Building Business: Scarborough car dealership was built on relationships — and persistence

Photo / Courtesy Patriot Acura The new Patriot Acura dealership in Scarborough is 22,000 square feet.

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Maine’s first Acura dealership, Patriot Acura in Scarborough, took close to six years to bring to fruition. It was built at a cost of $15 million. At 22,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest Acura dealerships in the U.S.

Owner Adam Arens, who also owns Patriot Subaru in Saco, did not have an easy time finding a suitable building parcel. The 15-acre property, at 101 Haigis Parkway, had been owned by a customer at his Saco Subaru dealership, a fortunate coincidence. Arens bought the parcel in 2019. But the land needed specialized fill, necessitating a costly and time-consuming fix. Then COVID hit and construction slowed.

The chaos of COVID had an upside for Arens’ businesses though, in that some of the tens of thousands of new Maine residents were car-less city dwellers who needed an automobile.

South Portland-based Sebago Technics provided the engineering and permitting and the site contractor was Grondin Corporation, headquartered in Windham. The build was orchestrated by Jewett Construction Co.’s Fremont, N.H., office.

Construction News From Around The State

The DeWitt affordable housing complex is under construction in Lewiston at the corner of Pine and Bates streets, across from Kennedy Park. Two new buildings will provide 104 apartments and four commercial spaces over 96,000 square feet. The DeWitt is being developed by Portland-based Avesta Housing for the Lewiston Auburn Area Housing Development Corp. Portland-based Kaplan Thompson is the architect and Falmouth-based Penobscot General Contractors is the builder.
Gorham-based Great Falls Construction is developing and building a mixed-used project on an eight-acre parcel across from town hall in Berwick, called the Edge. The complex will add 265 housing units and 30 commercial spaces to the downtown. Phase one site work was performed by South Berwick-based SJ Cantwell Inc. Sebago Technics, with offices in South Portland, Sanford and Bridgton, is the project’s civil engineer. Designers included Portland-based Ryan Senatore Architecture. Structural Integrity, located in Portland, has handled structural engineering to date.
The Neighborhood Housing Trust has broken ground on its second development for working families and seniors in the Kennebunkport region. Landon Woods will provide six homes on a 4.7-acre parcel off of Beachwood Ave. The $27 million project is funded by MaineHousing, the Genesis Fund, Bangor Savings Bank and private donors. Sanford-based PATCO Construction Inc. is the builder.
Portland Housing Authority is undertaking a $58 million rehab and expansion of the Riverton Park neighborhood, which will include renovations to 141 apartments and a new four-story building with 64 affordable units. The 500-square-foot health clinic will be enlarged to 2,000 square feet. CWS Architects, based in Scarborough is handling design. Freeport’s Zachau Construction is the builder.