
out as a key attraction for companies considering this
unique work environment.
For
a major employment center, Pineland seems far away from
the city. That's a perception of some first-time visitors,
Sigfridson said, as they drive along rural highways.
But
it's less than a 35-minute ride from Portland, and only
half that from Lewiston-Auburn. Libra is also working
with the state to expand rail service from Portland
to the Twin Cities along the St. Lawrence & Atlantic
line. Libra has built a parking lot on Presumpscot Street
in Portland in preparation for that day. In the meantime,
it plans to offer workers commuter bus service from
Portland to Pineland Farms.
Pineland
also hopes to attract tenants with bargain lease rates.
Space is currently going for $12 a square foot, plus
electricity. Similar space in other top-class suburban
office parks adds up to between $16 and $20, Sigfridson
said.
Wells
and the brokers at CB Richard Ellis have been in touch
with national relocation companies that have clients
looking to move their operations. They want to lure
big, back-office financial services and call centers
that can take advantage of the prime telecommunications
and electrical service. An anchor tenant of that scale
could create hundreds of jobs. One selling point: An
estimated 38 percent of the state's labor market - 488,000
people - lives within 30 miles of the campus.
"You
have to convince out-of-state companies that there's
a good reason to be in Maine," Wells said.
One
national company that will locate here is Apple Computer,
with five employees. The office is linked to the state
contract to put laptop computers in Maine schools, Sigfridson
said. Other support companies may follow to be near
Apple.
Christiansen
Capital Advisors is a global casino and gambling consultant
with offices in New York and Limerick. The company has
three workers in Maine.
Sebastian
Sinclair, the company's president, said the Maine office
is currently located in Limerick, where he formerly
lived. Sinclair is now in Durham, and his workers live
in the Portland area, so Pineland is a shorter commute.
He has leased 1,500 square feet and is moving in August.
Sinclair
said he has been following the progress at Pineland.
He compared lease rates at offices on the Royal River
in Yarmouth. They were competitive, he said, but didn't
offer the amenities he's getting at Pineland. Sinclair
likes the idea of a client making the grand arrival
at Pineland and meeting at the conference center.
"For
a small company like mine," he said, "driving into Pineland
is impressive."
Morin
expressed similar thoughts. He has signed a seven-year
lease for 4,000 square feet.
Morin,
who lives in Greene, will also enjoy a shorter drive.
His current office is in downtown Portland. A few of
his 10 employees who live around the city are less than
thrilled, he said. Commuting aside, they will miss being
downtown, close to restaurants and shops.
"Leaving
Portland is a big one," Morin said.
Morin
said he's trying to be flexible. He'll pay for a Transpass
for one worker who will now commute on the Maine Turnpike.
On the other hand, he'll save nearly $10,000 a year
on employee parking downtown.
Morin
said he hopes his staff will soon adjust to the change,
enjoy the amenities and the natural beauty, and appreciate
the quality of Pineland Farms.
"I
just couldn't believe the money they are throwing into
this project," he said. "They just don't scrimp on anything."
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