Pepperell Mill in Biddeford under contract to be sold
File photo
The sale of the Pepperell Mill campus in Biddeford, shown here, has closed. The new owner is the Presidium Group and its Maine partners.
Pepperell Mill in Biddeford is under contract to be sold to local developers Chris Rhoades and Drew Preston, who say they expect to complete the deal, pending due diligence, in mid-December.
The developers would not disclose terms of the transaction. If completed, the pair would acquire a centerpiece of Biddeford's history that has been owned and developed by Doug Sanford since 2004.
“Doug Sanford is a visionary, a friend and a pioneer. He transformed the city of Biddeford and now Maine’s most prominent developers are there because of what he has done,” Rhoades told Mainebiz. “We want to take the baton from Doug Sanford and keep it going. We’re going to be investing millions and millions of dollars in new amenities.”
Sanford could not be immediately reached for comment.
Rhoades cautioned the deal could still fall through, but that Preston and he are seeking investors for the project through real estate crowdfunding site CrowdStreet.
Rhoades and Preston said in their promotional video that they agreed to buy the property at $80 a square foot. The deal was forged “off market,” meaning that the Pepperell Mill was never formally for sale and did not seek bids, the developers said in the video.
The total owned interior space of the mill campus is about 1 million square feet in 16 buildings on roughly 17 acres.
Rhoades and Preston, partners with the Presidium Group in Texas, said they are acquiring the entire campus. The transaction, if finalized, will take place in two pieces, with one tranche including the occupied buildings and the second tranche including six vacant buildings, Rhoades said.
“Since the Pepperell Mill Campus opened in 1840, it has placed the city of Biddeford on the map as a globally recognized center of industrial progress and innovation. This project is monumental as it will serve as a cornerstone for community members and future generations, as well as pay homage to the Pepperell Manufacturing Co. legacy in which this campus was built upon,” John Griggs, co-CEO and co-founder of Presidium, said in a statement.
Rhoades and Preston have been partners in other major investments in Maine such as refurbishing military housing in Brunswick and buying the Time & Temperature Building in downtown Portland.
Preston said they forged a friendship with Sanford about four years ago and talked about the Pepperell Mill project and its future.
“It was important to him to find out what we would be doing with the property going forward. It’s his baby and he wants it to be in good hands,” Preston said.
After Sanford purchased part of the complex in 2004, the remaining portion of the complex came up for sale when the mill ceased operations in 2009. Sanford acquired that section in 2010.
Biddeford's textile mills originated in the 1800s as the invention of machine-operated looms created the opportunity for the mass production of woven cloth. The mills were sited at the falls of Saco River because of the critical resource of water power.
The Pepperell Mill has been repurposed over the years. It currently has 152 residential units that are 100% occupied, as well about 150 commercial tenants such as Portland Pie Co., Impact Fitness Center and Hyperlite Mountain Gear.
In the CrowdStreet video, the developers said they planned to make capital improvements and raise rents. Preston said in the video that the team believes the rents for commercial space was currently 35% to 50% below market rates and residential units were about 30% to 35% below market rates.
Among the planned capital improvements, Rhoades told Mainebiz the developers plan to add a rooftop lounge overlooking the Saco River, a club room and physical upgrades to all buildings on the campus.
“We are eager to positively contribute to the downtown Biddeford’s renaissance by continuing to improve the mill’s campus while also implementing institutional management practices and superior customer service,” added Griggs.
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I was manager of the Harrisburg mills during construction of Merc it was impossible to generate even enough to pay the taxes let alone turn a profit. It takes big money to make all these improvements. Most all the tenants we had were because of the rent structure,. How do you plan to get backers who don’t want a return on their investement?
I live in the Pepperell mill- $1850 for a one bedroom studio loft. I don’t think that’s below market. I’m moving cause they’re trying to up it again.
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