A relatively new state redevelopment authority has acquired the former Hartland tannery, as it eyes revitalization of the blighted property.

The quasi-governmental Maine Redevelopment Land Bank Authority announced last week it now owns the shuttered tannery in downtown Hartland.

The acquisition marks the first in the state for the land bank, which launched in 2024.

“This is our first property, and it’s a big one — and a really important one,” said Tuck O’Brien, executive director of Maine Redevelopment on Monday. “You’d be hard pressed to find a property in the state of Maine that is more aligned with the mission and the purpose of our organization than this one.”

The land bank’s goal is to clean up the approximately 20-acre site along the Sebasticook River to make it suitable for future investors, O’Brien said. The property has three fundamental issues, he said: its function is obsolete, the building has degraded and the site is contaminated. 

Maine Redevelopment’s work is expected to include demolition of the nine structures, comprising 184,000 square feet. 

He called his organization “use-agnostic” and said it has no particular agenda for future use. Potential usescould include housing, commercial development, an industrial park, or even separating portions for town recreation areas.

Maine Redevelopment was expecting to apply by Tuesday for a $4 million cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program, which O’Brien said would cover the full cost of the cleanup project. 

If the EPA awards the grant, work would go out to bid later this year to be on the 2027 construction schedule, O’Brien said.

O’Brien offered an optimistic timeline of five years to get the property into new hands. He cautioned, however, that plans could change and some aspects of the project may move faster than others.

“We’ll have to demo the buildings, clean up the site, and then reposition it for its next chapter,” O’Brien said. “We’ll be doing that in partnership with the community and working with them very closely about what’s the marketplace for different uses, and what they want to see.”

The land bank is involved in dozens of projects across 10 Maine counties, O’Brien said. The scope of each and its level of involvement in each varies.

Hartland, which lost the tannery in 2020, has been on its radar since its inception, according to O’Brien.

The Legislature established the land bank in 2022, and it launched in 2024. Although the entity is technically separate from the state government, the law creating it says the land bank is to serve public purposes. 

The governor appoints nine members representing various interests to govern the authority as commissioners, and five high-ranking officials also serve on the board as nonvoting members. Hartland resident and business owner Robert “Bob” Bryant serves as the commissioner representing the 2nd Congressional District.

Per the law, the land bank is tasked with assisting municipalities and other entities with developing abandoned, blighted, environmentally hazardous or functionally obsolete properties to restore them to functional use.

“Our mission is to partner with communities to revitalize properties and reimagine their potential for Maine’s future,” the land bank says of itself. “We are catalysts for transformation, working alongside communities to build a more vibrant and resilient future for generations to come.”

The land bank gets funding for its operations from a state-imposed surcharge on construction and demolition debris disposal. The land bank can also issue bonds, apply for grants and partner with other entities for funding.

In the case of the tannery property, the acquisition itself cost nothing, O’Brien said, although Maine Redevelopment paid for engineering and legal services to close the deal.

The property had been owned by a bankruptcy trust of what was the Irving Tanning Co., O’Brien said. That company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005, according to information from the Hartland Historical Society.

The tannery, which had operated since the 1930s, closed for good in 2020. Its final operator, Tasman Leather Group, cited market shifts in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for the closure. At the time, the company employed 115 people.

“The title was a mess because of the bankruptcy,” O’Brien said. “One of the big things we can provide with these kinds of complicated sites, which often have really messy ownership histories, where it would be really hard for anybody to get a loan to work on the site, we can consolidate and (get a) clean title. That alone, in some cases, will be enough to get the property in a position where the private sector will invest.”

As for the property itself, a structural assessment determined none of the buildings is salvageable for future use, O’Brien said. Factors that led to their degradation include a lack of heat and water damage from the river.

O’Brien said contamination on site includes chemicals used for processing hides, fuel either in storage or leaked into the ground, and asbestos or lead.

The level of remediation will ultimately depend on the future use, he said. And that use will be determined in partnership with town officials and other community groups in the coming months.

Maine Redevelopment does not pay property taxes. In most communities where the land bank works, a goal is to restore value to properties and get them back on municipal tax rolls while spurring economic development.

“The Irving Tannery has long been an integral part of Hartland’s history and identity,” Hartland Town Manager Christopher Littlefield said in a statement. “Through this partnership, we have an opportunity to responsibly confront the site’s longstanding challenges while beginning a thoughtful, community-driven process to prepare the property for future use. Our goal is to ensure that any next chapter for this site reflects the values, priorities, and long-term vision of the people of Hartland.”