WESTBROOK —  Riverfront Plaza has proven to be the “perfect” home for Maine Health’s finance and information technology offices, a top Maine Medical Center official says, and the city is already seeing a positive impact from the more than 500 employees housed there.

“It is a beautiful location. The footprint really fit for us,”  said MMC Chief Operating Officer Jeff Sanders.

Before the consolidation at the 134,000 square-foot building on the Presumpscot River at Bridge Street and Dana Court, the tech offices were scattered at sites throughout Portland.

“This is the perfect location for us. The location for the technology department is important. It needs to be near the workforce. It doesn’t have to be in downtown Portland or Falmouth,” Sanders said.

Having the Riverfront Plaza workers downtown has been “transformative,” said Abigail Cioffi, executive director of Discover Downtown Westbrook.

“Having over 500 employees within walking distance means stability for current small businesses, and it encourages other small businesses to consider locating in downtown Westbrook,” Cioffi said. “We have already seen the changes in the downtown, with many businesses noticing Maine Health employees visiting them often. We hope to see even greater connections between Maine Health and Westbrook in the future.”

Since Maine Medical Center purchased the building in June 2017, several new businesses have opened downtown, including Yes Brewing, Quill Books and Beverage, Veranda Kitchen, Legends Rest Taproom, Blazes Burgers and Parkside Ice Cream.

Marcy Dunn,  MMC and Maine Health chief information officer, said the group is “excited to be in Westbrook,” but also thrilled to operate out of the same space. Dunn said the satellite locations made it difficult for her to lead Maine Health’s information systems. It was also hard for staff to work together. Technology issues, for example, used to be handled through an online help desk ticket. Now the problem was be worked through face to face.

“This is helpful for us to be able to work as a team,” Dunn said.

Maine Medical Center purchased the building in June 2017 for $10.7 million. Disability RMS operated in the space from 2004 until 2015 when the organization moved its offices to Southborough Drive in South Portland. It was then vacant until Maine Health workers moved in.

Pendleton Westbrook LLC purchased the property from original owner Tim Flannery for $23.5 million in 2005, according to city records. After being foreclosed upon in early 2017, the building was sold at auction to One Riverfront Plaza Holdings LLC in February 2017 for $9.2 million. The property is assessed for $20.2 million, nearly twice what Maine Medical Center purchased it for.

The building underwent a substantial renovation in order to accommodate finance employees on the first floor and information services on the second, third, fourth and fifth floors. In total, close to 600 people are expected to work out of the space.

Mary Jo McDonough, vice president of technology and support services, said Maine Medical Center got its certificate of occupancy last December and phased in employees beginning in January. Additional employees are expected to be relocated into the building this fall and next spring.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said Maine Health’s presence could boost downtown prosperity.

Within a month and a half of the announcement that Maine Medical Center was moving  hundreds of employees to the city, Bryant said he began hearing from companies that were interested in locating in Westbrook.

“Simply, it increased the market potential for businesses, because people are there five days a week,” he said.

Dunn said it is not uncommon for employees to walk across the river to grab a bite to eat for lunch or dinner.

Having that built-in potential customer base, Bryant said, is beneficial not only for existing businesses, but those looking to expand, relocate or start up in the city.

“It is a real strong tenant that is likely to stay strong even with the ups and downs of the economy and put a lot of potential businesses in downtown five days a week, 52 weeks a year,” he said.

Bryant said has heard concerns that Maine Health is tax-exempt, meaning it doesn’t pay taxes. While “the tax-exempt concern is not to be ignored,” he said, “that concern is balanced by a lot of upside.”

“One of the good things about Maine Health is they’re likely not going to be going bankrupt, go out of business or move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. That can happen. We experienced that with (Disability RMS). We had a great business there, but they had a disagreement with the landlord and picked up and moved to South Portland,” Bryant said.

Bryant said he is not concerned about the additional traffic that comes with the building being used again. Parking for the employees won’t be an issue. Like Disability RMS did, MMC has leased the adjacent city-owned parking garage. He said the only parking concern could come when Maine Health does training and those coming to the site are looking for available street or lot parking.

Mayor Mike Sanphy said he is glad the location is once again home to a major employer in the city. Sanphy, president of the Westbrook Historical Society, said the site was the location of Westbrook’s first large employer, the Westbrook Manufacturing Company, which made tents for the Union Army during the Civil War. The property  changed hands a couple times over the years, being operated by S.D. Warren, the Dana Warp Mill Corporation and the Stultz Electric Motor Company.

The site next door, where the parking garage is today, was once home of the Westbrook Manufacturing Company’s Foye Mill, as well as C.E. Noyes Tire Retreading. That business closed in the 1980s and the building, then vacant, burned to the ground in 1992.

Michael Kelley can be reached at 781-3661 x 125 or [email protected] or on Twitter @mkelleynews

Employees from Maine Health’s finance and information services departments began moving into 1 Riverfront Plaza, a 140,000-square-foor-office building Maine Medical Center bought last year, in January.

Maine Medical Center Chief Operating Officer Jeff Sanders and Chief Information Officer Marcy Dunn share comments during a July 26 open house at Maine Health’s new home at 1 Riverfront Plaza.

Maine Health’s new offices in Westbrook has allowed a much closer working relationship between employees on the finance and information services departments.