J.D. Irving unveils intent to sell 400 lots it leases out as part of bigger development plan for 50,000 acres of land company owns in northern Maine

Audrey Dixon

LOS ANGELES , September 17, 2013 (Industry Intelligence) – J.D. Irving Ltd. has unveiled preliminary plans to sell 400 lots it currently leases out on the Fish River lakes chain in Maine, where the privately held Canadian company owns 1.3 million acres, The Bangor Daily News reported on Sept. 13.

The lot-disposal is part of a larger development plan for land the privately held Canadian company owns in northern Maine.

Irving’s Maine holdings include 50,000 acres of timber and leased land around Long, Square, Mud and Cross lakes, an area in which it leases about 400 lots for year-round homeowners and seasonal camps, according to The Bangor Daily News.

The company’s director of land development Anthony Hourihan said Irving wants “to be out of the leasing business” and is developing a concept plan for the 50,000 acres that includes selling lots to leaseholders over 25 years.

The ultimate intention is to separate the lakes lands from the working forestland Irving owns in the area, he added.

One of the leaseholders’ concerns about Irving’s plan is about lot-pricing and whether all leaseholders who want to buy lots will be able to afford to, as well as what will happen to those leaseholders who do not want to purchase their lots or can’t afford them.

Hourihan said there was no intention of making the sale of leased lots a “take it or leave it” scenario, The Bangor Daily News reported. He said lot-pricing would likely be based on fair market value.

Irving is in the process of identifying unique areas for conservation in the Fish River lakes area, and gathering input for the concept plan with respect to maintaining public recreational access.

Some areas that have good public road access and are adjacent to developed areas have been designated as potential economic development sites, according to The Bangor Daily News.

Hourihan said Irving was trying to anticipate what the future might hold and incorporate it into a comprehensive plan, which is in the early drafting stages and will likely be presented this fall to Maine’s Land Use Planning Commission.


The primary source of this article is The Bangor Daily News, Bangor, Maine, Sept. 13, 2013.

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