After years of battles, there will be no Wal-Mart on the site of the former Saunders Brothers dowel mill in Westbrook.
The 27 acres are being sold to a Portland real estate holding and development company, which plans to use the site for a combination of office, warehouse and manufacturing space.
Vincent Veroneau, president and chief executive officer of J.B. Brown and Sons, said Tuesday that the company has the site under contract and plans to close the sale within the next 30 to 60 days.
Once the sale is closed, Veroneau said, the company plans to clean up the site, remove most of the sprinkler, heating and electric lines running overhead between buildings and tear down some of the older buildings. Then, Veroneau said, the company would fix or replace broken doors and windows and paint the remaining buildings, with an eye on leasing them for what Veroneau called the historic uses of the property – office space, manufacturing, storage and distribution. Veroneau said there are no plans for any retail space on the site.
With a building at 340 County Road, J.B. Brown has a presence in Westbrook already, Veroneau said. Its other holdings include the former Star Match building on West Commercial Street and the Cannery Building, both in Portland.
Veroneau said his company was attracted to the Saunders mill because of its proximity to the highway as well as the fact that the land had a number of buildings that could be reused.
Veroneau declined to reveal the purchase price. Josh Saunders, president of Saunders Brothers, also declined to name the price, but he did say it was “substantially less” than what Wal-Mart would have paid for the site. In an interview in February, Saunders said the asking price for the land was lowered from $4.9 million to $3.5 million as it became apparent that Wal-Mart wasn’t going to build a store on the site.
Saunders said it seemed clear for months that Wal-Mart was not going to purchase the property. Coincidentally, he said, he
learned only on Tuesday the company had officially pulled out of the project.
The battle over Wal-Mart has been brewing in the city for more than three years. In 2004, the Westbrook City Council voted to change the zoning of the mill from industrial to gateway commercial. The change cleared the way for a proposed 203,000- square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Those plans hit a snag, however. Westbrook Our Home, a group of citizens opposed to the project, urged the council, with the recommendation of the planning board, to place restrictions on the site. That move caused Wal-Mart to balk at building a store. The changes capped the size of retail projects in the gateway district at 160,000 square feet. In addition to the size limitation, the restrictions passed by the council also contained provisions for increased buffering for the surrounding neighborhood, and controls on lighting and hours of operation and delivery.
Saunders said he is satisfied with the sale to J.B. Brown, and is eager to close the deal. “It is time for us to move on, and it’s a good solution,” he said.
While the land has been sold, Saunders said, his company would still have a presence at the site, at least for the time being. He said the company would lease some office space and a machine shop for the short term. He said the machine shop would remain until the equipment can be moved to Saunders’ mill in Locke Mills. As for the offices, Saunders said, the company would be looking for office space somewhere in the Greater Portland area.
Erik Carson, Westbrook director of economic and community development, said he was glad to see the mill sold to J.B. Brown.
“They have a good track record,” he said. “I’m glad to see the property have some life and breath and work to everyone’s benefit.”
As for Saunders, he said while he had good memories of the Westbrook mill, he would be glad to move on, especially since most of the company’s operations were relocated to Locke Mills some time ago.
“Saunders Brothers wasn’t the property,” he said. “It was the people and the business, and that’s moved to Locke Mills.”
“I don’t like walking through the empty mill,” Saunders continued. “It’s no fun.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
