Camden National retools its real estate holdings, selling two sites but leasing another

An aerial view shows a multi-story brick building.

Photo / Courtesy Camden National Bank Camden National Bank leased 13,500 square feet of space in the Evie Cianchette Block at 1 Market St. in Portland’s Old Port neighborhood.

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By Laurie Schreiber

Camden National Corp. (NASDAQ: CAC) had several significant real estate transactions recently as part of the process to optimize its real estate network, said Bill Martel, chief technology officer and executive vice president of technology and support services.

In recent months, the bank holding company or its subsidiary, Camden National Bank, sold properties in Rockport and Augusta. Around the same time, the bank leased additional space in Portland.

“The good new is, we have plenty of real estate,” said Martel. “The question is, how do we put that to the highest and best use for our customers?”

Camden National Corp. sold a 35,234-square-foot office building at 245 Commercial St. in Rockport to the Anchor Church for $2.75 million. Chris Paszyc of the Boulos Co. and Rachael Umstead of Lone Pine Real Estate brokered the transaction.

Camden National Bank, a subsidiary of Camden National Corp., sold a 4,408-square-foot retail building at 96 State St. in Augusta to J.R. Jolicoeur LLC for $650,000. That deal was brokered by Paszyc along with Derek Bowen of Hearth & Key Realty.

Camden National Bank leased 13,500 square feet of space at the 43,405-square-foot Evie Cianchette Block at 1 Market St. in the Old Port neighborhood of Portland from CF Evie LLC. The landlord was represented by Peter Gwilym and Joe Porta of Porta & Co.

Camden National Bank is ranked No. 2 among the largest Maine-based banks, according to the 2026 Mainebiz Book of Lists, which will be published Dec. 29. As of June 30, 2025, it had $6.9 billion in assets with 56 Maine offices and 702 employees. (Overall, including New Hampshire sites, it has more than 70 locations.)

Changing needs

Camden National closed its branch at 96 State St. in Augusta several years ago, leaving three other branches in Augusta, plus three branches in surrounding towns, said Martel.

An exterior view of a brick building with tower and lawn.

Courtesy / The Boulos Co.

Camden National Bank, a subsidiary of Camden National Corp., sold a 4,408-square-foot retail building at 96 State St. in Augusta to J.R. Jolicoeur LLC for $650,000.

“We knew we had more than enough coverage,” he said. “But we had kept it on the books and we were able to find a good buyer to move that off the books and, most importantly, take the proceeds and reinvest that into areas where we didn’t have as much service.”

At 245 Commercial St. in Rockport, the bank had an operations center that was a critical hub for years. As for other companies, the pandemic changed the operating model from on-site to hybrid. As the bank grew since then, it’s continually hired people across the state.

An aerial view of a long building and parking lot.

Courtesy / The Boulos Co.

Camden National Corp. sold a 35,234-square-foot office building at 245 Commercial St. in Rockport to the Anchor Church for $2.75 million.

“Whereas everyone would have, at one point, been co-located centrally, that’s no longer the operating model we’re in,” he said. “So we had a very large building and we had the opportunity to sell that to a growing local church. We’re thrilled it will be used by the community. And that sale allows us to reinvest back into our network.”

The nondenominational Anchor Church is moving less than a mile from its current home at 3 Cross St. in Rockport to 245 Commercial St., according to its website.

Reinvestments

Camden National reinvested the proceeds in new technology and modern designs.

“For example, we leased a building at 89 Elm St. in Camden in 2024,” half a mile from the bank’s headquarters at 2 Elm St., he said. “It’s an operations center and an innovation center. We have a number of technology teams who are working on our digital platforms. We refinished that for our stakeholders who work in the Camden/ Rockport area. They went into a fresh, modern, open concept for back-office functions.”

Reinvestments were also made into the headquarters at 2 Elm St. Renovations started in August on the second floor and the basement floor. The work on the second floor is largely done and plans are underway to refresh the branch location on the first floor, with the work expected to be carried out in 2026.

Room for growth

In Portland, the downtown banking center at 2 Canal Plaza had maxed out on capacity, which prompted the lease of space at 1 Market St.

“With as much of the population living in southern Maine as it does, we’re doing a lot of hiring down here,” Martel said.

The search for an additional facility in Portland started this past spring.

“We were bursting at the seams, so we started looking around,” he said.” We looked at dozens of properties downtown and in surrounding areas. This one came to our attention. We loved the location and the visibility. The size was perfect. There’s room for everything, from operational teams to executive offices to meeting space. The meeting space is very nice for us to be able to bring in clients.”

Renovations started in late summer and employees started moving in this month.

“We’re now part of the commercial landscape,” he said. “Which we should be, as the second-largest bank in Maine and the largest publicly traded bank in Maine. So this is all about a greater play for us to reinvest in Maine and bring our real estate up to where it should be.”

“Every year we invest in at least some of those locations,” said Martel. “We’ve refurbished branches in Bath, Brunswick, Brewer, Gardiner, Augusta and Belfast in the past couple of years. We’ll continue to do that.”