Contact: Matt Wickenheiser
matt.wickenheiser@mainehealth.org
PORTLAND, Maine – MaineHealth announced today that it has purchased the Union Station Plaza from the Union Station LMT Partnership for $16.8 million.
MaineHealth has no plans to develop the property at this time. The acquisition will help position the health system and its flagship hospital, Maine Medical Center (MMC), Maine’s only Level One trauma center, to continue to meet the region’s dynamic and growing health care needs. The plaza borders MMC’s new employee garage and the office building at 222 St. John Street, which the hospital has leased long-term. The cost of the acquisition is offset by the property's revenue-generating commercial leases.
“This was a unique opportunity that we could not ignore. This allows us to consider a very long-term approach to meeting the health needs of our community and helps ensure the viability of the investments we have already made in that area,” said Jeff Sanders, MaineHealth Southern Region President. “We understand and respect the significance the property and tenant businesses have to the neighborhood and city, and we intend to honor the business leases currently in place.”
MMC has demonstrated its commitment to maintaining and supporting the thriving culture of the neighborhoods surrounding the Bramhall campus through collaboration with the city and local neighbors. Other nearby purchased properties adjacent to the Bramhall campus include Pizza Villa and the D’Angelo sandwich shop, which continue to successfully operate as businesses, and the Greyhound Station, which is being redeveloped into a food pantry to help address vital community needs.
The plaza is adjacent to the institutional overlay zone (IOZ), a special zoning designation for MMC created in collaboration with and approved by the city.
In addition, MMC in 2018 provided the city of Portland $300,000 for improvements in parks in the Western Prom, Parkside and St. John Valley neighborhoods, and has established an annual $30,000 Caring Community grant program for neighborhood associations or other entities in the St. John Valley, Parkside, West End, Western Prom and Libbytown neighborhoods.
“We had a number of offers before listing the property for sale. I’ve owned the property for 30 years, and finding the right buyer was important to me,” said Bob Connor, former owner of the Union Station Plaza. “In MaineHealth, we had a local buyer with a positive impact on our community and a vision for the future that benefits all Mainers. I am pleased that I could work with MaineHealth, Gendron Commercial and Malone Commercial Brokers to complete this transaction.”
MaineHealth is nearing the end of a multi-year project that has modernized and expanded its Bramhall campus. Construction continues on the Malone Family Tower on Congress Street – the largest portion of the project. The Malone Family Tower’s scheduled completion is early 2024.The facility will add 96 new patient rooms, a new sterile processing facility and 19 state-of-the art procedure rooms. The tower replaces the hospital’s old employee parking garage, which had reached the end of its useful life and was moved to St. John Street following comprehensive discussions with city leaders and neighbors.
Expansion of the Coulombe Family Tower (completed in December 2019) resulted in the addition of 64 new patient rooms, which proved critical in MMC’s ability to accommodate increased patient admissions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. MMC also added to its patient and visitor parking garage, increasing the number of available spaces, and constructed the Sisters Heliport, to better serve seriously injured or ill patients arriving by medical helicopter.
For more information on MMC’s modernization plan, visit www.mmc.org/modernization.
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About MaineHealth:
MaineHealth is a not-for-profit integrated health system whose vision is “Working together so our communities are the healthiest in America.” It consists of nine local health systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and 1,700 employed providers working together through the MaineHealth Medical Group. With approximately 22,000 employees, MaineHealth provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. It includes Franklin Memorial Hospital/Franklin Community Health Network in Farmington, LincolnHealth in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor, Maine Behavioral Healthcare in South Portland, MaineHealth Care at Home in Saco, Maine Medical Center in Portland, Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H., Mid Coast-Parkview Health in Brunswick, NorDx in Scarborough, Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital in Rockport and Belfast, Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford and Sanford, Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook and Stephens Memorial Hospital/Western Maine Health Care in Norway. MaineHealth Affiliates include Maine General Health in Augusta and Waterville, New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland and St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. It is also a significant stakeholder in the MaineHealth Accountable Care Organization in Portland.