PORTLAND, Maine – Experts will discuss which areas of the Maine’s economy will grow and which will shrink in 2014 at the Maine Real Estate & Development Association’s annual Real Estate Forecast Conference on Thursday, Jan. 23 in Portland. Initial projections show Portland and Bangor markets should grow substantially.
“The data we’ve tracked suggests the greater Portland industrial market has fully rebounded from the recession. We’re seeing historically low vacancies and increasing lease rates,” said Justin Lamontagne, a broker with NAI / The Dunham Group who will give the Southern Maine industrial forecast. “As a result, for the first time in years, I am forecasting increased interest in land sales and speculative building as our existing inventory struggles to keep up with demand.”
The outlook for Bangor is equally positive, according to Tanya Emery, the City of Bangor’s director of community and economic development, who will also give a forecast at the conference, which is the largest gathering of commercial real estate professionals in Maine, with more than 600 experts expected to attend.
“The Bangor region has shown significant growth in 2013 as investors and developers see the area as a strategic move,” Emery said. “With major developments in retail, hospitality and healthcare, Bangor’s growth is no surprise as the city continues to offer great return on investment as a value market with even more growth potential for 2014.”
Economist Arthur Jones will give a national economic report this year before delving into Maine’s future. Jones is a senior managing economist at CBRE | Economic Advisors out of Boston. He is responsible for guiding CBRE’s U.S. and regional economic outlooks.
More than 10 experts will break down economic forecasts by region and by industry, including Maine residential, office, retail and industrial commercial real estate forecasts. This year’s conference will also offer a state hospitality forecast, which will hit on topics of: Bar Harbor tourism, lodging, corporate hospitality and demand in Lewiston-Auburn and the midcoast.
What: Maine Real Estate & Development Association
When: Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014
Where: Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring St., Portland, Maine
Other: Registration is open now: $85 for members, $160 for non-members, $50 for municipal government employees and $25 for students.
The annual conference is a must-attend event for 600+ professionals from all over Maine; event registration is open at www.mereda.org.
About the Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA)
MEREDA is a nonprofit whose members banded together in 1985 to present the views of the state’s real estate industry to lawmakers in Augusta. Today, MEREDA’s more than 270 member firms are primarily from the commercial real estate industry and employ thousands of Maine citizens and drive a huge percentage of Maine’s economic activity. The organization aims to promote fair, responsible development and ownership of real estate throughout Maine. For more about MEREDA, and the upcoming conference visit www.mereda.org.
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