Today, the Maine Sunday Telegram introduces its weekly Commercial Real Estate section. The new, broadsheet, section-front feature debuts following months of collaborative planning between the newspaper and Maine’s commercial brokers. Each Sunday the section will be highlighted by two components:
• A Feature Property that is for sale (see left) with photograph and key details of the listing;
• A column, titled “In The Marketplace,” to appear in this space. The 300– word column will be contributed by brokers and other local professionals with ties to commercial real estate.

Both the Feature Property and “In The Marketplace” spaces are offered at no charge. “We’ve listened to the needs of our commercial customers and created a weekly publication to showcase this vital sector of the economy,” said Anton Kaufer, group sales manager for real estate at the Press Herald/ Telegram. “Our goal is to present the premier statewide marketplace to connect commercial REALTORS with their customers.”

Local industry figures welcomed the innovation. “The weekly articles written by Maine professionals will provide readers with commercial real estate tools and insight on local market conditions and area growth,” said Matthew Cardente, designated owner/broker at Cardente Real Estate in Portland. “A well-organized and complete summary of commercial real estate activity on a regular basis makes a great addition to the Sunday Telegram,” agreed Debra Napolitano, president of Paragon Commercial Real Estate, also in Portland.

Going forward, the section is designed not only to become Maine’s key resource for commercial real estate information, but also to serve reader interests, as does the Telegram’s “Home of the Week.”

“Maine is rich in buildings and locations with fascinating histories, and we encourage brokers to suggest to us commercial Feature Properties with interesting backgrounds,” Kaufer said.

“And through ‘In the Marketplace,’ too, we’re excited about engaging readers—and giving our commercial real estate industry a fresh voice.”


Located minutes from the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 295 and just seconds from U.S. Route 1, 6 Lincoln Avenue is ideally suited for manufacturing and/or distribution.
Previously the distribution center for Humpty Dumpty, 6 Lincoln Avenue offers nearly 40,000 square feet of warehouse space and up to 10,000 square feet of professional office space. The flexible floor plan of the building allows subdivisions to 5,000 +/- square feet.
The facility is in the Scarborough Industrial Park, 45 minutes from New Hampshire and less than 2 hours from Boston. Successful nearby operations include Binax, Inc; Michaud Distributors, and Advance Technology. Additionally, 6 Lincoln Avenue is just minutes from “Scarborough’s Professional Gateway.”

The sale of 209 Western Avenue in South Portland is this month’s featured property (See photo below). REJ I, LLC purchased this 15,700 square foot, multi-tenanted retail complex for $4,627,000. This year old retail strip center’s tenants include Costa Vida Mexican Restaurant; Maine Roasters Coffee; Subway; Snip-Its Haircuts for Kids; Pom’s Thai Taste and American General Finance. The seller—Vincent Maietta of V&E Enterprises— built and developed this building. Karen Rich of Cardente Real Estate represented the seller. Steve Baumann of CB Richard Ellis/ The Boulos Company represented the buyer.

Looking to create a better alternative for businesses in Maine, Matthew Cardente founded Cardente Real Estate in July of 2005. Since opening its doors, Cardente Real Estate has grown to five full time commercial brokers with over 25 years of combined experience.

The brokerage team includes Karen Rich; a leading commercial broker in Greater Portland since 1991, Greg Perry who was the first to join CRE and has a long history of broker sales and representation, Nathan DeLois; an active commercial broker in Maine for the last five years, Michael Cardente who helped found the company and carries his sales agent license, Emily Pickering; CRE Office Manager, and Matthew Cardente who is the owner and Designated Broker.

Cardente Real Estate is a full service commercial brokerage that specializes in all aspects of the sale of leasing of commercial real estate and businesses in Maine and New Hampshire. Cardente says: “We have been fortunate to work on projects such as Western Avenue Crossing, a large retail strip in South Portland; Thompson’s Point, a considerable industrial project in Portland; several significant land development parcels in Saco; and other commercial properties from Kittery to Bangor.”

Cardente Real Estate is located at 299 Forest Avenue in Portland, across from the University of Southern Maine Library.

In 2001, the tech-sector busted and many major cities lost large tenants who left behind empty office space. In Portland however, it was business as usual. By 2003, the national vacancy rate was over 16% while Greater Portland’s vacancy rate was just over 6%. Needless to say, investors found this scenario attractive and income-producing investment properties were unloaded by the handful to local and out-of-state investors alike. While, Maine remains a stable real estate investment market, this fact is no longer a secret. And, as the demand for tenanted real estate continues to outweigh the supply over the past couple years, it takes a creative new approach to yield high investment returns. (Continued on PDF)