OXFORD — After years of committee meetings, planning and debates, the Oxford Town Office is officially for sale.
The Oxford Town Office at 85 Pleasant Street is for sale Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat
The 1.2 acre property is being listed by Broker Patrick Casalinova of The Fletcher Group in Portland. The 12,420 square foot building was constructed about 1900 and served as Oxford’s school for decades. The town acquired it in 1998 and converted it to its municipal offices.
Oxford residents authorized the Board of Selectmen to sell the property at the annual town meeting on June 5. However, Town Manager Adam Garland found it difficult to schedule a commercial appraiser to assign a market value; the earliest he expects that will happen is September. Without an appraisal in hand Casalinova advised the town to list it as soon as possible anyway, as open to offers, to take advantage of the hot real estate market. The assessed value is $800,000.
“It will be eight to 10 weeks before we will get the appraisal,” said Garland on Monday. “In the mean time, the board has the right to accept or reject any reasonable offer that is made [on the town office].”
According to Casalinova, it is not usual for commercial properties to be listed as a “call for offers.” With the real estate market hot streak continuing he felt it more important to get marketing going for the town office than to assign a price to it.
“For a signature building in a rural area, we wouldn’t expect it sell overnight,” he said. “The sooner we are able to start the marketing process, the better.”
Casalinova has already fielded a handful of inquiries since the listing went live last week, two locally and two from developers further afield.
As a local resident, Casalinova contacted Garland when he read in the Sun Journal that voters had authorized the sale of the property.
“I’ve been a resident for years,” he said. “And I have sold real estate in Oxford. When I saw it would be sold it made sense to step up and offer my services in a way that benefits the town and me.”
As an agency within Keller Williams’ Commercial Realty, The Fletcher Group has access to its government services division, an asset when marketing municipal properties. The online listing for 85 Pleasant Street can be viewed here at: https://www.newenglandcommercialproperty.com/listing/mur2Rq2AQFM/85-Pleasant-St-Oxford-ME-04270.
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