Ready, Set, Grow Influx of new businesses into Bangor and Brewer exceeds expectations

Even as the first snow fell upon the area this week, new businesses continued to sprout, bringing more life to the Bangor-area economy.

Excavation and construction sites for several new commercial buildings can be spotted throughout Bangor and Brewer, but nowhere more evident than on Broadway in Bangor, which has become a major hub of new business in the past year, according to Code Enforcement Officer Dan Wellington.

Projects under way on Broadway alone include a new bank branch, a 24-hour doughnut shop, and a dental facility.

“We’ve had a pretty good run this year,” Wellington said. “I keep saying we’re going to peak out at some time but we haven’t.”

Income from permits and other fees for new construction and renovations will easily surpass the code enforcement office’s projected $346,000 in revenues this fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2007, Wellington said.

Brewer Code Enforcement Officer Dave Russell said his office expects to see 125 percent of its projected revenues of $60,000 this fiscal year.

Among the most visible projects is a Maine Savings Federal Credit Union branch going up in front of the Broadway Shopping Center. The 8,600-square-foot, one-story, full-service facility with three ATMs and drive-through services, located at 671 Broadway, will open in April, said John Reed, president and CEO of the Hampden-based bank.

Maine Savings Federal Credit Union is also renovating the former BANSCO Credit Union building at 862 Hammond St. to convert into another branch. That facility is expected to open in January, Reed said.

The former Texaco fuel station at 594 Broadway was razed this fall to make way for a 3,000-square-foot Tim Hortons which will be open 24 hours a day. The restaurant will feature a drive-through window and seating for about 50 people.

Famous for its coffee and doughnuts, Tim Hortons also serves soups, sandwiches and other beverages.

Workers discovered a large puddle of gas under the old Texaco building, and the resulting environmental assessment and cleanup delayed plans, Wellington said. Tim Hortons is expected to open in March or April 2007.

Glenburn residents Marc and Andrea Nicknair will soon open another 3,200-square-foot Tim Hortons in a former Wendy’s restaurant at 394 Wilson St. in Brewer. The Nicknairs held a job fair last Friday and plan to hire about 40 employees. They hope to open their full-service, 24-hour store before the end of the year.

“Maine has been very good to Tim Hortons. I think by the end of the year we’re going to have 22 stores in Maine,” Marc Nicknair said.

At 1407 Broadway, Dr. James M. Sevey has purchased a vacant lot where he plans to move his dental practice from its current location at Broadway Dental Associates. Sevey has ordered modular housing units for a facility with seven treatment rooms, which he will call Creative Dental Solutions, and plans to begin construction in January.

“In many respects, this will be a transition of my part of the partnership into a new business,” Sevey said.

Sevey said he hopes to see patients in his new office in May or June 2007.

Meanwhile, water and sewer lines have been extended to 200 Sylvan Road near the Bangor Mall, where Freeport-based Maine Course Hospitality Group plans to build a Marriott Courtyard. Construction is set to begin “any day now” on the 92-room, 55,000-square-foot hotel, said Peter Anastos, spokesperson for the group, which owns hotels and restaurants throughout New England, including the Ground Round restaurant in Bangor and the Muddy Rudder restaurant in Brewer.

A fleet of backhoes is hard at work at 395 Main St. in Bangor. Dead River Co. broke ground the last week of November to erect a 3,000-square-foot deli and convenience store and Shell gas station. Alan Dorr, Dead River spokesman, said the company plans to open Dead River Convenience by May 2007.

“This will be our first Bangor location, which is appropriate because this is where our company was founded,” Dorr said.

On the corner of Hammond and Union streets in Bangor, developer and contractor John Karnes has started renovating an existing four-unit apartment building, to which he is adding two units. Karnes, a resident of Bangor, is also building a free-standing six-unit building on the lot. The city sold the parcel to Karnes at the end of October, and he expects the renovated apartments to open for occupancy in March 2007. Karnes hopes the new units will be ready in May.

Several other new businesses also have opened this year in existing building spaces in Bangor and Brewer.

“I remember when buildings went vacant, they went vacant forever,” Wellington said. “Now things are moving.”

And all that new business in the area doesn’t even take into account anticipated developments such as a Lowe’s in Brewer and Wal-Mart Supercenter in Bangor, which are still in the early planning stages.

“The numbers speak to a large amount of new construction,” Wellington said.