Indoor dog park — with human amenities — is coming to Portland

Construction is underway in a big space.

Photo / Courtesy Woof. Play. Eat. Brad Sterl helps with construction.

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A 10,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor dog park plus a restaurant for their humans is on track to open this fall in Portland.

The business — called Woof Play Eat — is in the final stages of construction at 49 Northport Drive in Portland.

Woof Play Eat leased 15,090 square feet of retail space at 49 Northport Drive from Northport Investments.

Sylas Hatch and TC Haffenreffer from the Dunham Group brokered the lease.

An aerial view of a long low building and parking lot.

FILE PHOTO / COURTESY THE DUNHAM GROUP

Woof. Play. Eat. leased 15,090 square feet in the 87,515-square-foot Northport Business Park property.

Earlier this year, the owners of the property, Elliott Chamberlain and his son Preston Peables, wrapped up a project to convert a third of the 87,515-square-foot former office building into a gym for their business, NXGen Fitness.

Dog pics

The business is the brainchild of Marissa and Brad Sterl.

Hiring is underway, with some of the jobs posted on Indeed.com and more to come, said Marissa.

The facility will include a year-round, climate-controlled indoor play area, an outdoor area, dedicated zones for large and small dogs, human referees to monitor dog behavior and group dynamics, and a day care program.

Photo / Courtesy Woof. Play. Eat.

The sign will be going inside the restaurant on a large accent wall.

Construction of a kitchen and menu is underway.

The goal is to wrap up construction of the park and day care areas by mid- to late-October and the restaurant by early November.

“We have also already hired our Santa for this year’s dog pics with Santa,” said Marissa.

Busy careers

Brad has been in the restaurant and food product manufacturing industries since the 1980s. Marissa is an online instructional designer, designing online education for various types of companies for the last 15 years.

A dog lover all her life, she wasn’t able to have one as a child, and then became too busy with her career to have time for an animal.

With Brad, a dog was part of the package. She enjoyed taking care of it and also began pet sitting for friends. She got her own dog recently.

Taking the dogs outside in all kinds of weather made her wish there was an indoor place for dogs to run around, with a day care option.

Photo / Courtesy Woof. Play. Eat.

A tree is being built to go in the middle of the park.

“I wanted a place where I could go with my dog, let him run around and come home,” she recalled. “I asked Brad and he said, ‘You know, this is a great idea.’”

Exploring markets

The couple lives in Rye, N.H., and Brad grew up in Wells.

“We spent a lot of time going around different markets, from Massachusetts to Portland,” looking for the right location, said Brad.

Portland, an hour's drive from home, was a top choice.

“We were looking for areas that have a dog population and Portland is underserved for dog day care and overall dog space,” said Brad.

The size of the space available at 49 Northport Drive suited their ideas.

Photo / Courtesy Woof. Play. Eat.

There will be a 10,000-square-foot dog park plus a restaurant.

The overall space is just over 15,000 square feet, which would accommodate the dog area and the restaurant, and had a lot of the infrastructure needed for both, plus parking.

The venue will accommodate events, he added.

Easy-to-clean surfaces

The dog areas are being fitted with easy-to-clean surfaces. The restaurant includes a seating area and a separate entrance for the dog space.

Investment into the business is expected to be between $1.5 million and $2 million. Financing includes cash, several investors and a loan from Bangor Savings Bank.

The Sterls are hiring a manager and a team to run the business. They said they plan to keep their jobs but also to be heavily involved in the business on a daily basis.

“We are so excited and can’t wait to bring this to the community,” Marissa wrote in a follow-up email.