The Portland Museum of Art has officially acquired four downtown properties from MaineHealth, which is planning to move its headquarters to Westbrook.
The PMA has closed on the sale of four MaineHealth properties on Free Street for $14 million, according to a museum spokesperson.
The PMA says it will move its administrative offices to one of the Free Street properties.
The expansion is in addition to plans to build a new museum wing at the site of the former Children’s Museum. The building at 142 Free Street has since been demolished, following a lengthy debate about the historical significance of the property that ended in court earlier last year.
Starting next year, MaineHealth said it will move its headquarters offices and about 300 employees to a building it owns in Westbrook.
“The pandemic really changed the way people in administrative roles work,” Kelly Elkins, chief operating officer of MaineHealth, said in a statement. “People are working from home more when it makes sense to do so. This has led to an under-utilization of our Free Street offices.”
The move is part of a larger plan to reduce overhead and will save $1.5 million each year, hospital system officials said.
The MaineHealth move and PMA acquisitions come as the city of Portland weighs a new policy that would ask non-profits with tax-exempt property to provide payments to the city.
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