Brahms Mount to Join Jameson Tavern in Freeport
September 12, 2012 in News
Former Press Herald building eyed as boutique hotel
August 3, 2012 in News
Author: MaineBizPublication: www.MaineBiz.biz
Two developers have signed a purchase-and-sale agreement to buy the former Portland Press Herald Building at 390 Congress St. The building is near the historic Old Port District and across the street from City Hall.
Jim Brady, former president of the Olympia Cos., and Kevin Bunker, a downtown redevelopment advocate and developer, plan to convert the now-gutted building into a 100-room boutique hotel with a first-floor restaurant, according toPortland Press Herald. The two are buying the building from John Cacoulidis, president of Grand Metro Builders of New York Corp., who purchased it and the newspaper's printing plant for $6.2 million in 2009 from parent company MaineToday Media Inc., and initially had planned to renovate the building into office space.
The developers said they plan to begin construction in the spring of 2013 and be open for business a year later, the newspaper reported.
Brady told the newspaper that the Portland market is strong, and that there will be adequate demand for a new boutique hotel – notwithstanding the proposed $105 million hotel, restaurant and event center on Thompson's Point approved by the planning board in June.
Bull Moose to open 11th store in South Portland
July 12, 2012 in News
Author: Jessica HallPublication: Portland Press Herald
Retailer Bull Moose, which sells new and used music, movies, video games and books, said it plans to open a store in South Portland this fall, marking its 11th location.
The store will be located in the former Blockbuster location in South Portland's Mill Creek neighborhood. Bull Moose plans to expand the building by about 50 percent to 11,000 square feet. The renovations will create 60-75 construction jobs, and the store will have 15 permanent retail jobs once it opens in the fall, the company said.
Green Crossing Blue, a sister company of Bull Moose, bought the former Blockbuster store for $1.12 million in March, according to city tax records.
Bull Moose had tried to open in South Portland last year at the former Border's Books & Music location at the Maine Mall, but the store was bought by Books-A-Million.
Bull Moose was started in 1989 in Brunswick by Bowdoin College student Brett Wickard. The company now has more than 100 employees. Bull Moose operates eight stores in Maine and two in New Hampshire.
Correction: This story was revised at 12:55 p.m., July 12, 2012, to correctly name the company Green Crossing Blue. Also, the company is a sister company of Bull Moose, not a holding company.
Best Western to be built at Auburn's Kittyhawk Park
April 2, 2012 in News
Author: Bob MentzingerPublication: Mainebiz
A Best Western hotel and restaurant will rise along the Maine Turnpike in Auburn this spring. The hotel development is part of an eight-lot, 35-acre development at the Kittyhawk Business Park.
The hotel will be owned and operated by Giri Hotel Management. The project is a joint venture of Building Solutions and Hartt Transportation, the Bangor-based trucking company that owns the site. Groundbreaking will happen in late spring or early summer, according to Joe Casalinova, president of Building Solutions, the Oxford-based commercial real estate company that's designing, building and managing the project.
Casalinova said he is working with the Baldacci Group to bring a biotechnology company to the site that would create up to 30 new permanent full-time jobs in addition to the site development work needed. Casalinova described initial negotiations as possibly leading to a build-to-suit project that would be leased back to the biomedical company, which he declined to name.
Giri Hotel Management was founded in 2004. Its Maine hotel properties include a Comfort Inn and the Best Western Plus Civic Center Inn in Augusta, an EconoLodge in Freeport, the Best Western Plus in Waterville and The Parkwood Inn in Brunswick.
January jobs report: Hiring ramps up, unemployment falls
February 3, 2012 in News
Author: Annalyn CenskyPublication: CNN Money
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- American employers substantially stepped up their hiring in January, bringing the unemployment rate down for the fifth month in a row. Employers added 243,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department reported Friday, marking a pick-up in hiring from December, when the economy added 203,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%. That is the lowest since February 2009. Hiring was much stronger than expected, and once it was apparent the job gains were broad based across several sectors, economists and investors called it a "nice surprise," "fantastic," and even "a touchdown!" Stocks climbed at the market open.