Courtesy / The Boulos Co.
Horch Roofing's new South Portland facility, shown here, features office and warehouse space at 184 Main St.
December 14, 2021
$2M purchase of South Portland property readies Horch Roofing for hiring, expansion
File Photo / David Clough
Peter Horch is president of Horch Roofing, which is expanding into southern Maine with a new South Portland location.
By Jessica Hall
Warren-based Horch Roofing has acquired an industrial building in South Portland as a new outpost for the company's planned expansion in southern Maine, and expects to hire up to 30 people there over the next year.
The roofing and gutter services company, which currently employs 55 workers, said the housing boom and the driving distance from the midcoast prompted the search for space.
“I’d been looking, but not really looking, over the past five years,” Horch Roofing President Peter Horch told Mainebiz. “This came up and we saw it and made an offer the next day.”
The property at 184 Main St. in South Portland has 23,219 square feet, warehouse space, offices and some existing tenants. Horch said he acquired the property, which has easy access to Interstate 295 and good visibility on Main Street, for about $1.9 million.
“We’re very busy and this is a great chance to further expand our company and services in southern Maine,” Horch said.
He said the existing boom in construction, as well as the age of roofs from the last boom that in 2008, means Horch Roofing’s services are in demand. Business is up 40% over last year.
Horch said he plans to invest about $250,000 to renovate the Main Street property.
“We want to make this a better and more desirable location. The building needs some love. Over the next three to five years, we want to bring up the aesthetics and building systems to a new level,” Horch said.
Justin Lamontagne of the Dunham Group was the listing broker. Jessica Estes, partner with the Boulos Co., worked with Horch Roofing.
Estes told Mainebiz that the Main Street property required a unique buyer since the building has existing tenants.
“It needed someone willing to be an investor and a landlord as well. This is a great fit for Horch Roofing, as it has office spaces and warehouse space for them as well,” Estes said.
“The industrial market is extraordinarily tight right now,” she added, citing increased space requirements for retail warehouses, breweries and marijuana businesses.
Estes said the industrial vacancy rate in the Portland area was below 2% and has been tight for almost a decade. She said the market would need to have a vacancy rate closer to 5% to be considered “healthy.”
Horch Roofing, founded in 2003, provides residential and commercial roofing services including asphalt and standing-seam metal roofing, seamless gutters and roofing repairs. Peter Horch said the company differentiates itself with its recycling efforts. The company has recycled 100% of its roofing waste since 2010, or more than 15 million pounds of debris.
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