RUMFORD – A group of Auburn investors, known as Rodman-Coach LLC, is the new owner of the former Thurston woodworking mill.

The 75,000-square-foot former mill and the nearly 17 acres on which it sits was purchased by the limited liability corporation at an auction last month. The mill was most recently owned by Saunders Bros., another woodworking company. The Rumford portion of that business was moved to Greenwood last year.

Agent for the group, Kevin Fletcher of Coldwell Banker Millett Realty in Auburn, said the purchase was made purely on speculation.

“The mill is going on the market for lease,” he said.

This is the first speculative property Rodman-Coach LLC has purchased in the Rumford area, he said.

Dan Thompson, one of the Rodman-Coach investors and owner of Property Resource Management in Auburn, said the LLC closed on the purchase on Dec. 23. The cost was $115,000 plus about $5,200 in back real estate taxes. Representatives of the LLC plan to meet with Scott Christiansen of the River Valley Growth Council sometime in the next couple of weeks to discuss possible uses for the property. He said he expects no activity at the site before spring.

The property, located four miles west of town along Route 2, is expected to become a part of a Pine Tree Zone, said Christiansen.

Such a zone, established by the state, is expected to encourage manufacturing development through a variety of tax advantages and incentives. It would be one part of the River Valley’s portion of the Greater Androscoggin County Pine Tree Zone. Others are located in Peru, Mexico and Canton, as well as at the newly created industrial park off Route 108 in Rumford.

The former mill, built in the 1960s, once housed several retail businesses and industries, including the Mammoth Mart discount retail store and a branch of G.H. Bass and Co. shoe manufacturers.

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