AUBURN — The sale Friday of a Minot Avenue warehouse signals a massive downtown renovation, Auburn Economic Development Director Roland Miller said.

The building housing The Barn mega store and 3.4 acres just south of Court Street and the Union Street Bypass were sold by owner Dan Lajoie to Miracle Enterprises, a Maine corporation formed on June 19 and registered in Mechanic Falls.

“All of the property will be incorporated into some type of final redevelopment plan,” Miller said. “That plan, to date, is still a work in progress, but we wanted to let people know the property has been transferred.”

Property owner Dan Lajoie sold the buildings and grounds surrounding the old Lunn and Sweet Building at 67 Minot Ave. and the neighboring vacant car dealership at 81 Minot Ave. for an undisclosed amount. 

“The new people are just incredible,” Lajoie said. “I met all of them, and they are really great.”

According to the city of Auburn, the larger 67 Minot Ave. property is valued at $1.64 million and the 81 Minot Ave. lot at $187,500.

Neither Miller nor Lajoie would say what the new buyers have in store for the building, but they said it would be fully renovated.

Miller said the principal owner of Miracle Enterprises did not attend the Friday afternoon closing but is expected to be in Auburn in the next few weeks.

“We are not in a position, as of this time, to talk about the project,” Miller said. “The investor is going to be in our community in a few weeks, and we will see at that time if she is ready to disclose what her thoughts are regarding the reuse of the building. But we know she is purchasing it with the intent of redeveloping the building into a community asset.”

Lajoie operated The Barn in the 175,000-square-foot building beginning in 1994. He sold the building to Minot Street Partners LLC, which was then managed by developer James Lindvall, in 2003 for $640,000 but took it back when the LLC failed to pay Lajoie and went bankrupt. That bankruptcy was settled in June.

“I purchased it from the bankruptcy courts, within the overall settlement,” Lajoie said. “I won a judgment, but I was never paid the full amount. They needed to clear things up after the bankruptcy and this was part of the settlement.”

The Lunn and Sweet Building, built in 1903, is a former shoe factory. The lot at 81 Minot Ave. holds a vacant used car dealership. Lajoie said it was once home to Rich’s Gulf gas station.

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