Green power lures tenants
Businesses wanting to practice what they preach lease an environmentally friendly home.
By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer
January 4, 2008
YARMOUTH — The Sparhawk Mill is attractive in many obvious ways: The 150-plus-year-old building is classic red-brick New England, boasts well-worn wooden architecture inside and is framed by the picturesque Royal River.
But the factor that appeals to many tenants of the refurbished mill lies in the building's bowels. The river's power has been harnessed and drives turbines, generating environmentally friendly electricity for tenants, with excess power sold to the regional grid.
This aspect of the building has been an attraction to businesses and individuals who care about reducing their environmental impact. The building has eight tenants, including a glass- blowing studio, marketing and telemarketing businesses, a medical acupuncturist's office and a workout studio.
While operational paper mills generate their own power through hydro systems, it's unusual for a renovated mill to use the technology.
The owners of Sparhawk, which is not yet profitable, hope that their ability to offer green power continues to build interest in the mill at a time when there is growing focus on energy conservation and environmental concerns in general. LEED- certified buildings are becoming more common, and businesses and even municipalities around the state are exploring alternative power generation, often in the form of wind power.
Sparhawk was a good fit for Steve Darnley, owner of Tugboat Creative, a firm that does marketing and branding for socially and environmentally responsible businesses.
"All the infrastructure was here in the mill -- they already had water running under the building," said Darnley. "Just to be able to work into a space that was turnkey green power was an no- brainer."
For Darnley and other tenants, the environmental nature of the building they inhabit speaks to the type of business they're in.
"To me, it sort of underscores, it strengthens, what clients and the public already know about my brand," said Darnley, who bought carbon offsets when his move from Portland to Yarmouth increased his commute. "It was a logical step in the growth of my business to be able to do things that are more sustainable, to walk the walk."
The mill also made sense for Dr. Lisa Belisle, who practices medical acupuncture and integrative health. Belisle said she works with patients to try to find joy in their lives and to practice sustainablity.
In her office at Sparhawk, the sound of the Royal River is everywhere, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Belisle, who also writes on sustainablity issues, also sees her tenancy in the green-powered mill as an unobtrusive example to other people.
"I was looking for a way to practice what I preach," she said.
Darnley said that although the green aspect of the building is cool, he's careful not to over-leverage it with potential clients. Going green is a very popular thing right now and can be over- hyped, he said.
"I would have had green power if it was trendy or not," said Darnley. "Myself, my clients, we're all doing it because it's the right thing to do first ... and then it's really cool and there's an economic savings."
Sparhawk Mill Associates LLC bought the 2.5-acre property in July 2006 for $1.5 million, according to Daniel Coyne of Coyne Commercial Brokers, who is one of three partners in the Sparhawk.
When Coyne and his partners considered buying the property, the power-generation aspect was a positive, he said.
"We felt it's really important to people now, more and more," said Coyne. "We're leaving really a negative footprint."
There are three 100-horsepower turbines that have a capacity of 270 kilowatts apiece. Most years, the turbines can run for all but about eight weeks, due to low flow.
The annual typical output is 850,000 kilowatt hours. A bit more than half goes to the grid, the remaining to the tenants.
Coyne said he's taken some prospective tenants down to see the turbines, a bone-chilling...
space where water pours out of three pipes to reconnect with the Royal River.
"They love it -- they just think it's very interesting," said Coyne. "They don't want to have their offices down here ... "
The mill is warmed with electrical heat -- something that would be prohibitively expensive in many buildings.
"Where we're running our own power, it makes sense," said Coyne.
The space in the mill goes for $8 to $16 a square foot, and the tenants don't have to worry about electric or heat costs.
Justin Lamontagne, an assistant broker with CB Richard Ellis/The Boulos Co., said Sparhawk's lease figures appear to be competitive when compared with similar properties, such as The Lafayette Center in Kennebunk, Fort Andross in Brunswick and Saco Island in Saco.
Each was a manufacturing mill that was converted into office and retail space, and their lease rates range from $10 to $18 a square foot, depending on the size, location and condition of the space.
But the power and heat-generation aspect of Sparhawk is a big factor as well, Lamontagne noted, "and not just because of the potential savings in utility costs."
"More and more, potential tenants are attracted to 'green' buildings and office spaces, so any environmentally friendly resource that conserves energy and reduces waste is a fantastic perk," said Lamontagne. "Many new, progressive tenants would find the Sparhawk Mill's hydroelectricity capability extremely appealing."
Coyne said 14,000 square feet of the 24,000-square-foot mill is occupied. Sparhawk is in talks with several potential tenants, and if they move in, the property will be profitable for Coyne and his partners.
Coyne said Sparhawk Associates would like to add a residential component to the mill, possibly converting the top floor to condos, or even adding a new building to the property. But the site is zoned commercial, so a change would have to be made through the town.
One of the biggest tenants at Sparhawk is GrowSmart Maine, a group that seeks to build sustainable prosperity through better land use and more efficient government. They business has been there for four years, according to founder Alan Caron.
"We're committed to rebuilding downtowns, reusing buildings," said Caron. "It was perfect for us."
Caron said a legislative push to increase the historic tax credits for redevelopment might help the reuse of more buildings like the Sparhawk mill.
Beth Nagusky, GrowSmart's energy and climate director and the former director of Maine's Office of Energy Independence and Security, said she saw growing interest among individuals and businesses "to produce their own renewable energy or to buy renewable energy, or offsets to reduce their carbon footprints."
"I think it's going to lead to a policy discussion at the Legislature," she said.
In particular, she said there is a push afoot to change laws so that smaller power producers, such as homeowners with solar panels or a windmill, get paid for the excess energy they put on the grid. That would speed up the financial recovery of investment in renewable energy technology and hopefully spur more interest.
Nagusky noted that many of Maine's towns grew around mills situated on rivers for power.
"This is going back to the future, with hydro, solar, wind and hopefully tidal," she said.
Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:
mwickenheiser@pressherald.com
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