After numerous contractors filed liens against a Mount Desert hotel and forced the owner into bankruptcy, the property is being sold for $60 million.
Tim Harrington, who owns a number of hotels and glampgrounds along Maine’s coastline, has signed an agreement to sell the Asticou Hotel for $60,750,000 to NAECO LLC, a subsidiary of Ocean Properties, which owns several Bar Harbor hotels.
Harrington is facing liens and legal complaints for shorting his contractors some $14 million in materials and services during the Asticou’s $28 million renovation. Harrington bought the hotel for $7 million in 2023.
By late October of last year, 11 separate contractors had filed liens against Asticou Hospitality, which owns the hotel and is controlled by Harrington. The hotelier has also previously been accused of not paying contractors in other parts of the state.
Last month, four Maine businesses filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition in federal court against Asticou Hospitality, which is owned by Harrington’s Atlantic Hospitality group, claiming they had not been paid a combined $192,004 for goods and services, according to court documents.
The Glass Guy Inc., a Biddeford-based window replacement company, is claiming more than $58,500 in unpaid services. Homestead Flooring, Inc., of Yarmouth, said it is owed more than $3,500 for flooring-related materials.
Castroper LLC and Somi, Inc, both based in Saco, are claiming $45,302, and $84,589, respectively. It was not immediately clear what kinds of businesses they operate, but Somi was the only petitioner to hire an attorney for the filing.
Once the petitioners triggered the bankruptcy, a Mount Desert flower shop also filed a claim against the Asitcou, alleging they were owed more than $8,600 for unpaid floral services.
Just over a month later, on March 12, Harrington agreed to sell the hotel to Ocean Properties, which has a portfolio of hotels across the country and in Canada. A copy of the purchase and sale agreement is included among the documents filed in the case in federal bankruptcy court.
As of that same date, Harrington still owed $9.8 million to contractors and material suppliers connected with the hotel’s renovation.
A representative for Ocean Properties and Harrington’s bankruptcy attorney did not immediately respond to separate inquiries Monday from the Bangor Daily News.
Court records show Harrington personally paid his bankruptcy lawyer more than $178,000 before creditors forced the filing. That money was paid while four companies waited for Asticou Hospitality to pay the $192,004 debt.
Federal bankruptcy law requires attorneys to disclose compensation received in the year before a filing, a rule that reveals whether a debtor is paying their legal fees while leaving other claimants unpaid.
The parent company of Sandy Pines Campground, Harrington’s glamping resort in Kennebunkport, filed for bankruptcy on Feb, 24. A foreclosure auction for the 47-acre property scheduled for March 5 was canceled because of that bankruptcy filing, according to the auction company.
