HOULTON, Maine — Officials from SVN/The Urbanek Group updated the Town Council on Monday evening on efforts to sell a piece of property where the Visitors Information Center is located off Interstate 95.
Although there have been a number of interested businesses calling about the property, none of the calls have thus far led to the sale of the property, councilors were told by Erik Urbanek, managing director of the company.
Urbanek said that the property’s rural location has led most callers to opt not to look further into a potential purchase.
“Getting someone up here to take a hard look at this has been challenging,” he said.“ That is why we are looking to get a local developer to purchase it.”
The center offers maps, brochures and other information about Houlton, Aroostook County and the rest of the state. Six years ago, Houlton took ownership of the information center and has since spent approximately 150,000 on maintenance fees, but has also received some financial assistance from the Maine Office of Tourism, Aroostook County and Maine Department of Transportation.
Urbanek said that one of the benefits the property has going for it is that it is pretty much ready to move into, as the property is flat and developable and had already acquired most land use permits.
Councilor Rosa McNally asked how many phone calls the firm is getting about the property each week.
“A call every other week,” said Urbanek. “They want to know the conditions of the sale. I would say 10 to 15 are from qualified developers.”
Urbanek said that he believes the land would best be sold to a local developer who has a purchasing partner either in or out of state. He noted that banks or retail stores might be a good fit for the site.
Thus far, he said, no one has taken the trip north to look at the property.
