July 05–BANGOR, Maine — The City of Bangor on Friday said it plans to sell a three-acre lot it owns across the street from the new Cross Insurance Center to hotel developer Ocean Properties.
The 3.13-acre lot is on Dutton Street, directly behind the Irving gas station on Main Street. It’s currently a parking lot and is being used as a staging area for the construction going on at the new convention center, said Tanya Emery, the city’s economic development specialist. Emery told the Bangor Daily News that the city has owned the lot since 2002.
Ocean Properties, which owns more than 100 hotels and resorts in North America, plans to build a 130-room hotel on the property, according to a news release from the city. The company would invest at least $18 million in the development with construction beginning no later than July 2014, the release said. The purchase price is $565,000.
The sale is not a done deal, however. The Bangor City Council is expected to approve the development agreement at its meeting Monday night, Emery said.
“The development agreement grants Ocean Properties an option for this parcel, which may be executed once all permits, licenses, and governmental approvals needed for commencement and completion of the hotel project are obtained,” Emery wrote in an email. “We are hopeful that will occur at some point in the spring of 2014, possibly sooner depending on plans and permits.”
The city has been in discussions with the company over this parcel since February, Emery said.
An Ocean Properties subsidiary had previously signed a purchase and sales agreement with Bangor Publishing Co., owner of the Bangor Daily News, to purchase its headquarters on the corner of Main and Buck streets. That deal fell through.
Ocean Properties has offices in Portsmouth, N.H., and Delray Beach, Fla. It owns several hotel and resort properties in Maine, including the Samoset Resort in Rockport and the Bar Harbor Regency.
