A Portland company plans to build up to two warehouses and office space in a business park near Route 202 in Hampden as demand for commercial space in the Bangor area has strained the available supply.
Alsid Hampden, which incorporated last month in Portland, plans to build a 40,000-square-foot warehouse on Carey Circle off Route 202, and potentially a second, smaller 15,000-square-foot warehouse, according to a planning application filed with the town of Hampden and Carol Epstein, a commercial broker who is handling the leasing arrangements for Alsid.
The development proposal comes as commercial space in the Bangor area has been at a premium, partly due to demand for warehouse space to host marijuana cultivation.
There’s a limited amount of industrial space in the Bangor area, Epstein said, limiting expansion opportunities for existing businesses and places for new businesses to get established.
Both proposed Hampden warehouses would have office space and parking lots. The warehouses wouldn’t be the only new industrial space in the Hampden business park. The lot that Alsid is leasing is near a Johnstone Supply location that is slated to open soon.
The business park, which opened in 2014, has attracted plenty of attention, mostly from larger businesses hoping to expand, said Amy Ryder, Hampden’s economic development director.
Only 10 lots of 37 are available, she said. Most have been leased for warehouse and industrial space in sectors like trucking and manufacturing.
“Fortunately for Hampden, we’re the only town in the area that has ready-made land,” Ryder said.
A tenant has signed on to lease the 40,000-square-foot warehouse, but Epstein declined to name the business, simply noting that it was in the industrial sector.
The second, smaller proposed warehouse will be built when a tenant signs on to lease that space, Epstein said.
The industrial park where both are expected to be built also hosts the Hampden Veterinary Clinic, an accounting firm, Wight’s Sporting Goods store and Central Maine Diesel.
Construction is projected to begin in the fall and end in spring 2024, pending state approval of a site review plan, Epstein said.
