A small crowd gathers for the auction of 13.3 acres of land off Hope Avenue in Portland on Friday. The auction was won by Titan Funding, a company that loaned about $1.5 million to a developer whose plan to build condominiums at the location fell through earlier this year. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
PORTLAND -- A 13.3-acre parcel of land in North Deering was purchased at auction Friday by a company that loaned about $1.5 million to a developer whose plan to build condominiums at the location fell through earlier this year.
Titan Funding's $1.8 million offer beat out a handful of other bids, including one from a nonprofit backed by the Portland Land Bank Commission that sought to make the land part of the adjacent Presumpscot River Preserve.
The Land Bank Commission unanimously voted earlier this week to spend up to $400,000 to help the Trust for Public Land make an offer on the property, located on Hope Avenue.
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But the nonprofit's bid came up short. Anne Read, who represented the group Friday, declined to say afterward how much the trust bid. A reporter in attendance at the auction was unable to determine the exact amount offered during the speedy bidding process.
Although the nonprofit's offer wasn't enough to secure the land, Betsy Cook, the Maine state director for the nonprofit, said Friday that she hasn't given up hope that the land could be preserved.
"We are still committed to trying to have an outcome here that expands the Presumpscot River Preserve," she said. "So we're going to keep the conversation going and try to move toward that goal."
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Portland real estate developer Ned Payne also put forth a bid Friday for the Hope Avenue property, offering $600,000. Payne said he had hoped to build "midpriced housing" on the land.
Auctioneer David Reed, left and auction broker Stef Keenan of Keenan Auction Company hold an auction for 13.3 acres of property off Hope Avenue in Portland on Friday. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
In 2023, Titan loaned about $1.5 million to developer Mark McClure, who sought to build nine duplexes and 12 triplexes on the land.
Those plans ultimately fell through this spring after the Portland Planning Board tabled McClure's application. City staff said McClure had not paid fines he incurred for removing trees without a permit. (The city requires applicants to settle outstanding debts before pursuing new permits.)
According to legal filings, McClure also failed to pay about $100,000 in consulting fees for the property and defaulted on the loans he took out with Titan, sending the property into foreclosure.
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McClure eventually dropped out of the project after his business partner, city officials and community members voiced concerns about his financial standing and ability to carry out the work.
The project also hit roadblocks from residents and conservationists concerned about the impacts on the Presumpscot River Preserve and the possibility of an increased risk of landslides.
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"It was a pretty inappropriate place for development in that it couldn't really meet regulations, but really it's not a safe place for housing or development at all because it has unstable soil. It just makes development risky," Jon Kachmar, who chairs the Land Bank Commission and is the executive director of Portland Trails, said Wednesday.
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It's unclear what Titan will do now that it owns the land. Efforts to reach the company for comment were unsuccessful Friday.
Robert Baldacci, an associate broker with F.O. Bailey Real Estate who formerly worked with McClure, explained Friday that it's not unusual for a lender to make a bid on foreclosed property in an effort to protect its investment if the other bids are lower than the amount that the lender has already invested.
"What happened today was very standard," Baldacci said. "Their motivations would be strictly financial: They have the most at risk, they put up the money and they are doing this to protect themselves, like any bank or lender would."
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filed under: housing, portland maine, Presumpscot River
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