The client
The Congregation of the Presentation of Mary, Inc., is a Catholic congregation founded in France in 1796, with a primary mission centered on education. The congregation’s first U.S. community was established in Glens Falls, N.Y., followed by provinces in Methuen, Mass., and Hudson, N.H. (later moved to Manchester, N.H.), to serve families who had relocated to work in the paper and textile mills. Over time, the sisters founded schools across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In 2012, the Methuen and Manchester provinces united to form the U.S. Province. Today, the sisters continue their educational and service ministries through Presentation of Mary Academy in Hudson, Rivier University in Nashua, N.H., and outreach in 18 countries across five continents.
The property
The Biddeford Pool, Miane, property was 13 acres with over 1000 feet of ocean frontage and included a full pond and half of another. With bold views of the Atlantic Ocean and Maine coastline, it was a highly distinctive coastal site that was environmentally sensitive and had a high public profile. It was an extraordinary property.
The property included a five-story, 40,000-square-foot wood-frame building constructed in the 1890s as the Ocean View Hotel. The hotel declined during the Great Depression and World War II, and the property was acquired by the sisters in 1948. It served as a provincial house, then as a high school and boarding school until 1972, and later became the Marie Joseph Spiritual Retreat Center in 1978. At its peak, the center was recognized by USA Today as one of the top 10 spiritual retreat facilities in the nation.
The challenge
After the COVID-19 pandemic, the sisters had difficulty hiring hospitality staff, and a declining number of sisters were able to work. They also faced unsustainable operating costs, including cost-prohibitive but necessary fire safety upgrades.
At the same time the Marie Joseph Spiritual Center was in decline, the sisters’ community was contracting. They sought to review their finances, community residential and care needs, and ministry sustainability. In April 2023, the sisters made the difficult decision to close the retreat center after the 2023 retreat season and sell the property to help cover their future needs.
As they assessed the property’s transition, three major challenges became clear:
- Zoning permitted single-family residential only, and due to wetlands setbacks and other site restrictions, it was estimated that only four lots would be permitted. The city, neighbors, and local environmental groups would strenuously oppose any attempt to increase density or consider a more intense use. The sisters were not interested in a transaction or sale that would cause controversy.
- The pool of qualified buyers was limited due to land use and property restrictions, high costs, and a building that contributed no value and was presumed would be demolished.
- The sisters needed a buyer that would pay market value for the property, respect their wishes that the land be preserved while continuing to allow public access, and honor their stewardship of the land.
The solution
The sisters engaged Plante Moran Realpoint (PMR) to oversee and support them throughout the property transition process. Once the retreat center’s closing was announced publicly, the sisters received a flood of unsolicited inquiries from commercial and residential brokers, developers, and investors. As preparations began to market the property through an offering memorandum process, inquiries were also made to potential interested parties already known to the sisters.
One of those parties was a local land trust whose mission is to conserve and manage its owned and easement-held environmentally sensitive coastal properties for the benefit of the natural environment, while also providing low-impact and respectful public access. The sisters and the trust had supported one another over the years. Negotiations proceeded quickly. Given its level of interest and the speed with which it acted, the property was not taken to market.
PMR served as the sisters’ exclusive real estate advisor, guiding each step of the process from planning and the request for proposals (RFP) process through due diligence, city planning meetings, due diligence coordination, and final disposition coordination.
The benefit
This opportunistic sale produced strong outcomes for the sisters and closely aligned with their long-term objectives for the property. The purchase agreement was executed without buyer conditions or contingencies, and the property was sold as is, where is, with faults, with no buyer due diligence or approval periods. A specific performance purchase agreement was signed in mid-July 2023, supported by a substantial nonrefundable initial payment, and closing followed in early October 2023, just eight days after the sisters held their final retreat.
The transaction price was above appraised value, providing meaningful financial support for the sisters’ ongoing life and care needs. By selling to the trust for conservation use, the sisters avoided what may have been a lengthy and highly public land use and zoning process with an alternative buyer. Prior to closing, a conservation easement covering the entire property was recorded over the property in perpetuity, limiting the property to conservation use and requiring public access. The buyer was also required, at its own expense, to demolish the buildings and restore the land to its native habitat.
Ultimately, the sisters achieved their two primary goals: preserving the property for conservation with public access and realizing sale proceeds above expectations. The transaction also respects the sisters’ 75 years of stewardship of the land and their legacy at Biddeford Pool. Since closing, the sisters from Marie Joseph Spiritual Center have been comfortably relocated, the buildings have been demolished, and habitat replacement and restoration efforts are ongoing by the trust.
