Courtesy / 28 Broad Street Lofts
Seen here is the building before renovation.
March 22, 2020
Florida investor buys luxury apartment building in Bangor
Courtesy / Collier’s International Realty
In 2017, a New Hampshire investor bought 28 Broad St. for $3.125 million. The luxury apartment building sold last month for $3.33 million to a Florida investor.
A luxury apartment building at 28 Broad St. in Bangor sold for $3.33 million to a Florida investor who, to now, has mainly focused on the Southeast.
NMS 28 Broad Street LLC bought the property from Broad Street LLC, in a deal that was finalized Feb. 13. The transaction was brokered on behalf of both the seller and buyer by Mike Cobb and Andrew Ward of Colliers International.
Known as 28 Broad Street Lofts, the four-story, turn-of-the-century building is in the heart of downtown Bangor. It features 18 luxury units.
The four-story building dates to the early 1900s. It was once occupied by Rice & Miller Hardware. Around 1950, Dakin Sporting Goods Store moved there from 25 Central St.
By the late 1990s, the building was mostly vacant.
In 2014, developers invested $1.6 million over two years to renovate the building. Preserved in the renovation were the original arched windows, brick walls and wood floors. The building overlooks downtown Bangor’s West Market Square.
The first units opened in July 2015 with over 75% of units pre-leased, and the building quickly became fully occupied.
Broad Street LLC, a New Hampshire-based buyer, acquired the building in January 2017 for $3.125 million.
Cobb was one of the brokers on that transaction as well. The listing drew numerous queries, both locally and nationally, he told Mainebiz then.
Back on the market
With monthly rentals going for more than $2,000, Broad Street Lofts commanded rates that were previously uncharacteristic for Bangor.
“This really speaks to the economic growth and development of downtown Bangor” Cobb said in the release. “When we sold this building in 2017, there was a lot of speculation on whether the market could bear these rental rates. Since then, there have been many other high-end apartment rental projects developed in the downtown. Tenants are telling the story that they want to be here and they are willing to pay a premium for quality units.”
The property went back on the market last summer for $3.799 million as a cash-flow investment.
“We got quite a bit of interest,” said Cobb.
Much of the interest, he said, centered on the turnkey nature of the investment, which could be operated from a distance through an existing on-site manager.
Courtesy / 28 Broad Street Lofts
The interior features modern amenities preserved architectural features such as arched windows and brick walls.
“It was proven by the previous owner that this asset could be managed and operated from a different state,” he said. “He didn’t spend a lot of time in Bangor. The building has an on-site manager that the new owner has decided to keep on. He does a great job being boots on the ground, to take care of any issues that come up, which are few and far between.”
The 2015 full-gut renovation that installed all new systems yet preserved architectural features also made it attractive, he added.
“There haven’t been issues with the building,” he said.
The buyer is a sizable investor whose primary focus is in the Southeast but has a personal interest in Maine, Cobb explained.
“When they saw this product, how it had been operated, what the numbers were and what the ask was, they were very excited from the get-go,” he said.
The nearly $500,000 difference between the list price and the final purchase came down to what the buyer was willing to pay based on the income produced by the asset, explained Cobb.
A handful of other properties have been developed for Bangor’s luxury apartment rental market.
“We’ve seen the model not only work but continue to be used by other operators, with upgrades being made to existing stock to bring them up to caliber and get similar rates,” he said.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments