Featuring Julie Gondzar, Director of Development, Greater Portland Landmarks On this episode of The Boulos Beat, Greg Boulos sits down with Julie Gondzar, Director of Development at Greater Portland Landmarks, to discuss her passion for historic preservation, and the importance of protecting Portland's architectural legacy while embracing thoughtful growth. Greg and Julie discuss the balance between preserving Portland's historic character and meeting the demands of modern development, the importance of educating the public about preservation, and Greater Portland Landmarks' initiatives to engage the next generation of advocates. Julie concludes by sharing the organization's vision for the future, including a fresh approach to its longstanding "Places in Peril" program.
Episode 77: Featuring Julie Gondzar, Director of Development, Greater Portland Landmarks
On this episode of The Boulos Beat, Greg Boulos sits down with Julie Gondzar, Director of Development at Greater Portland Landmarks, to discuss her passion for historic preservation, and the importance of protecting Portland's architectural legacy while embracing thoughtful growth.
Greg and Julie discuss the balance between preserving Portland's historic character and meeting the demands of modern development, the importance of educating the public about preservation, and Greater Portland Landmarks' initiatives to engage the next generation of advocates. Julie concludes by sharing the organization's vision for the future, including a fresh approach to its longstanding "Places in Peril" program.
MSD 26-0129 Julie Gondzar
Mon, Jul 13, 2026 7:33AM • 45:10
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Greater Portland Landmarks, historic preservation, Julie Gondzar, community engagement, Snowy Elk Coffee Company, Union Station, Children's Museum of Maine, Portland Observatory, Places in Peril, affordable housing, adaptive reuse, economic development, U.S. Custom House, preservation education, stakeholder collaboration.
SPEAKERS
Speaker 1, Julie Gondzar, Speaker 2, Greg Boulos
Greg Boulos00:01
I'd like to welcome our listeners to the Boulos Beat podcast. I'm your host, Greg Boulos. The Boulos Company is Northern New England's largest commercial real estate services firm, with offices in Portland, Maine, as well as Manchester and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We've been selling and leasing real estate in Maine and New Hampshire since 1975. This podcast is designed to provide insight into Maine's leaders, its movers and shakers. And speaking of movers and shakers, I'd like to welcome Julie Gondzar, director of development for Greater Portland Landmarks. Julie joined Greater Portland Landmarks as its director of development in January 2025. Following her move from Wyoming, originally from New England, she was excited to return and establish roots back in New England. Julie earned a master's degree from Plymouth State University and has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. Her passion for historic preservation is deeply tied to Portland's history of marine culture, working ports, and beautiful architecture. Julie currently resides in Scarborough with her husband Scott and daughter Abby, you'll find her enjoying the coast and the beaches year-round, whether surfing, paddleboarding, or fly fishing. She looks forward to connecting with supporters, engaging with the community, and champion preservation efforts. Welcome, Julie. Julie, you recently joined Greater Port Landmarks after living and working in Wyoming, what drew you back to Maine and to this role specifically?
Julie Gondzar01:27
I really was looking for more of a sense of community, and we really missed our family. So one of the main drivers for moving back to Maine was to be closer to family and have more of a sense of a community for myself, my husband, and our daughter. And I was also looking for a new career path. I've had a lot of different types of careers in my past, and I was really anxious to step into the nonprofit world, and my background has sort of led me, you know, naturally to the role of development. I love relationships, I love people, and I really wanted to support the preservation action that's been happening in Southern Maine.
Greg Boulos02:16
And what I find interesting is you wear two different career hats, don't you? Your director of development at Greater Portland Landmarks, like we just talked about, but also founder and co-owner, I believe, of Snowy Elk Coffee Company, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Can you tell us about Snowy Elk Coffee Company, which I believe you founded with your husband in 2018 And how were you? How were you able to do both jobs?
Julie Gondzar02:40
Yeah. So my husband has been the driver of the coffee company, and Snowy Elk Coffee is an award-winning specialty coffee roastery, like you said, in Wyoming, and it was based there. We started it in 2017 and you know he's always wanted to own and run a business, and we really wanted to do it together as well. And I, over time, really grew into loving business ownership. We originally were thinking about opening a craft a craft brewery, but my husband started to have a little bit of a sensitivity to gluten, so can't really open a brewery when you can't taste the beer. And with his background in food science and organic chemistry, we thought about opening a craft coffee roastery. The complexities of brewing beer are similar to the complexities of roasting coffee, so it was a natural transition to decide to open a coffee roastery. So the roastery's been open for about nine years now. It's based in Wyoming, and it's really inspired by our love for outdoor adventure. We loved fly fishing out west, the hunting, the hiking, the camping, and so we wanted the coffee to be a reflection of our passion, and we wanted the brand to represent the outdoor lifestyle. And so we were in the engine room for many, many years building this business, building the brand. I did a lot of the sales and marketing and business development. My husband did a lot of the work, like I said, in the engine room, being you know the master roaster, doing the production, the fulfillment, and it's it's a lot of work as you know to you know own a business, and we spent a few years working really hard to get the coffee roastery up and off the ground, and then over time we were able to hire and bring on some people to help us. So we now have an assistant roaster, a fulfillment director, and a CEO, and we were able to train them to run the business, so that we could have a little bit more freedom to step out of the engine room and be able to move closer to families. Our team does an incredible job running the roastery back in Wyoming, and our coffee is shipped everywhere, all over the country. So we're really grateful. Now that my husband and I are in Maine, we can focus a little bit more on our careers and spend more time with family and be closer to the ocean. That was one thing that we really needed in our life that we didn't have in Wyoming.
Greg Boulos05:23
Yeah, not not much ocean in Wyoming.
Julie Gondzar05:25
Not much water in Wyoming. In fact, my background, my previous job worked in the industry of water management, drought mitigation, and the drought is a real thing out west. And growing up, I grew up in Massachusetts. I spent 18 years of my childhood coming to Scarborough and Portland, and so a huge chunk of my childhood and my life is by the ocean and in the water.
Greg Boulos05:54
I can see why you'd miss it. Getting back to Greater Portland Landmarks, for listeners who may not know the organization well? How do you describe the mission of Greater Portland Landmarks today?
Julie Gondzar06:06
Greater Portland Landmarks is an advocacy group that encourages and promotes preservation, and one of the things that's a huge part of the organization's mission is educating on the value of preservation, and. advocating on why it's a healthy investment for the future of Portland. It's all about connection. It's about this sense of place, sense of belonging, and being able to connect the community to their history. So that's that's really what the organization, you know, does and what we encourage.
Greg Boulos06:43
And am I correct that Greater Portland Landmarks was founded after the demolition of Union Station down on St. John Street? I think everybody will remember or know of the iconic photograph of the clock tower tumbling down. Do you think Portland still carries lessons from that particular moment,
Julie Gondzar07:02
I think so. I think that that moment in time in 1961, when the Union Station was torn down, I think that that was the beginning of a very strong and active preservation movement, and there were some really passionate people that were working really hard to save that building. It was a huge transportation hub for Portland, but as cars were becoming a lot more prevalent, the you know the use of the Union Station was becoming obsolete. And that group of people that were working really hard to save the Union Station ultimately became Greater Portland Landmarks, which started in 1964, and I think there's a huge lesson in that moment because the tearing down and the demolition of the Union Station-it's something that I think almost everybody knows about. There's paintings and pictures everywhere that you see of this beautiful clock tower coming down. So it was a moment in time where this awareness of the importance of preservation still carries through today. Once you tear a building down, you tend to lose a lot of the stories and the history, and you you can't ever bring that back. So I do think that that lesson carries through, and hopefully our organization can continue to show you know what the value is of preserving these buildings, spaces, and stories.
Greg Boulos08:34
So, Julie, fast forward to recent memory in the last year or so, the Children's Museum of Maine on Free Street. That's a building that you folks wanted to save, but unfortunately, I guess you weren't able to. What what's that all about?
Julie Gondzar08:50
Yeah, that is that's a really great example of of our work, and you know I think it's it also brings up an example of thinking about preservation versus growth. Preservation isn't a fight against growth, and we don't want it to be. I think that the important piece that came from the Portland Museum of Art and 142 Free Street is the need for collaboration, and the need for creative and the need for creative solutions. I think it's important that Greater Portland Landmarks perspective is heard. We want to be a resource for the community and share why preservation is important, but we also want to be an organization that promotes different ways to come to a solution, and that was something that the organization that we tried really hard to engage in. But we can't save everything, and but there are some things that we can save, and so it's important I think to look at. At the opportunities where we were able to save buildings and preserve stories, and just learn from the ones that we were not able to.
Greg Boulos10:07
I was surprised that a compromise couldn't have been made on that building. I always thought, okay, PMA wants to tear down the building. Why not save the facade and adapt that into the new structure, and I don't know if that was ever explored because it's it's too late now. But that's the type of compromise that I think could have worked.
Julie Gondzar10:28
I believe that that was a possibility, and it is unfortunate that the facade you know wasn't saved. Looking to other options and just looking at the future deconstruction and salvage is something that we are trying to have more conversations about. You know, it's it's always a good solution to keep a building and maybe you know use it in a different way. But at the end of the day, if a building cannot be saved, the deconstruction and salvage process is really important, and I'm not sure if that was done for this building, but that's something that we really want to build more programming and education about. And we have a lot of partners and businesses that are in the preservation industry that that do a lot of that and would like to have conversations about that. So that's an important piece that came out of that situation too.
Greg Boulos11:28
Switching over to the Portland Observatory up on Monjoy Hill, that's an iconic landmark. What's Greater Portland's Landmarks involvement with that?
Julie Gondzar11:39
So Greater Portland Landmarks is the steward of that building, and we we've been for many years. It is a place that we open up May through October, and we facilitate tours through the observatory. And people come from all over. Actually, people come from all over the world, we have 1000s of visitors every year, every summer, and our role is to educate people on the history of the building. And if you go inside, it's really fabulous. We've had a lot of educational boards and displays that talk all about the history, the man that built it, what it was used for, how it was used, the different pieces that were reconstructed. There's been you know some rehabilitation on it over the years.
Greg Boulos12:35
Who owns it? Is it the city of Portland? The
Julie Gondzar12:37
city of Portland owns it. Yes, and Greater Portland Landmarks is the steward of that building.
Greg Boulos12:41
It wasn't originally designed as a place that whoever at the city could look down and see what ships were coming in to the harbor, and then they could send out a notice to the workers to get down to the docks. That's what I heard.
Julie Gondzar12:55
Yes, exactly. So it was a signal tower and
Greg Boulos12:59
flags.
Julie Gondzar13:00
With flags, all these different flags, which you'll see when you go through the observatory, they're they're all still there, and that's exactly right. You would go to the top of of the observatory, be able to see what ships were coming into port, and put the appropriate flag up so the community knew what to expect and could be ready and prepare.
Greg Boulos13:24
Julie, you have a program called Places in Peril. Can you tell us about that?
Julie Gondzar13:29
Places in Peril was a program that Landmarks was very active with a few years ago. It's currently a program that we are reevaluating. As you know, we've had new leadership and a transition over the past few years, and so we're really working hard to prioritize which programs are really important for the organization and what we think are important for the community. Actually, I was just having a conversation with our our amazing executive director, Kate, and we were talking about calling it maybe places in progress and changing a little bit about what the program is, but it used to be a program where we would find buildings or structures that needed attention and needed some love and needed to be protected, and then we'd focus our attention on that. It is something that we want to continue doing in the future because that's really important for the greater Portland area.
Greg Boulos14:26
And the goal, I assume, was to bring attention to properties that you felt might fall down or weren't being properly handled, or I'm assuming.
Julie Gondzar14:35
Yes, it would. Yes, it's to bring attention to that property so that we can have some strong advocacy and really send a message to the community to help us support to save what you know whatever that was a structure or a home.
Greg Boulos14:52
And when you come up with that, is it like 10 buildings every year that you come up with, or does it vary?
Julie Gondzar14:59
I think it varies. But when
Greg Boulos15:00
you come up with that list, do you let the people know ahead of time? The owners know ahead of time about this, or do they learn about it when it's published?
Julie Gondzar15:09
You know, I don't know that. That's a program that we haven't done in a few years, and that was before my time, so I'm not exactly sure of the details. Places in
Speaker 115:16
peril.
Julie Gondzar15:17
Yeah. Oh, you don't
Greg Boulos15:17
do that now.
Julie Gondzar15:18
No, we don't do that anymore. We we it was a program that we that we had probably about three years ago, and there's a few programs that we are reevaluating to see if it's something that we need to continue doing, and maybe it needs to be changed or improved, and that's one of those programs. So we're really hopeful to maybe bring it back and change it and make it a little bit better, or
Greg Boulos15:43
I like the idea of changing the name because it has a negative connotation. Places, and I'll give an example. I remember this is long before your time or Kate's time, but House Island, I think, was named one of the places in peril, and Mike Scarx, who owned the island at the time didn't know about it and learned about it and was not happy, so you know.
Julie Gondzar16:08
Any opportunity to change a name to something more positive, I think, is can be more captivating for you know anybody that's listening or paying attention. So I do think that you know there's opportunity for you know a name change and taking a positive spin on it, and I love the idea of maybe calling it places in progress because that's really what
Greg Boulos16:34
it is, and maybe give people a heads up that they yeah because I say this on a lot of the podcasts communication is half the battle, whether it's at work or in life or relationships. I
Julie Gondzar16:44
thought that I do a good job with that
Greg Boulos16:46
myself, but I've I've heard that's that's effective.
Julie Gondzar16:49
If you don't have communication, then life is very hard.
Greg Boulos16:56
Portland's changing so rapidly. What excites you most about where the city is headed, and what concerns you.
Julie Gondzar17:04
What excites me most about where the city is headed is I think that growth is really exciting, and it's really exciting to see the changes that that Portland is going through, the development. What I am noticing most in in my role as director of development, and I've been with Greater Portland Landmarks now for just over a year and a half, or just about a year and a half, and we're really building a lot of relationships with real estate and developers. And my background, I actually have a background in science, so I kind of took a non-traditional route into the industry of historic preservation. So there's a lot that I'm learning still. But one of the things that I'm seeing that I think is incredible is the attention that Portland is giving to affordable housing, and the buildings that are being used as adaptive reuse for affordable housing, and there is a lot of attention. I think you know real estate is putting a lot of attention to that, and developers. I think I've seen some great examples of that, and it's just really exciting. Obviously, there's a need for housing in Portland. I think back to the '60s and '70s when the preservation movement was really becoming strong and active, there was a lot of removal of homes because of urban renewal and
Greg Boulos18:32
technical arterial, Spring Street, Spring Street
Julie Gondzar18:35
arterial, and the neighborhoods of Bayside and Munjoy Hill had, I believe, 1000s of homes that were removed because of this expansion, and so now we have a shortage of housing, which there's a lot of complexities to that. So that's the really exciting piece that I'm seeing from my perspective in Portland.
Greg Boulos18:58
Yeah, the Franklin. One of the effects of the Franklin Artil, and I'm sure when they built it, they thought it was a good idea because of traffic and getting traffic in and out of the city. But it bifurcated that whole neighborhood.
Julie Gondzar19:09
It did,
Greg Boulos19:09
and it's since being breached over, you know, because with the developers on the on the East End. But for a long time, that was a physical barrier, and developers just didn't go beyond that.
Julie Gondzar19:21
And it can be hard. You know, we talk about. I've I've talked a lot about in my career geographical barriers and my background. You know, coming from Colorado, Wyoming area, there's a lot of geographical barriers that prevent community and culture. And it's really interesting when I look at Portland, and you look at technically a geographical barrier like Franklin Street or a major highway that separates neighborhoods and communities. It is a barrier just on a smaller level, but it does the same thing. It separates the communities. It can, you know. It can destroy the heritage in some way, and so we have to think about these things when the planning process is happening. And Greater Portland Landmarks is trying to be more proactive in getting into those conversations. We want to help shape future projects and and be a part of that conversation.
Greg Boulos20:20
Yeah, my my impression of Greater Portland Landmarks, and I used to serve on the board a long time ago, but it seemed like Greater Portland Landmarks would kind of jump in at the last moment with developers, which created some resentment. What I think they do now-tell me if I'm wrong-is try to get into a project early, talking to the developer early, so that they can have some influence over the project, and so it's not an adversary relationship. Is that
Julie Gondzar20:45
that's accurate? Yeah, yeah. You know, we don't want to be confrontational, and I, you know, I do think that this idea of being collaborative versus confrontational is important because, as an advocacy organization, we we do kind of have to be both, but we have to choose the right moment to push back hard and choose the right moment to be collaborative. I think really, if you want a good result at the end of the day, I believe that success ultimately comes from collaboration. But we're always going to have a position on a building or. or on a space, or on a place, and we're always going to lean towards the side of of preservation. But you're right. in In the past, and of course, the organization, like you know, many has gone through challenges over the years. You know, leadership changes, and over the years, there have been moments where we were not as proactive as we could have been, and we really believe, and our leadership now really believes that we need to get a seat at the table early, be in the conversation, help in the planning process, and be a resource for any new development and any conversation that talks about growth in Portland, and so that's really something that we're trying to work hard to to be.
Greg Boulos22:07
You know, Portland continues to attract outside investment and national attention. How does Portland grow, in your opinion, without losing the character that made people want to come here in the first place?
Julie Gondzar22:20
Well, I think it's a balance. I think we, I think people come to Portland, people live here, they visit here, they start businesses here because of the character. If you compare Portland to other big cities, it's really starkly different. It's very starkly different. The skyline is beautiful. The architecture has a lot of history, and I think Portland's done a really good job to keep that unique character, and I think that's that's why people love it here. And we have the working waterfront, which is beautiful.
Greg Boulos22:52
You know, I had friends come up from DC recently, and they all they wanted to focus on it was the old port, going down. You know, staying in the old port in a hotel, and exploring the old port, and I think that you know, for first-time visitors say to Portland, that's a huge attraction because of those old buildings,
Julie Gondzar23:10
and the historic districts that they reside in. I think you know the standards that we have for historic districts have been wonderful, and our ability to be on the front lines of creating those districts has been great, and yeah, people want to spend time there, and there's a reason for that. I think preservation ultimately increases quality of life. If we don't have a unique, distinctive character, then you're going to lose people. And I mean, I always go back to this philosophy of connection and belonging. I think ultimately people genuinely want that, and they're going to be drawn to places that have that. And Portland has that because, in a large way, of Greater Portland landmarks and all the work that we've done to keep that. But again, you have to balance this growth. Like I said, you know, the goal isn't to fight growth. The goal is to have very thoughtful architecture and thoughtful planning, and to do it carefully and have convers have constructive conversations.
Greg Boulos24:11
You know, from from your perspective, Julie, what are some of the misconceptions developers and property owners have about historic preservation?
Julie Gondzar24:20
I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that there are some heavy barriers that cannot be passed, and there are lots of things and conversations that our director of advocacy is having with the city on different types of preservation opportunities, but I think that preservation it shouldn't be as scary as perhaps what the perception might be. There's a lot of solutions, and I think that there's a lot of opportunity to be creative, and I think that you know one of the reasons. That we push the education piece so much is to educate people on why preservation is important. Sometimes I think people think, "Oh no, we're opening Pandora's box. I'm not going to be able to fix my porch because of preservation rules. And in some cases, there may be limitations. But I think in a lot of cases, if you understand the value of preservation, then the drive and the motivation becomes a little bit different, and there will be ways that you can change and alter and improve your property or the structure in a way that preserves part of it also.
Greg Boulos25:39
And on the flip side, what are some of the misconceptions do you think preservationists have sometimes about developers?
Julie Gondzar25:48
Well, that's an interesting question. Maybe a misperception that preservationists have about developers is that they're not thinking about preservation, because I've been very surprised. Just and of course I'm you know new to the area and learning a lot. I've been very surprised how passionate some developers are about preservation and how how much of that conversation goes into the numbers and the planning and their decision making. I mean, there is an incredible building, 460-five Congress Street, which is being done by Jim Brady, and he is developing that building into a hotel. And his passion for preservation really surprises me, down to the fine, fine details. And there are other developers that have a heart for preservation also. And perhaps that's something that preservationists don't always consider is in the background when they're making their decisions,
Greg Boulos27:01
Jim's a excellent developer and a class act, and a preservationist.
Julie Gondzar27:07
He is and a
Greg Boulos27:08
developer, so he's all of that.
Julie Gondzar27:10
Absolutely,
Greg Boulos27:12
Julie. How does preservation actually support economic development rather than slow it down?
Julie Gondzar27:19
I think it brings it brings in people. It keeps the economy strong. Businesses stay strong. People visit. People want to live here. I wanted to live here. I I live I live in Scarborough, but I I you know work in Portland. I live in the greater Portland area. I do business in Portland. It's very attractive. This city is very attractive because of preservation, and that that makes for a good market and ultimately a good economy and there's no shortage of growth here, which is always a positive sign. Is
Greg Boulos27:51
there a project in Portland that you think represents the the right balance between preservation and modern development? Can you think of one? The
Julie Gondzar28:01
Monument Hotel is a very, very good example of preservation and modernization, and I know there are others. And the
Greg Boulos28:11
Monument Hotel, excuse me, is the one Jim Brady's doing.
Julie Gondzar28:14
Yes, and as I'm speaking about it, I may probably think of others because oh I can think of another one right now too. So I'll speak on the Monument Hotel because we've had a tour inside that building multiple times, and it used to be a bank, as you know, and the the rooms and the way that they're restoring the building-they're using historic tax credits. They made the numbers work so that you know this can happen. It's a great balance between preservation and modernization because it's going to highlight both. When people go into that building, they're going to see there's going to be a lot of pieces that have always been there, the marble on the walls. They're keeping a lot of the structures that were part of the bank, but they're modernizing it too to make it more livable for this era and for business. Another example is the Safford House on 93 High Street, which used to be the headquarters for Greater Portland Landmarks, it's now owned by Woodhall. They purchased the building, and the building needed a lot of work, and that's exactly what they did. They they preserved it, and they won a preservation award for their preservation efforts of this of this building, the Stafford House, but they also modernized it to be an office space, and I encourage anybody to knock on the door and go in and ask just to you know look around. They're very open and very friendly. The work that that they did in their historic preservation division is really really beautiful, and you go in and it still feels like an old building. You can still kind of feel, you know, the history and the stories, but down to the cabinets and some of the woodworking, they really did a great job to modernize it, and now it's an incredibly useful space, which is fantastic. So those are two two projects that just come to the forefront of my mind right now.
Greg Boulos30:24
If you could save one threatened historic structure anywhere in Portland, what would it be and why?
Julie Gondzar30:31
This question, I really like this question, and my answer might not exactly be answering your question, but I'm going to use this answer anyway. I think that I would like to highlight the importance of the U.S. Custom House in Portland. That structure, there is a there's a good chance that the federal government will dispose of that building, and there's a lot more that will come to light over the next coming months. But what Greater Portland Landmarks is doing right now, we talked about being proactive and getting ahead of things, is we have been having lots of conversations with the city, and there's this wonderful group called the Friends of the U.S. Custom House, in which we've partnered with, and we're working really hard to develop a feasibility study or feasibility plan for what the future use of the Custom House could be, so that we are ready when the Custom House, if it becomes a building that is no longer owned by the federal government. We are ready with a plan to save it and preserve it, because you never know what might happen. The last thing that we want is for that building to not be preserved and restored and open to the public. That is an incredible building. You've been in there. I've been in there. It's
Greg Boulos32:01
gorgeous.
Julie Gondzar32:01
The and you know you can't get in there right now unless you know the people in the building or you have an office in there. It's not open to the public, and it should be. It is an incredible space with a lot of history. So that's a building that is in the pipeline for having a strong advocacy for, and we're already doing the work for it.
Greg Boulos32:25
And I thought for a brief time that building came on the market along with a lot of others under President Trump and Elon Musk. So it
Julie Gondzar32:35
was on the list for removal. There was a list that came out a year ago, or maybe a little bit less than a year ago, and the custom house was on the chopping block. It was on that list, so we knew right away. That's when we knew. Okay, we need to take action and make sure we have a plan to save the custom house. And then the list disappeared, and it's been very uncertain as to whether. But but there's a pretty good, you know. It will likely come under threat at some point in the future, and so we are the organization that needs to be the voice for the custom house. If the building has a voice, it needs to be us, and we need to be able to have a plan for what that building is going to be in the future.
Greg Boulos33:19
It would seem that that would go on the list of buildings to sell because there's no use in the building other than a couple of offices. I mean, it's there's a few
Julie Gondzar33:31
federal offices in that building, and that's it. Go
Greg Boulos33:34
anywhere.
Julie Gondzar33:34
And there used to be it used to be used as like a wedding venue or event venue, but they're not doing that anymore. But it's a space that you know we kind of envision it as like the visitor center for Portland or the history center for Portland because there really isn't a hub for that downtown. We have all these cruise ships coming in and all these visitors coming in. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have this central space where you could go and learn about the history of Portland, and it was right inside the custom house, right on the water, right on Fourth Street.
Greg Boulos34:11
Yeah, great idea, great and great way, great first impression for anybody coming into the city.
Julie Gondzar34:15
So right now we are working on getting a feasibility study started, so that we can have more answers. What kind of work needs to be done on the building? How much is it going to cost? What are the options for how to use the space, and so much more.
Greg Boulos34:32
Going back to development, other financial incentives you can think of that the real estate professionals could better understand, and I'm thinking like tax credits. Is that I'm assuming that's pretty widely known in the real estate community, or is it? You know, I don't
Julie Gondzar34:50
know. I think there's a lot of confusion about historic tax credits, and I think that we need to find ways to educate people on how to use them and how they can be most. Deficient. One thing that we are doing-it's interesting that that you bring this up-is we used to have a program where it was like a realtor course, and we taught realtors. It was accredited, so you could get your CEUs for this course, and we hosted it. And it was all about historic preservation in Portland, what it means, what you're looking at, you know, with the different architecture, and what it means to sell a historic home, how to market it, how to find the right buyer, and we're bringing that program back, and so that's something we're going to be working on this year. It's going to be, it's probably going to be called something like preservation foundations. foundations, and we want to build this course so we can educate on things like that and historic tax credits.
Greg Boulos35:50
That would be a very popular course, a because of subject matter, but also if the real estate folks can get their points towards sale license.
Julie Gondzar36:00
Absolutely, we probably wouldn't do it if it wouldn't be. But don't limit
Greg Boulos36:03
it just to residential. You you shouldn't because a lot of commercial brokers out there too, and they all have the same requirements in terms of needing points and wanting to understand all of this. So we should have a commercial lens on that program as well as residential.
Julie Gondzar36:17
That's good to know. I mean, there's a lot of commercial buildings that are historic. Yeah, exactly. Not it's you know not just residential homes like you said. Yeah,
Greg Boulos36:24
I mean when I think of commercial preservation, I mean when I think of preservation, I think of commercial because that's what I do. But but of course there's a whole residential component to that as well. So it goes both ways. As I said earlier years ago, I was on the board of the Greater Portland Landmarks, and it seemed the organization's appeal was mostly to old people. Maybe that's why I was on it. Is that still the case, or are you trying to get younger people involved? And how do you do that?
Julie Gondzar36:51
I love this question. That is absolutely. I think a lot of I think a lot of organizations, a lot of nonprofits struggle with the same thing. And yes, you know it's an older audience for sure with Greater Portland Landmarks, and we are absolutely trying to get the younger, you know, target the younger audiences. I think it comes down to educating about what is preservation, how is it changing, and the way preservation is changing. I think helps to bring in the younger crowd too. We do a lot of education with schools. We bring a lot of school kids through the observatory. So we're trying to enter into the educational. We are trying to be more educational with students and children, connecting with young families. But it's hard in this economy, you know, when you look at the trends of charitable giving, it's not always going up, and that's a reflection of of the economy right now. Everything is really expensive, and younger families struggle. You know, they can struggle with that, and so I think it's sort of a natural progression for older folks to be in a better position for charitable giving, especially with the economy being tough right now, and families are spending a lot of money on on groceries and gas. And
Greg Boulos38:18
the only problem with having an older demographic. for your organization, whether it's you folks or the arts in general, they eventually die.
Julie Gondzar38:30
Yeah.
Greg Boulos38:30
So you got to replenish it.
Julie Gondzar38:32
Planned giving.
Greg Boulos38:35
Yeah. The last gift is a exit, but but so I think the challenge for you guys is trying to get younger people involved.
Julie Gondzar38:42
So we have we recently did an open call for our board of trustees, and we have some new board members that have joined us, and we're really excited about that. We've had some younger professionals that have joined our board, and these are all small steps to bringing in the younger generation, we are also trying to make sure that our events are more accessible and more inclusive, that they're not overpriced, and that we can engage the community more and bring in the younger crowd that doesn't want to pay $150 for a ticket. You know, so having more events that can bring those people in is important too. Otherwise, you're not going to reach that that group.
Greg Boulos39:28
Julie, you work with a wide variety of stakeholders, donors, city officials, developers, neighborhood groups. How do you balance all of these entities, which often have competing agendas?
Julie Gondzar39:39
It can be challenging. Open conversation and communication, sharing all the projects that we're doing is definitely a challenge to have conversations, you know, with with everybody. But I think that we do a really good job with engaging all of our partners. Everybody has the passion for the all. Ultimate goal of investing in Portland's future through preservation, and that's really the common thread between all the different stakeholders that that we deal with. There is this understanding that in some cases we will have a different position on a building or new building or space than maybe a developer will or the city, but it really comes down to being professional, transparent, and having constructive conversations, and that's really what we want to do. So it's it's a delicate balance, but I think that through communication and being open-minded, we have a great relationship with all of our stakeholders through investing in preservation for Portland's future.
Greg Boulos40:42
Yeah, I would say that Greater Portland Parks has a good reputation at this point, and not we
Julie Gondzar40:46
do
Greg Boulos40:46
not as a adversary, but as somebody trying to save buildings but get it done with a collaboration.
Julie Gondzar40:54
Yeah, we do, and we want to be a resource for people that need us and need our help or want our support? There's a lot that we can do to help push a good project through.
Greg Boulos41:07
Julie, from a commercial real estate perspective, what should brokers and developers understand better about working with Greater Portland Landmarks?
Julie Gondzar41:17
I think they can understand that we can help. We can help shape the project for the ultimate goal of bringing a great space to Portland, and that we want to be a part of the conversation to share our perspective. And there's always an opportunity for a creative solution. I also think it's important we can help commercial brokers find the right buyer for historic space because we know what the stewardship is going to look like and we know what good stewardship of a historic space would entail. We've got an incredible staff, an incredible team that is has expertise on what that entails and knows knows who the right buyer would be to take care of that space. The last thing that you want is to sell a beautiful historic commercial space to somebody that won't take care of it, and that would be a sad story. And that's not the ultimate goal that I think we all want. So we hope that we can be a resource in that way.
Greg Boulos42:31
And what advice would you give developers looking to successfully work within the historic districts? Come in early, talk to you guys.
Julie Gondzar42:38
Come talk to us, even if because. I really believe that, even if you don't think that that you know we could be helpful, or you're not really sure how we could be involved in the process, there's so much about preservation that's changing and evolving, and we have so much expertise and so much experience that starting a conversation with us could reveal some really important ideas and important things, and keeping us involved really could be beneficial ultimately for the project for a developer.
Greg Boulos43:12
And who would the developers reach out to? Would it be you, or who at the organization?
Julie Gondzar43:18
They should reach out to our executive director, Kate. She's wonderful. She's been in the industry for many, many years.
Greg Boulos43:27
And finally, looking ahead five or 10 years, looking to your crystal ball, what would success look like for Great Apartment Landmarks?
Julie Gondzar43:37
Success would look like a community that understands that preservation goes deeper than just saving buildings. Preservation doesn't just happen; it's driven by the people, and is driven by people that care about quality of life and where they live and why they love living here. And if we can help to share that perspective with the community, I think that's our biggest success. We're obviously trying to grow the organization, but it comes down to the people. Preservation is about the people, and you have to be involved, and you have to care, and you have to want it because it, like I said, it doesn't happen on its own.
Greg Boulos44:23
So we'll check back with you in five years.
Speaker 244:26
That sounds. We'll replay this and
Greg Boulos44:27
we'll see how how you did.
Julie Gondzar44:28
That sounds great. Thank you, Julie. Thank you,
Greg Boulos44:32
Julie. Thank you for being our guest today on the Boulos Beat Boulos Company podcast. I really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. You can learn more about Greater Portland Landmarks on their website at portlandlandmarks.org, Facebook and Instagram at Portland Landmarks, LinkedIn at Greater-Portland-Landmarks, YouTube at Greater Portland Landmarks, and if you'd like to learn more about the Boulos Company, please be sure to visit us at Boulos.com. You can also find us at. The Boulos Company on Facebook and LinkedIn, and at Boulos Co. on Instagram. And lastly, if you want to know the secret to owning real estate, it's pretty simple. Just be sure to outlive your debt.
Bio for Host – Greg Boulos
Greg Boulos joined The Boulos Company in 1983. He is a Senior Partner and involved in the sale and leasing of commercial property in the Greater Portland area. He is also a co-developer of over 1M square feet of commercial real estate. Greg has consistent commercial real estate brokerage sales and leasing transactions in excess of $50M per year. His area of specialization is the brokerage of investment properties and tenant representation.
Prior to joining The Boulos Company, Greg was the New England office leasing representative for the Boston-based NET Properties Management Company (now Heritage Realty Management, Inc.) from 1979 to 1980. He was Director of Office and Retail Leasing for Dickinson Development Corporation of Quincy, Massachusetts from 1980 to 1982.
Greg is the father of two children, Nick and Drew. While not working Greg can be found most winter weekends in North Conway, NH skiing, summer boating on Casco Bay in Portland, or sport fishing in Costa Rica and, on occasion, trekking to Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp.
Professional Affiliations / Accreditations
Community Involvement
Education