Re-energizing a prominent property
EMPTY IS UGLY. In 2016 the town of Topsham, Maine found itself with a potential white elephant sitting in the middle of one of its most important economic centers, when Best Buy closed its location in the Topsham Fair Mall. Bateman Partners worked with town officials and others to attract prestigious new tenants to an impressively re-designed commercial complex.
One of our most rewarding projects was in the town of Topsham. What used to be an empty Best Buy store is now back online and contributing to the local community after we partnered with Central Maine Healthcare (CMHC) to redevelop the building into the Topsham Care Center. The innovative site includes New England Cancer Specialists, which moved to just under 16,000 square feet in the building from its Brunswick location, and Shields Health Care Group, which offers medical imaging and diagnostic treatment.
Central Maine Specialty Care provides medical services that include the ability of patients to connect with Massachusetts General Hospital. Services at the site will also include visits from CMHC’s mobile MRI. The project is also home to Central Maine Urgent Care.
You can take a video tour of the new facility HERE.
The exhaustive effort by Bateman Partners to breathe new life into an empty box store at The Topsham Fair Mall drew recognition across the state. In presenting an award to Bateman Partners for the Topsham project, the Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA) called the project “exemplary,” describing it as the embodiment of their belief in responsible real estate development that champions best practices and contributes to Maine’s economic growth. Criteria for winning the award included environmental sustainability, economic impact, energy efficiency, social impact, uniqueness, difficulty of development and job creation.
The final project cost was $16.5 million, and totaled 47,000 sq. ft. Our construction partner was Allied Cook Construction, another great family-owned company based in Maine.
Design development for people
In 2019 Nathan Bateman, center & seated, accepted an award from MEREDA for developing one of Maine’s most “Notable” commercial real estate projects. He is Vice President of Bateman Partners, LLC.
“An empty box store in a prominent part of town is a nightmare for any municipality. Helping Topsham turn that situation around and breathing new life into the property was particularly rewarding. Those are the type win/win scenarios that, personally, give me the most satisfaction.””
