The former Fieldcrest Manor Nursing Home was recently acquired by S and J Llama LLC, of Waldoboro. The company plans to repurpose the commercial space into an incubator geared toward startups and other local businesses. (Alexander Violo photo)
The former Fieldcrest Manor Nursing Home in Waldoboro recently changed hands.
According to Managing Member Seth Hall, of S and J Llama LLC, the company recently acquired the property at 126 Depot St. from the LincolnHealth organization.
Hall said the property is 13 acres and S and J Llama LLC plans to redevelop the 20,000-square-foot former nursing home as a multipurpose business facility. He said the name of the facility will be Bug Tussle Brooder.
Hall, who chairs the Waldoboro Planning Board, said that though the property is not located near the portion of Broad Cove known as Bug Tussle, he likes the name, and brooder is a reference to the startups he hopes to attract to the facility.
“It’s a play on the term used in chicken breeding. This will be an incubator space for new businesses. We hope to help brood new businesses,” Hall said.
Hall said that though several parties had looked at the property over the past year, it had remained on the market due to concerns about the necessary cleanup.
He said that though S and J Llama LLC does plan on an extensive rehabilitation of the commercial space, some of the concerns that drove buyers away in the past proved to be unfounded. For example, the building’s siding turned out to be simply wood and does not contain asbestos.
Hall said some of the planned rehabilitation work includes tightening up the building’s envelope, repairing gutter damage, and preparing the building for winter, in addition to assessing the next step of the repurposing effort.
He said he expects the work to take some time and the space likely won’t be ready for full use until spring.
He said the plan is to also add high-speed fiber-optic internet to the location in the late spring of 2017.
“The plan is to rent portions of the space to local businesses and people who want to do startups and who may not have enough space on their own. Whatever space people want, they can use as they wish,” Hall said.
According to a press release, initial plans are to make the property’s buildings more energy-efficient, while creating a mix of small offices, studios, and light manufacturing spaces.
According to the press release, the intention is to create a facility that will support regional craftspeople, artists looking for a studio space, and entrepreneurs, in addition to new and existing small businesses in need of startup or expansion space.
S and J Llama LLC is a family-owned business in Waldoboro, primarily engaged in the rehabilitation and rental of properties in the Midcoast.
The company is currently working on the restoration and energy retrofit of the Kennedy House at 970 Main St. in Waldoboro.
The LincolnHealth organization purchased the Fieldcrest property after the nursing home closed in 2008.
