“From a marketing perspective, people just want to leave a smaller footprint on the earth, and there’s not many places in Maine you can do that,” says Coyne, who heads Coyne Commercial Brokers in Portland.
To tap into this growing market demand, Coyne and two partners bought the refurbished Sparhawk Mill in Yarmouth in the summer of 2006. The majestic, time-worn building juts over the Royal River, and by harnessing the power of the fast-moving channel, the building is able to generate renewable electricity and heat. This is an unusual feature for an office building in Maine, and one that tends to lure a particular type of tenant.
“We seem to attract people that a green building is important to,” Coyne says. “We haven’t done any marketing about it being green, but that’s part of the pitch when people call. We’ve had a few calls from people who knew about the green power and nothing else.”
Green curb appeal
One such business is the FSC Global Fund, which moved into the building two years ago.
“I really searched for a place that would practice what we preach, which is why we’re in the mill,” says executive director David Bennell. “It seemed hypocritical to commute (from Freeport) to Portland to work on a sustainablity project.”
The fund Bennell heads is a nonprofit grant-making organization providing funds to groups around the world that help to forward the aims of the Forest Stewardship Council (although Bennell’s group is not directly affiliated with the council). The council is the leading global certification agency for sustainably harvested wood products.
Another such tenant is Dr. Lisa Belisle, who practices medical acupuncture and integrative medicine and decided to move her office to the mill last June.
“Having lived in Yarmouth most of my life, I was familiar with the Sparhawk Mill,” Belisle says. “When I saw that they were renting, I decided to leave where I was practicing, which was a traditional medical building. It’s such a healing space, I felt that I almost owed it to my patients. I spend a lot of time trying to get people to understand the connection between their health and the health of the world. I felt I needed to be a role model.”
Ghosts & old building quirks
The chance to tap into green power and the desire to rent space in a building that embodies the company’s values also has brought organizations such as the Royal River Conservation Trust, Tugboat Creative and Royal River Art & Glass to the mill. But these and other tenants must be willing to accept the quirks of an old building, along with the green power.
Citing the lack of an elevator and the need to do their own renovation, Alan Caron, who is the president of anchor tenant GrowSmart Maine, points out that “it’s not a turn-key operation.”
Still this isn’t stopping his organization, which promotes walkable communities and sustainable economic initiatives, from planning to lease more space in the building.
“We love the building because it’s a historic structure and we believe in revitalizing downtowns, so it’s perfect for us,” Caron says. “Every one of our offices has a view of the river.”
When asked about the building’s hydro power, Caron says it “was a hugely attractive feature to us ... You don’t get a chance to be in a green building that often. I think there are lots and lots of folks looking for these kinds of buildings.”
In addition to the hard-working turbines and the omnipresent river views, another presence in the building is decidedly other-worldly. Those who work in the building have reported ghostly encounters.
“We definitely have doors opening and closing when nobody’s around,” says someone who works in the mill but prefers to report ghost sightings anonymously.
The word on the street (courtesy of a previous tenant who had one of the office spaces professionally evaluated for its feng shui) is that the ghostly presence is a positive force helping all the tenants in the building to prosper. Hmmm ... makes you wonder if there’s a marketing angle there. Maybe something like: Building comes with river views, green power and ghostly protector guaranteed to bring your business success.
What more could you want in a building with true green spirit?