WELLS — Demand for the services of The Morrison Center, a nonprofit whose mission is to help people of all ages with disabilities, has prompted the expansion of its facilities in Wells.

The Morrison Center purchased an office building at 2250 Post Road for $300,000 to facilitate its expansion. John Downing of The Downing Agency represented seller Douglas Merrill and Greg Perry of Cardente Real Estate represented The Morrison Center in a deal that closed Jan. 4.

"The community is wonderful," said Executive Director Mark Ryder. "We love being part of Wells."

The Morrison Center incorporated in the 1950s in Portland. The organization today operates three campuses — its headquarters in Scarborough, a smaller facility in Portland and its first facility in Wells, at 526 Post Road.

Rapid growth

Specializing in complex and involved developmental disabilities, the center's programming includes a preschool and childcare program, a K-12 special-purpose grade school, adult day community support programs, case management services for children and adults, and an integrated therapy clinic for all ages. Its support team includes educators, therapists, direct care professionals, and a full-time registered nurse. New this year, the center partnered with the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing on Falmouth's Mackworth Island to help advance educational services for the K-12 program there. Morrison also is in its second year of partnering with School Administrative District 55 to provide specialized preschooler services within South Hiram Elementary School.

Client numbers overall have tripled in the past five years, Ryder said. On the children's side, the organization had six K-12 students overall five years ago; today it serves over 30.

The adult side doubled in the past five years. Case management, a new program as of five years ago, now serves over 100 individuals. The organization also runs nine residential group homes, and there's a waiting list.

Increased clientele, said Ryder, reflects both increased need and the "build it and they will come" scenario — families with members previously in need simply didn't have a place to go for highly specialized services.

Four years ago, the organization decided to establish a facility in Wells and bought the 526 Post Road property — the former Mainiax restaurant — gutted it and reproduced a facility similar to Scarborough's, but on a smaller scale, for adult, pre-school and K-12 programs. That program filled up within a year.

Ryder and his board of directors decided to search for a second facility in Wells, a community that's proved supportive of the organization. The goal was to find a nearby property to relocate the adult program, thus also allowing the children's program to expand in the existing facility.

What the new expansion accomplishes

"That's where the 2550 Post Road building comes into play," Ryder said.

The 2,300-square-foot building, formerly a chiropractor's office, is just down the street from the existing facility.

The agency expects to invest about $200,000 in refitting the space. The exterior will remain the same. The interior will be gutted and reconfigured with small treatment rooms, a large activity space with a culinary corner (clients love to cook and it develops independent life skills), a therapy room with specialized equipment, and personal care space with mobility equipment used to support clients.

Work was expected to start mid-January. The goal is to be operational by March 15.

The staff will also grow, he said.

The agency currently employs about 250; about 20 of them are in Wells. The Wells expansion will result in more hiring, probably an initial six to 10, depending on how quickly space is filled.

For the future, said Ryder, "We hope to expand the Wells program even more — creating a state-of-the art school building as well as developing additional adult programming facilities. This is our first step in our Wells strategic expansion plan."

What makes the property perfect, Ryder said, is its location in the heart of town.

"Our folks can be in close proximity to what's happening, so we can integrate them into the community," he said.

The current Wells space serves approximately 20 adult clients and about 30 preschoolers. The new space will be able to serve between 40 and 50 adults. Capacity for preschoolers at the older Wells facility will become 55-60.

Mix of financing

As a 501c3 nonprofit, the purchase and rebuild are financed through existing capital funds, new lending, donations, and fundraising.

Two fundraisers were spearheaded by Morrison Center broker Perry. In fact, that's how Perry ended up working with the agency to find a property. Perry is on the board of directors of the Maine Commercial Association of Realtors, which does at least two volunteer events per year. In 2015, the MCAR board selected Morrison as a beneficiary. Perry, with the board's help, organized a golf tournament at Prout's Neck Golf Course as the fundraiser, which raised about $8,000. MCAR's second golf tournament fundraiser last fall for Morrison raised about $11,000.

"It's a really good place to contribute to," said Perry.

The Maine Commercial Association of Realtors board recently voted to stick with Morrison for its next event.

"We feel so fortunate to have their support," said Ryder.

​The Maine Real Estate and Development Association's bi-annual economic indicator measuring the health of Maine's real estate sector, The MEREDA Index, shows a significant "worker gap" that is driving up the cost and increasing the timeline of construction projects, according to a release about the index.

Unveiled at Thursday's sold-out annual MEREDA forecast conference, the index showed strong growth in the residential construction sector.

"Overall, The MEREDA Index has grown in the last years, though we are seeing the first plateau since the post-2007 recovery," Paul Peck, MEREDA president, a real estate developer and an attorney at Drummond & Drummond, said in a statement.​ ​"The second quarter of 2016 saw​ ​us reach the​ ​highest level ​in 10 years​, led by a 10% growth in the residential component."

All told, The MEREDA Index, which covers the middle two quarters of 2016, came in at 93​.

The second quarter of 2016 saw The MEREDA Index reach its highest level since 2006, led by a 10% growth in the residential component. But the second quarter's gains were not sustained into the third quarter, and at the end of the third quarter the index was just below its highest level since 2006.

The third quarter drop occurred primarily in the residential sector but also in the commercial sector. Over the past six months, the index grew 1.2% and over the year by 0.9%. Overall, the index indicates that recovery from the real estate recession continued, but slowed over the past year.

"​​The​ ​gains of the​ ​second quarter of 2016​ ​were not sustained into the third quarter, with a 4% drop relative the second quarter," said economist Charles Colgan of the University of Southern Maine, who compiled the report for MEREDA.​

Tackling the 'worker gap' ​

The lack of qualified candidates available to fill electrician, plumbing and other subcontractor positions that might be driving up the cost and increasing the timeline of construction has spurred MEREDA to launch a subcommittee with the Associated General Contractors of Maine to address the worker gap.

"The worker gap issue must be address if Maine is to benefit from continued economic investment, an expanded tax base in our neighborhoods and communities and a robust tourism economy," Peck said.

MEREDA's annual forecast conference featured more than half a dozen forecasts of future market activity by property type and geography, from top experts in the following categories: Maine's vacation and hospitality industry; southern Maine industrial, office, retail and residential; plus specific forecasts for the midcoast, Bangor area and central Maine markets respectively.

The new edition of The MEREDA Index was underwritten by Eaton Peabody, with support from CBRE | The Boulos Company, Wright-Ryan Construction and The Press Hotel.

Former building owner Roy Hubbard said he and his partners were tempted to hang onto the building but the sale made sense.

“We certainly got a healthy per-unit price, which we are very happy about,” Hubbard said Wednesday. “I have mixed feelings about selling, but at the end of the day, I am not a landlord. I am a developer. My job is to bring something back to life. Then I find something else to bring back to life.”

The 27-year-old, who splits time between Connecticut and Maine, invested about $2 million and two years in renovations on the former Dakin Sporting Goods building. Hubbard bought the building for about $650,000. He opened three ground-floor apartments to public viewing in March 2016 during the Downtown Bangor Artwalk.

The building is currently fully occupied, and there is a tenant waiting list, according to Cardente Real Estate.

The site had been largely vacant since the late 1990s, when it briefly housed a coffee shop, cafe and TCBY yogurt shop. It also served as temporary headquarters for political campaigns.

Tanya Emery, the city’s director of community and economic development, said the sale price seemed about right.

“We knew it was for sale and it seems like a solid price for an exceptionally renovated building with strong occupancy numbers,” Emery said Wednesday.

Bangor is changing to accommodate people gravitating toward urban centers and a growing entertainment corridor, but still needs affordable rentals, officials said.

Hubbard is interested in continuing to rehabilitate buildings in Bangor, if he finds the right deal. Bangor’s market is growing, he said.

“It is scarce to find unused square footage downtown. When I got started, downtown the vacancy rates were incredible. It’s just not the case now,” Hubbard said. “I would be more inclined to do lower-rent apartments. I think with the higher-rent per-square-foot apartments, it’s hard to find space for that which could work. I think there is still a demand for that, but you need to get more people in there. It is easier for more developers to go lower-scale, to something more moderate.”

“I like Bangor,” Hubbard added. “It’s too expensive in Portland. Bangor is the only place I am really comfortable investing in. It is quieter and a lot more personal to me.”

Bangor Daily News writers Nick McCrea and Darren Fishell contributed to this report.