The Aroostook Centre Mall in Presque Isle was sold to an undisclosed buyer, its management confirmed Sunday.
“Yes, I can confirm that the Aroostook Centre Mall has been sold,” Frederick Meno, the mall’s manager, wrote in an email to the Bangor Daily News. Meno also is president and CEO of the Woodmont Company, the Texas-based firm that is running the mall.
He provided no additional details.
The website Ten-X also posted over the weekend that escrow had closed on the mall, meaning it has been sold.
Ten-X said the closing was on March 8 and the price was $4.65 million.
Ten-X is an online auction and commercial real estate seller based in Irvine, California.
The mall, which was listed for sale on the Ten-X website in mid-December, was for sale at a best-offer price.
In late February a Ten-X manager said there was strong interest in the mall.
The Aroostook mall was up for auction in October 2017 but received no interested buyers, so the property’s mortgage holder, Wells Fargo, bought it for $4 million, less than one-third of its assessed value at the time. The mall ran into trouble when its owner defaulted on a loan in 2017. The city of Presque Isle’s assessor revalued the mall at $8,649,450 in 2018.
“It is exciting to hear that the Mall has been purchased,” said LaNiece Sirois, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce.
The news of a new owner means that “perhaps we can breathe a sigh of relief.
“Going forward we hope the new owners are dedicated to keeping the Mall running successfully,” she said. “Since the ground breaking on September 11, 1991, the Aroostook Centre Mall has been an essential established staple of commerce for Aroostook County. We would like to keep it so for many years to come.”
Writer Anthony Brino of the BDN contributed to this report.
