February 2, 2021 at 7:00 am · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on A Fantastic Group of Five: MEREDA Honors Leaders in Real Estate and Development at Recent Forecast Conference 

A Fantastic Group of Five: MEREDA Honors Leaders in Real Estate and Development at Recent Forecast Conference 

On January 21, 2021, the Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA) recognized five exceptional individuals for their significant and lasting contributions to real estate development in the state of Maine.  The awards were presented via a video presentation at this year’s annual Forecast Conference.

William Shanahan of Scarborough was selected for the Robert B. Patterson Jr. Founders’ Award, for his extraordinary commitment and dedication to MEREDA over the years, as well as for his role as a valued liaison between MEREDA and the affordable housing community.  This is his second Founders’ Award.

In addition to serving on MEREDA’s board and its executive committee, Bill served as Treasurer for 15 years, and Assistant Treasurer for 1 year. He was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award in 2009, was one of two recipients of the President’s Award presented in 2010, and received his first Founders’ Award in 2016 for his instrumental role in the organization.

A founding Co-President of Evernorth, Bill leads his team in investing, finance, and acquisitions.  Evernorth, a nonprofit organization serving low- and moderate-income people in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, was formed by joining together Northern New England Housing Investment Fund and Housing Vermont.  Bill joined Northern New England Housing Investment Fund in 2000 as Vice President/CFO and was named president in 2011.  Prior to this, Bill spent over ten years as Director of Development and CFO for Realty Resources Chartered, a Maine-based for-profit developer of affordable housing.  An active member of the affordable  housing community, Bill also serves as President of the National Association of State and Local Equity Funds, is the Board Chair of the Genesis Community Loan Fund, has chaired and continues to serve on the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition Board, and is on the Governing Board of Housing Action New Hampshire.

This year’s President’s Award went to two outstanding individuals — Elizabeth Frazier of Portland and Tom Schoening of Kennebunk — for their significant contributions on MEREDA’s behalf.

Having lent their leadership to develop the newly inaugurated Local Issues Committee, both Elizabeth and Tom have gone above and beyond to bring this Committee and local issues to the forefront for MEREDA and its membership.

An associate at Pierce Atwood, Elizabeth authored MEREDA’s Developer’s Toolkit and was involved in the tireless advocacy work on MEREDA’s behalf around the recent City of Portland referenda.  Engaging with commercial real estate and development matters at both the local and state level, Elizabeth has worked on land use referenda campaigns and ordinance proposals at the municipal level, statewide zoning policies, and public financing for development projects.  She focuses her practice on government relations, lobbying, business advocacy, and environmental and land use policy.

An associate at Drummond & Drummond, Tom’s recent advocacy work on the potential moratorium on development in South Portland was instrumental, and he serves as chair of MEREDA’s Local Issues Committee.  Practicing law in the corporate and commercial real estate group, Tom’s work focuses on commercial real estate and business transactions, helping clients cure title issues and navigate real estate disputes.

Kevin Sutherland of Saco received this year’s Public Policy Award for his significant impact on public policy changes to benefit responsible real estate development and ownership in Maine.

As a member of MEREDA’s Public Policy and Local Issues Committees, Kevin stepped up to volunteer his time and energy to work on issues that matter to MEREDA. From helping craft MEREDAʹs response to the Maine Climate Council draft report, to representing MEREDA before the  Portland and South Portland City Councils, Kevin has proven to be an invaluable asset to MEREDA.

The Director of Business Development at Hardypond Construction, Kevin’s goal is to help Hardypond be a part of community development projects that propel southern Maine forward.  Previously, Kevin has worked in municipal government roles including Chief of Staff for the city of Ithaca, New York and as City Administrator for Saco, Maine.

Mark Stasium of Portland received this year’s Volunteer of the Year Award for generously sharing his time, talents, and energy with MEREDA.

Mark serves on the MEREDA board as Treasurer and this year he meticulously built an entirely new format for MEREDA’s budget–no easy task during a pandemic–a document that will serve the organization well into the future.  Always willing to step up on other initiatives when needed, Mark also volunteers his time on MEREDA’s Conference and Seminar Committee and on MEREDA’s Executive Committee.

With over 30 years of commercial lending and commercial credit experience, Mark is Senior Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Lending Division at Camden National Bank.  He manages banking relationships with commercial real estate investors and developers and is primarily responsible for originating commercial real estate loan transactions in northern New England and eastern Massachusetts.

MEREDA congratulates these five outstanding members, and thanks every volunteer whose contributions of time and talent make the association’s continued success possible.

L to R: Tom Schoening, Elizabeth Frazier, Kevin Sutherland, Mark Stasium, William Shanahan

January 26, 2021 at 6:00 am · Shelly Clark · Comments Off on Focusing on the Adaptability and Resiliency of Maine, MEREDA Brings Real Estate Experts Together to Forecast the Future

Focusing on the Adaptability and Resiliency of Maine, MEREDA Brings Real Estate Experts Together to Forecast the Future

On Thursday, January 21, over 500 of Maine’s real estate and development professionals gathered virtually to learn about the latest insights on the real estate economy at the Maine Real Estate & Development Association’s (MEREDA’s) annual Forecast Conference and Member Showcase. “This is an event people look forward to every January.  You learn a lot and you make important connections.  This year, we connected in new ways and heard about the incredible work that is being done throughout our state to move Maine forward, and to begin to recover from the pandemic economy,” says Josh Fifield, MEREDA President.

From James Marple, a Senior Economist at TD Bank who provided an economic outlook; to Hannah Pingree, Director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future who spoke about the Maine Climate Council; to an impressive lineup of industry leaders; speakers were brought together for a virtual conference produced at O’Maine studios following Covid safety protocols.  MEREDA streamed the conference with hosts Shannon Richards of Hay Runner and Craig Young of The Boulos Company providing commentary and connectivity throughout the day.

Reflecting on a challenging year, presenters were tasked with looking ahead and reporting on the trends impacting their sectors.  In navigating the uncertainty of our current times, it seemed everyone was looking for bright spots.  Perhaps one of the hardest hit sectors in Maine has been the hospitality industry.  Sean Riley of the Maine Course Hospitality Group spoke about how they’ve had to adapt this past year, providing rooms for medical professionals and extended stay options for construction workers.  While it has been a devastating year, Riley predicts that Maine hotels will rebound faster than the projected 5-year national recovery scenario laid out by Smith Travel Research.  “Everybody is tired of staying home.  We think Maine is teed-up big time.”  With optimism and heart at the center of his presentation, Riley ended by encouraging collaboration and camaraderie: “We have to spend our time lifting each other up.”

Reporting on the retail industry, another sector hard hit by the pandemic, Peter Harrington of Malone Commercial Brokers outlined some of the surprise success stories in retail: from hardware stores to take-out restaurants to athleisure-wear retailers to furniture companies.  While Maine will likely continue to feel impacts of the pandemic through 2021, Harrington saw hope for brick-and-mortar retail to rebound: “We haven’t evolved to be people who sit at home in isolation.  We need physical connection to each other and many of the products we use.”

On the other side of the spectrum was the residential real estate market, which had an incredible year.  Dava Davin of the Portside Real Estate Group reported a record 13.8% increase in Maine home prices and $7 billion in total sales.  While a lot of activity continues to be centered in Portland, Westbrook saw its largest home sale ever in 2020 with a $1,000,000 single family home.  With 33% of buyers from away, Davin questioned how long these new residents will stay in Maine, and how many winters they can weather.  It is something she plans to keep her eye on for the future.

Areas outside of Portland, like Biddeford, Saco, and Brunswick saw growth in 2020 as well and are predicted to continue to see development in 2021.  Dave Holman gave a report on the Midcoast market, highlighting Brunswick Landing, a former Navy Base.  This site has been an incredible driver of innovation and growth for the area, having created some 2,200 jobs for the region and attracted both residential and commercial future development projects.  While low industrial inventory and construction costs present some challenges to development in the Bangor area, Bev Uhlenhake of Epstein Commercial Real Estate echoed that there are also opportunities that exist in this new landscape: as more and more people work from home, why not decide to work from a beautiful place like Maine.

Justin Lamontagne of NAI The Dunham Group reflected in his Industrial Forecast, “There is no larger barrier to commercial real estate than uncertainty.”  While the uncertainty of the past year was a barrier and challenge for many Mainers, there were pockets of opportunity throughout the state.  Lamontagne saw hope for the industrial sector as Maine-based companies pivoted to produce life-saving equipment and companies like IDEXX, Puritan, and Abbott Labs demonstrated the future possibilities of Life Science companies and manufacturing in Maine.  It was also another example of how Maine businesses showcased adaptability and resilience in the face of a devastating economy and pandemic.  While there is still much work to be done, MEREDA and its members have their sleeves rolled up to work together and build Maine’s brighter future.