PORTLAND, Maine — Unless you own or invest in it, you have no reason to pay much attention to the state of commercial real estate. Whether an industrial warehouse is filled or vacant makes no difference in your life, right?
OK, you probably don’t care about industrial warehouses—but we all have an interest in the health of the commercial real estate market because we’re drawn to cities that are lively and humming with activity. The last thing we want to see when we go into Bangor or Portland or Biddeford is empty buildings and vacant storefronts. They suck the life out of downtowns.
So, as the pandemic drags on and workers stay home, how’s the commercial real estate market doing in Maine? “This is going to be my fourth recession,” says Greg Boulos, who’s worked in commercial real estate at the Boulos Company in Portland since 1983 and has seen more than a few booms and busts. “So far, it’s not too bad.”
This is not a one size fits all market. Some sectors are sinking while others are rising. Boulos runs down the list. “Industrial space—high demand. Very, very healthy market,” he says. “Investment property sales—high demand. A lot of buyers, a lot of out of state buyers. Hotels? Not so much. They’re having a tough time of it. Retail space? Obviously everybody knows that’s a tough segment of the market.”
One bright spot is that significant numbers of people from Boston, New York and Connecticut want to rent or buy in Maine and work from home. “Inevitably that’s going to lead to businesses starting up in Maine, which is going to benefit all of us,” Boulos says. “I think Maine actually will come out of this much better than a lot of other places.”