New owner of Ledges by the Bay plans $300K in upgrades
Courtesy / Mark Beale
The family-owned Ledges by the Bay in Rockport sold for more than $2 million to a New Jersey-based hotel operator, in a deal that closed March 29.
ROCKPORT — The family-owned Ledges by the Bay — a lodging complex overlooking Penobscot Bay on Route 1 — sold for more than $2 million to a New Jersey-based hotel operator, in a deal that closed March 29.
Amit Patel, who is based in Somerset, N.J., acquired the motel under the corporate name Central Hospitality Inc., which was formed for this purchase. Patel has been involved in the hospitality industry for at least several years, including part-ownership in a motel in Augusta, and management of other hospitality properties outside of Maine, said broker Roger Daigle, president of Daigle Commercial Group.
Daigle and associate Nick Farrell represented the sellers, while brothers Mark and Howard Beale worked with Patel. No other brokerage was involved on Patel’s behalf.
“It’s a pretty remarkable sale for a relatively small independent motel operation, in that a property of that size typically would not have sold north of $2 million,” said Daigle, who did not have Patel’s permission to disclose the exact price. “The reason it sold at a strong price is that it has nine acres of oceanfront property with spectacular views. Undoubtedly the buyer is looking to utilize the property and improve it.”
Patel was looking for a coastal property, said Daigle. “Nick took him through the property and he was impressed by its potential,” he said.
The complex comprises 38 rooms and suites in three separate buildings, most with balconies and panoramic ocean views; and a two-bedroom manager's apartment above an office and breakfast room, on 8.9 acres, with large lawns that gradually slope down to 890 feet of ocean frontage overlooking the bay’s small Glen Cove.
Patel plans to invest about $300,000 to upgrade rooms, common areas and the office, Daigle said.
The current complex represents an evolution over the decades. In 1963, Edith and Robert Beale bought about five acres that had a small cottage, a couple of cabins and a house, recalled their son Mark, who was 3 years old at the time. Robert, who also owned other businesses such as a Montgomery Ward department store in Rockland, bought the motel for Edith.
“She was from Germany,” said Mark. “They met during the occupation. They decided that having the property would be great for her because it would allow her to learn English, dealing with customers. She learned English on the fly, learning the business. It was very successful because of its location on the water. Over the years, they built it out a bit. In 1967, they added a motel of seven small units. In 1977, they added another five units.”
In 1999, Mark bought adjacent property of four acres to add to the portfolio, with the idea that he and his family would move up from their home in Portland to run the motel, since his parents were getting older. But on further thought, Mark realized the motel’s income wasn’t enough to support both his own family and his parents. His business in Portland, in marketing and design, was operating successfully, so it seemed wiser to stick with that. So his parents continued to run the operation.
In 2005, Robert fell seriously ill. The family decided to sell the motel, and had it under contract to a buyer. Just before the closing, Robert asked to be allowed to die at home, so the family turned away the buyer. Edith spent that year mainly caring for Robert, so the operation lost more than $200,000 in revenue that year. Robert passed away that December, and the two sons took on the motel’s operation, with Howard on-site while Mark, the more business-oriented of the two, took the lead from Portland, where he was still operating his business. Mark’s goal was to retain the family-friendly feel but also rationalize the operation.
“My father and mother ran it more as a boutique,” he said. “They didn’t use computers: Their reservations were cards put into slots. They would charge whatever 'felt right,' depending on the customer. It wasn’t systematized.”
But the motel was known for its cleanliness, friendliness and affordability, he said.
It was run as a mom-and-pop operation and it was profitable.
Mark computerized the operation and rationalized the rates. The family listed the property again in 2007 and obtained multiple offers, but then the economy collapsed in 2008 and the offers disappeared. Ironically, the recession made the motel even more successful, he said.
“During the recession, people still took vacations” but simply took them closer to home, putting Maine lodgings within reach of millions of people in the northeast. “So that actually helped us.”
Edith passed away in 2009. The brothers ran the motel for a few years more, substantially increasing revenue from their parents’ peak of $500,000 in a single year, to approximately $900,000 in revenue in 2015.
“But we realized we weren’t going to take it to next level,” said Beale. “So we decided to sell.”
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