Bucksport property sold for $1 confounds officials

Properties, infrastructure challenges underscore Bucksport’s economic development priorities

Aug. 11, 2026

By Emily Baer

BUCKSPORT—A discussion about the town’s property holdings, public pool and infrastructure development efforts were the focus of Bucksport’s community and economic development committee meeting on Aug. 10. 

Committee members discussed the current status of the long-stalled development of a property located at 27 Main Street. The parcel was sold to a developer for $1 in 2023 after sitting vacant since a fire destroyed a neighboring apartment building in 2013.

SFS Development LLC, an Ellsworth-based company, had proposed a mixed-use development but has since failed to make any progress on the project in the three years since the purchase.

Officials said last month that they have attempted to contact SFS Development on multiple occasions but have not heard back. The move to reacquire the property signals an escalation in their efforts and is indicative of local frustration that the lot has been sitting vacant for so long.

On Aug. 10, economic development director Rich Rotella confirmed that the site is zoned for residential or commercial use. The hope for the site is that a developer would take advantage of both zoning opportunities. But if the past is any indication, that may be a challenge.

“We tried for years to get [a commercial business] on the first floor,” said deputy mayor Mark Eastman. “But we couldn’t do it.”

Progress on the property will be delayed until the town works through the process to retake it, but the effort to reacquire and develop the property comes amid a larger effort by the town to sell the town’s real estate holdings. This spring, the town listed four properties for sale: 

• 0 Mechanic Street

• 0 Nicholson Avenue Extension

• 0 Pond Street

• 124 School Street

“We did move two of the four,” Rotella said in the meeting. “One is the old fire station up on School Street and the other is across from the superintendent's office on Mechanic Street.”

Rotella said that “there's a lot of work that needs to be done” to sell the remaining properties but the effort is ongoing.

In terms of other development, Rotella said that construction for a new Aroma Joe’s will be completed this fall, and that the drive-thru coffee shop “should be open by late October, early November.”

He also said that the town’s pier redevelopment project received no bids and he is now working with federal officials on next steps. The much anticipated waterfront infrastructure project, which is fully funded through congressionally directed spending appropriations secured by U.S. Senator Susan Collins, will transform the town dock into a 400-foot, year-round concrete-surfaced float with an ADA-compliant gangway and three-phase power to supply for cruise ships.

Tim Emery Municipal Pool

The committee also addressed the Tim Emery Municipal Pool.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at the pool [this summer],” Rotella said. “More than I'd like to admit.”

Town officials announced earlier this summer that the pool was leaking and needed repair. The pool, which has been operated by the Downeast YMCA since Emery retired as the town’s recreation director in 2017, is a summer staple for local residents, especially those with kids.

Despite multiple attempts to find and repair the leak--including with assistance from local contractors--the mystery remains and the pool has been closed all season. Still, Rotella hasn’t given up hope.

“We do have another idea that we want to try [but] we might not be able to get to that [it] until September or October,” he said.