MARCH.2015
DOWNTOWN PORTLAND RETAIL’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Derek Miller
Associate Broker
Derek Miller joined CBRE|The
Boulos Company in 2011 as
an Associate on the brokerage
team of Dan Greenstein, Drew
Sigfridson, Tony McDonald,
Charles Day and Nate Stevens.
Derek works with both tenants
and owners of commercial
property as an advisor for
their commercial real estate
interests. Geographically, he
focuses on Central and Southern
Maine; therein servicing office,
industrial, retail and investment
properties.
Originally from Auburn, Maine,
Derek is a graduate of Hebron
Academy who then studied
at Tufts University where he
earned a Bachelor’s Degree in
Architectural Studies. He was a
four-year member of the Tufts
football team and a member of
the Tufts Architectural Society.
He continued his education
after graduating in the Boston
University Commercial Real
Estate Finance program.
Before joining CBRE | The
Boulos Company, Derek was
an associate in Newmark Knight
Frank’s Boston office where he
worked with the investment sales
group as well as handling select
leasing projects. He is an avid
skier who also enjoys many other
outdoor activities.
C 207.240.0032
D 207.553.1721
[email protected]
CBRE | The Boulos Company
One Canal Plaza
Portland, ME 04101
Part of the CBRE affiliate network
Portland is Maine’s largest city, with a population of approximately 67,000 people, and
enjoys an exceptional “walkable” urban environment. When the surrounding cities and
towns are taken into account, approximately one third of the state’s total population is
within a fifteen mile radius. The downtown retail market has seen a great deal of change
over the past five years due to increased demand from national retailers as well as a
surge in the popularity and demand for new restaurants.
Portland has traditionally been home to local Maine-based shops that lined Middle, Fore,
Exchange and Commercial Streets almost exclusively. However, in recent years there has
been a noticeable increase in interest from larger retailers with a broader presence.
Urban Outfitters was one of the first national brands to make a splash downtown by
opening a roughly 10,000 SF store on Middle Street in 2012. Their sister company,
Anthropologie, just opened its doors this year at the corner of Middle and Pearl Street.
Century Plaza, the proposed retail development at the former Century Tire property
located on Marginal Way, has signed leases with Chipotle and T-Mobile. The Mid-town
project on Somerset Street is set to add another 90,000± SF of prime retail space to
the market and will surely draw the attention of national retailers. This paradigm shift is
related to the fact that millennials and baby boomers alike are moving back into urban
environments after years of sprawl.
Retailers are taking notice.
Muse Paintbar opened their first Maine store on Commercial Street in 2014; they now
have locations in Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Portland, like
the rest of the country, has experienced a “burger boom” of sorts with Elevation Burger
and B.good joining Five Guys in the downtown marketplace. Another notable project is
the conversion of the first floor space at 145 Commercial Street. That floor was a large
vacant office space which was repositioned and converted to a vibrant retail storefront
that attracted Starbucks, Ethan Allen and the Maine-based Edgecomb Potters.
Downtown Portland has also seen a host of new local businesses. Many of the new local
businesses are restaurants or pubs looking to continue the growth and popularity of the
downtown food scene, which has grabbed national acclaim in recent years. The Bramhall
Pub, a mainstay in the days of yesteryear was re-imagined and tastefully reopened
on Congress Street. At the newly
renovated building located at
46 Market Street, the owners of
555 and Petite Jacqueline are
opening a new restaurant with
a more casual concept of a
French bakery theme, Portland
Patisserie and Grand Cafe. Tiqa,
a Pan Mediterranean restaurant,
opened its doors in the retail
storefront contained within the
new Courtyard Marriott on
MARCH.2015
DOWNTOWN PORTLAND RETAIL’S CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Commercial Street. A new restaurant, EVO, is under
construction in the Hyatt Place Hotel’s retail storefront that
will boast a very modern décor and feel. The King’s Head,
a beer haven with excellent food, opened on Portland’s
waterfront at Merrill’s Wharf (the Pierce Atwood headquarters).
The demand for new restaurant space with existing venting
and hood systems has far exceeded the supply, leading
to very low vacancy rates and higher rents for landlords.
Landlords who have pro-actively gutted and/or refinished
their retail suites have seen the most activity and biggest
returns from a rent perspective. Portland Art Gallery went
into a beautifully re-purposed space on Middle Street with
high ceilings, hardwood floors and a great window line.
The 416 Fore Street building, which has retail suites on both Fore and Wharf Street and recently sold to
new ownership, is 100% leased. This is an especially telling example. The property sat vacant for over
a year following a fire that displaced all previous tenants of the building. The new tenants include an
upscale pizza restaurant which some say is filling a needed void in the market. Two other tenants are
Portland Mash Tun (PMT) and Style Me. PMT is going to be a small concept beer and food venue offering
custom brews and tasty pub food. Style Me is a dress and beauty bar that will be a “one stop shopping
experience” for women looking to pick up formal, cocktail, and bridal dresses while also addressing their
hair and make-up needs. Interest in the building was driven by the new owners’ concept and ideas for
how the building could be renovated and re-imagined, a winning strategy in this case. Continuing on this
theme, Lois’ Natural Marketplace will be opening their second store on India Street in Portland’s Old Port.
Lois’ new space was extensively and impressively renovated and should prove to be a successful location.
I fully expect that this trend of recent retail revival in downtown Portland will continue and even gain steam.
A combination of the new downtown hotels attracting more “people from away” and new residential
developments, allowing more and more Mainers, and those soon to be, to call downtown Portland home, will
fuel continued growth in the downtown Portland retail market. Owners of downtown retail spaces I believe
will continue to improve their vacant retail properties in hopes that the saying from the movie Field of Dreams
comes true; “if you build it, they will come”. I, for one, am bullish that new retailers indeed will.
CBRE|The Boulos Company and Boulos Property Management provide real estate brokerage,
management, consulting and development services in Northern New England with offices in Portland, ME
and Portsmouth, NH. It is Northern New England’s largest full-service commercial real estate company,
with over 70 employees and brokers. Boulos Asset Management manages more than 4,000,000 square
feet of commercial real estate, and the brokerage activity volume in 2014 totaled in excess of $276
million. The Boulos Company entered into an affiliation with CBRE in 2001.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles,
is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2014 revenue).
The Company has approximately 44,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners,
investors and occupiers through approximately 350 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers
strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and
project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment
management; and research and consulting.
The Boulos Company
CELEBRATING
40
YEARS
1975 – 2015
One Canal Plaza
Portland, ME 04101
207.772.1333
www.boulos.com
Part of the CBRE affiliate network