BATH, Maine — Folks familiar with the city of Bath's downtown area may recognize a familiar storefront has reopened its doors after a major redevelopment project.
The Grant Building, located on 31 Centre Street, has been sitting vacant for the better half of a decade until now.
Developed by Sean Ireland, principal of Windward Development, the building now houses a handful of commercial and residential spaces aimed at revitalizing the downtown area.
The $3-million-dollar project was developed with a historical tax credit and took close to two years to complete. A third of the building's electricity is offset by its 74 solar panels.
"If it's good for the community, we think it's a good project for us and Bath has lots of those kinds of projects," Ireland said.
Currently inhabiting the ground floor is Union and Co., which offers a mix-use space for work and community engagement through events.
Co-founder and leader in the development project, Mandy Reynolds, says the space looks to cater to the growing number of work-from-home employees.
"A lot of what we did and designed was to bring back this building to its former glory as a department store," Reynolds said.
By bringing in remote workers from across the country, Bath Director of Community & Economic Development Emily Ruger says she has already seen a diverse community of businesses become part of downtown thanks to the space.
"It's a really big space and historic buildings are challenges to redevelop inherently," Ruger said. "I think this is a catalyst site: the original Union and Co. brought an infusion of new energy and excitement to the city and this is that on a bigger, grander scale."