The Scarborough building that housed the Foundation for Blood Research has been sold for $1 million to a Portland construction and development firm.
The building was auctioned last week by Tranzon Auction Properties. It had been owned by the foundation and was purchased by Hardypond Development, which is owned by Hardypond Construction of Portland.
Frank Carr, the director of business development for Hardypond, said the company already owns Elevation Center, a 61,000-square-foot office building located at Route 1 and Science Park Road, which leads to the former FBR building.
The FBR building came with four undeveloped lots, Carr said, although it may not be possible to build on two of them because of wetlands on the property, which sits between Route 1 and a connector that leads to I-295 and the Maine Turnpike.
The Foundation for Blood Research closed on June 30. Foundation officials said the consolidation of hospitals and doctors’ offices has resulted in more lab work being done by the hospitals and, along with lower reimbursement rates for blood tests under the Affordable Care Act, led to the decision to close the foundation and sell the building.
Carr said his company’s immediate goals are to lease the building space. As FBR wound down its work, the foundation sought to lease out some of the unused space in the building to small biotech companies. Foundation officials said two companies moved into the building, but had already relocated before the auction.
Carr said Elevation Center is more than 90 percent leased, primarily to medical offices. Maine Medical Center has two large campuses on Route 1 in Scarborough, one of which is directly across the road from Elevation Center.
Once the former FBR building is filling up, Carr said, the company will consider plans for developing the other property on the site.
Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:
emurphy@pressherald.com
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