 CRE Tech Note |
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To Tweet or not to Tweet
Social Networking for business use. Is it part of your overall marketing campaign? More and more companies are using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter as a marketing strategy. But is it a good idea for your company?
A lot of Maine Commercial Real Estate companies and their brokers are on LinkedIn, a few are now on Facebook but not a single one on Twitter. Do brokers not Tweet?
Like other marketing strategies Social Networking takes time and an ongoing commitment. Unlike many other strategies it does not take bottomless financial resources. This levels the playing field, so to speak, for businesses of all sizes.
However lines of communication run both ways and unless you are ready to hear back from your contacts, good and bad, your company may not be ready for this type of marketing strategy.
Social Networking is experiencing a huge growth in business use and can be successful if utilized as part of an overall marketing campaign. Whether you Tweet or not, I suppose that's up to you.
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Broker Message |
Positive Signs for Old Port Retail
by Peter Harrington
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It had been many years since there was a retail vacancy on Lower Exchange Street in the summer. This past summer there were several. Add to that all the other retail spaces which are on the market in the rest of the Old Port and a negative trend was clearly visible. Much has been said and written about the health of the consumer and the decline in retail sales and leasing on a national level. I believed it would take until at least spring for many of these spaces to lease. However, in the last few months many of the spaces have leased.
- Portland Coffee Roasters closed on Commercial Street and the Maine Bean stepped in and took the space over.
- On Lower Exchange, Javanet has been taken over by Linda Bean's Perfect Maine Lobster Roll Company and they also have a lease next door at the former Zrinka's space.
- Books Etc. closed after 35 years. This space has been divided between the Leather Exchange and Expressly Trends.
- Toko Indo is taking over half of the former Betsy's space.
- Walters Restaurant moved to 2 Portland Square but a new restaurant is taking over the former Walters space on Exchange.
- O'Naturals closed on Upper Exchange this past summer and by Christmas, Jay Villani from Local 188 is opening a new restaurant.
I'm not saying that there won't be new vacancies to come, or that all of the Old Port vacancies are taken, but there are definitely positive signs in the Old Port retail market.
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Broker Message |
Sales of Multi Family properties are showing some signs of possibly rebounding a bit. As a matter of fact, MREIS statistics show in Cumberland County that there has been about a 10% increase in the number of sales through October 31 of this year compared to the same period last year. This is in large part due to the fact that prices are down quite a bit from where they were at their peak a few years ago, interest rates are very favorable and banks have sold some of the properties they had taken back at bargain prices. These are encouraging signs that Multi Family properties are still moving.
In Greater Portland, vacancy rates have crept up a bit to the 7% range. This should hopefully stabilize with no new projects coming on line to speak of.
As a reminder to all Residential Landlords, as of 10/31/2009 all units must have a carbon monoxide detector installed. These can either be the hardwired type or plug in type. There are also some changes in the smoke detector regulations which are still out there for clarification. If you have any questions on the compliance of your units, contact the State Fire Marshall's office at 207-626-3873.
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New Listings |
Transactions |
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1250 Forest Ave, Portland |
3,128 SF |
Medical/Other |
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89 Larrabee Rd, Wstbk |
1,045 SF |
Office/Retail |
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215 Commercial St, Ptd |
4,828 SF |
Office/Retail |
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121 Middle St, Portland |
851 SF |
Office/Retail |
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130 Middle St, Portland |
8,153 SF |
Office/Retail |
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65 Gray Rd, Falmouth |
1,909 SF |
Retail |
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136 Commercial St, Ptd |
1,600 SF |
Office/Retail |
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12 Main St, Topsham |
3,239 SF |
Office |
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215 Commercial St, Ptd |
2,189 SF |
Office/Retail |
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139 Cash St, S Portland |
1,420 SF |
Office/Flex |
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222 St John St, Portland |
453 SF |
Office/Retail |
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222 St John St, Portland |
451 SF |
Office/Retail |
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625 Main St, Westbrook |
3,793 SF |
Other |
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111 Ossipee Trl, Standish |
1,000 SF |
Retail/Office |
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322 Fore St, Portland |
474 SF |
Office/Retail |
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131 Middle St, Portland |
6,891 SF |
Retail/Office |
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243 Ray St, Portland |
1,344 SF |
Residential |
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58 Alder St, Portland |
15,700 SF |
Office/Retail |
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30 Milk St, Portland |
255 SF |
Office/Retail |
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193 Presumpscot St, Ptd |
6,000 SF |
Warehouse |
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222 St John St, Portland |
992 SF |
Office/Retail |
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322 Fore St, Portland |
264 SF |
Office/Retail | |
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Malone Commercial Brokers
5 Moulton St
Portland, ME 04101
207-772-2422
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