Built in 1844 on the banks of the Piscataquis River in the heart of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the Mayo Mill was occupied by companies that provided employment to a significant number of local residents over a period of 163 years. Manufacturing at the mill produced wool and wood products until it was finally decommissioned in 2007, a major blow to Maine’s least populous county with unemployment rates of approximately 11.5 percent. Thanks to an array of economic development partners, the Mayo Mill has a new, more diverse life. The redevelopment project will be the first of its kind in Piscataquis County – a modified mill complex for mixed use, using entirely renewable energy. Mayo Mill will house an economic hub of eight different businesses including a boutique hotel, a café, 22 residential apartments at modest rents for moderate-income residents, and a data center – the routing hub for newly expanded broadband internet access in this part of rural Maine. The project restores a beacon property and establishes a precedent for larger, complex, and innovative financial structures that can return vitality to rural downtowns.

“CEI worked with us to develop a financing package that leverages additional capital to reduce both risk and debt. It’s a complex financial structure enabling the revitalization of Mayo Mill with mixed usage and 100 percent renewable energy. The Arnold Development Group is analyzing other historic building opportunities in Maine to incorporate the successes achieved at the Mayo Mill into additional communities.”

–JONATHAN ARNOLD, Principal, Arnold Development Group

FINANCING: $2.5 million CEI construction loan, including participation by CEI Investment Notes, Inc., and a $2.2 million CEI State Historic Tax Credit equity investment; $200,000 investment from the Maine Community FoundatioN; $1 million permanent construction loan from Bangor Savings Bank

ADDITIONAL FINANCING PARTNERS: Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC), Northern Border Commission, Cordish Capital, Genesis Community Loan Fund, Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, U.S. Economic Development Administration, Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, USDA, and EPA

JOBS CREATED: 42

Thank you to the Maine Community Foundation for collaborating with us to produce our video!.com