February 20, 2018 at 10:05 am · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on Thinking Spring? Think MEREDA on March 22!

Thinking Spring? Think MEREDA on March 22!

For Immediate Release
February 20, 2018

Thinking Spring? Think MEREDA on March 22!

At this time of year, who isn’t already thinking about Spring?  Why not make plans now to join us at Ri Ra Irish Pub & Restaurant for MEREDA’s Annual Spring Social!

The Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA)’s networking events attract key players in Maine’s real estate industry offering excellent opportunities to interact with the experts.  Join us on Portland’s waterfront on March 22 from 5 – 7 pm for Hors d’ oeuvres, Spirits, and Great Conversation as we welcome Spring back to Maine!

Join MEREDA for a cocktail or two, and reconnect with colleagues and friends, both old and new!  This “can’t miss” event sells out every year, so sign up early!

About the Event:

MEREDA Member: $45 each  | Non – Member: $60 each

Register After March 15:  Member: $55 each  |  Non-Member $70 each

Your RSVP is requested by March 15. Payment is expected at the time of registration. No refunds will be granted to anyone who registers, but fails to attend or who cancels after March 15.

MEREDA’s Annual Spring Networking Social is sponsored by Bernstein Shur, Katahdin Trust Company, and Landry/French Construction

February 12, 2018 at 12:00 am · tkcDev · Comments Off on MEREDA’s DevelopME’s Lunch & Learn Series “Breaking into Development” – Part Three: “Managing Assets for Maximum Value”

MEREDA’s DevelopME’s Lunch & Learn Series “Breaking into Development” – Part Three: “Managing Assets for Maximum Value”

MEREDA‘s DevelopME Committee is pleased to host its final installment of the Lunch and Learn series "Breaking Into Development". Sherrin Vail from Northern New England Housing Investment Fund (NNEHIF) and Brit Vitalius from Vitalius Real Estate Group will share their insights on the best practices of asset management including overseeing property management, maintaining accurate financial information, making capital decisions to maximize value, and how to execute a disposition while achieving the maximum possible sale price.  

Ethan Boxer-Macomber will return to moderate the discussion and the hypothetical project from part I and part II of this series will pick up right where the last installment left off.

Join DevelopME for part three of its Lunch and Learn Series "Breaking into Development" on March 14, 2018 at the Rines Auditorium, Portland Public Library from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m

About the Event:

March 14, 2018 – 11:30AM to 1:00 PM
Rines Auditorium
Portland Public Library
5 Monument SquarePortland, ME
Lunch: 11:30 AM -12:00 PMProgram: 12:00 – 1:00 PM

About the Panel:

Moderating the event once again is Ethan Boxer-Macomber, LEED AP, who has over 18 years of experience in real estate, housing, and community development and has successfully led multiple large-scale residential development projects across southern Maine. In 2013, Ethan started Anew Development, a Portland-based real estate development company dedicated to residential infill that provides highest, best community value by adhering to principles of quality urban design, smart growth, and sustainability.

Ethan formerly was a City Planner for the cities of Davis, California, and Portland, Maine. He earned a BS in natural resources and ecology from the University of Maine and an MS in community planning and development from the University of California, Davis. He is a returned Peace Corps volunteer and was formerly certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Sherrin Vail joined Northern New England Housing Investment Fund (NNEHIF) in 2017 as Director, Asset Management Operations.  She is responsible for leading all routine asset management functions from construction and lease-up through and during stabilization while overseeing asset analysis and quarterly reporting, compliance monitoring and reserves usage.

Prior to her most recent role as the Branch Executive Director for the Greater Portland YMCA, Sherrin served as the Director of Property Management for Avesta Housing and has worked in the real estate industry for 18 years.  Sherrin earned her BA in Business Administration from Merrimack College.  She currently serves as the President for Maine Real Estate Manager’s Association (MREMA).

Brit Vitalius, Vitalius Real Estate Group’s founder and Designated Broker, has been representing buyers and sellers of multi-unit investments since 2004. He established VREG in January of 2011 to provide a full complement of residential, multi-family and commercial brokerage services to clients.

Brit is a yearly presenter at MEREDA’s Annual Forecast Conference for the multi-unit sector, and he is a leader and advocate in the landlord community. Brit is in his fourth term as President of the Southern Maine Landlord Association, a group which seeks to keep landlords up-to-date on important issues, trends and regulations

Registering for this Event:

MEREDA Member: $15 each  | Non – Member: $25 each

Register After March 7:  Member: $25 each  |  Non-Member $35 each

Your RSVP is requested by March 7, 2018. Payment is expected at the time of registration. No refunds will be granted to anyone who registers, but fails to attend or who cancels after March 7, 2018.
This DevelopME Lunch & Learn Event is sponsored by Camden National Bank and Northern New England Housing Investment Fund.

Click here for more information and to register.

February 6, 2018 at 1:35 pm · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on MEREDA Announces Appointments to Board of Directors

MEREDA Announces Appointments to Board of Directors

PORTLAND, Maine (February 6, 2018) Donald McFadden, C.G., Director of Environmental Services at St.Germain Collins, and resident of Scarborough, and Mark Stasium, of Portland, Senior Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Lending Division of Camden National Bank, have been elected to the board of directors of the Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA), a statewide organization of commercial real estate owners, developers and related service providers.

Don McFadden Don McFadden joined St.Germain Collins in 2014 and has been providing environmental consulting services in Maine and throughout New England for more than 23 years. He has specific expertise in assessing risk and liability associated with commercial and industrial real estate and the interpretation of geologic, groundwater and chemical data. Prior to joining St. Germain Collins, Don owned and operated Black Point Environmental Consulting, LLC. Don has served on MEREDA’s Conference Committee for the past three years.

Mark Stasium Mark Stasium is Senior Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Lending Division of Camden National Bank where he works with commercial real estate investors and developers and is responsible for originating commercial real estate loan transactions in northern New England and northeastern Massachusetts. Mark has 28 years of commercial lending and commercial credit experience. Prior to joining Camden National Bank, he was previously employed by Peoples Heritage Bank and TD Bank. Mark currently serves on MEREDA’s Conference Committee.

“Both St.Germain Collins and Camden National Bank have been great supporters of MEREDA over the years. Don and Mark bring a wealth of expertise to the group and we are excited to work with them now at the Board level,” says Shelly R. Clark, Vice President of Operations for MEREDA.

February 1, 2018 at 12:00 am · tkcDev · Comments Off on MEREDA takes its Morning Menu Breakfast, ‘A Presentation by FocusMaine’ on the Road to Bangor on February 13

MEREDA takes its Morning Menu Breakfast, ‘A Presentation by FocusMaine’ on the Road to Bangor on February 13

MEREDA had a full house at its Portland edition of “A Presentation by FocusMaine” last week.  If you missed it, you can join us in Bangor on February 13. 

Join MEREDA for breakfast on February 13 from 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM at the Cross Insurance Center for a presentation by FocusMaine, a 10-year initiative to strengthen and revitalize opportunity and prosperity in Maine by accelerating the creation of quality jobs in the areas of agriculture, aquaculture, and biopharmaceuticals. 

FocusMaine also focuses on knowledge workers, who enable growth in these sectors and has centered its efforts on traded sectors, which sell goods and services outside of the state, thereby generating more full-time work, higher wages, and more new jobs in the local economy. Importantly, they also work alongside talented partners, including Coastal Enterprises Inc., Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Maine Aquaculture Association, and the Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development, and are led by a dedicated leadership team of private sector leaders and others deeply committed to sustainable economic growth in the state. Andrea Cianchette Maker, a partner at Pierce Atwood, and Michael Dubyak, chairman of WEX, Inc., co-chair FocusMaine. Kim Hamilton is the president.

About the Event:

February 13, 2018 – 7:30AM to 9:00AM
Cross Insurance Center
515 Main Street
Bangor, ME

Breakfast: 7:30 AM
Program: 8:00 – 9:00 AM

About the Panel:

Andrea Cianchette Maker, Partner and Government Relations Practice Group Leader at Pierce Atwood, LLP provides governmental relations services in Maine and in Washington, DC with Maine’s Congressional delegation. She is pleased to be engaged as Public Policy Counsel for MEREDA. Her government relations practice focuses on real estate, economic development, health care, education and workforce development issues. Andrea is adept at building coalitions and developing effective stakeholder relations, as well as helping clients create personal relationships with key policy and decision makers. Her sensible, proactive and direct approach is refreshing and empowering in the complex and sometimes perplexing public policy arena. Committed to creating a strong and vibrant State of Maine, Andrea enjoys working with clients and organizations to strengthen Maine’s economy.

Andrea has developed strong and personal relationships with countless Maine policy makers, business people and association leaders. She has been active with many Maine non-profit organizations, including her current role as Co-Chair of FocusMaine. 

Andrea’s honors and distinctions include receiving the Crystal Heart Award by the American Heart Association (Maine Chapter) in 2017 as well as being named as one of four "Women to Watch" by Mainebiz and recognized by Maine magazine’s "50 Mainers" issue in 2016. 

Kim Hamilton serves as president of FocusMaine. Prior to this, Kim was Chief Impact Officer at Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. While at Feeding America, she led their research, nutrition, and ending hunger programs. Prior to joining Feeding America, Kim served in a variety of senior roles at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, including as Director of Strategy, Planning and Management for Global Policy & Advocacy. During her time with the foundation, she also led grant making programs and developed advocacy strategies to advance the foundation’s goals in a variety of fields, including, agricultural development, financial services for the poor, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WSH). Kim has also served as President of NetAid, Director of Program Planning and External Relations at the Migration Policy Institute, and in a variety of other organizations in the think tank and philanthropy fields. Kim grew up in North Yarmouth and went to Greely High School. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology with a focus on Demography from Brown University, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University for Advanced International Studies, and a B.A. from the Robert D. Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon. Kim and her husband, Barry Fitzsimmons, spend their time between Yarmouth and Chebeague Island.

Registering for this Event:

MEREDA Member: $25 each  | Non – Member: $35 each
Register After February 6, 2018:  Member: $35 each  |  Non-Member $45 each

Your RSVP is requested by February 6, 2018. Payment is expected at the time of registration. No refunds will be granted to anyone who registers, but fails to attend or who cancels after February 6, 2018.

This MEREDA Morning Menu Breakfast Event is Sponsored by Bangor Savings Bank, Bowman Constructors, City of Bangor, Epstein Commercial Real Estate and Webber Group.

Click here for more information and to register.

January 26, 2018 at 1:28 pm · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on Join MEREDA on February 7th for a Portland Moratorium and Zoning Amendments Forum

Join MEREDA on February 7th for a Portland Moratorium and Zoning Amendments Forum

After years of very limited development of new market rate housing in Portland, development volume is up significantly, providing new housing developments in the single family, condominium and apartment markets.  Portland recently revised its R-6 zoning that applies on the peninsula to encourage more housing development, greater density and infill development.  These market forces and revised zoning rules have produced more development, and much of that new development is located in Portland’s Munjoy Hill neighborhood.   Despite the stated desire of the City of Portland for more housing development, the increased development has its critics, especially on Munjoy Hill.  In response to criticism about the impact of development on the Munjoy Hill neighborhood, the City of Portland in December 2017  approved a 6 month moratorium on demolitions in the Munjoy Hill area and a 65 day moratorium on new site plan applications.  Since then, the City has proposed an “Interim Planning Overlay District” or “IPOD” that would provide for interim zoning rules for new developments on Munjoy to apply from the end of the 65 day site plan moratorium to the end of the 6 month demolition moratorium.  Before the end of the interim period, new more permanent zoning rules would be put in place.

MEREDA has assembled a panel of experts including the Director of the Planning and Urban Development Department of the City of Portland, an architect with substantial experience in Portland Development and a developer with substantial experience in Portland development and zoning to engage in a moderated discussion about the moratorium, the Interim Zoning Overlay District and the possible longer term changes to Portland’s zoning in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood with plenty of opportunity for questions from those in attendance.   This is your opportunity to participate in the discussion guiding Portland’s housing development – what is needed, where are we going and what impacts does and should development have on existing neighborhoods.  It promises to be a very timely and topical discussion.

Make plans now to join MEREDA on February 7th at the Clarion Hotel in Portland from 7:30 – 9:30 AM