Bucksport wants vacant downtown lot back after development promise falls through

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 20, 2026

Bucksport is trying to reacquire a vacant lot from a developer who did not follow through on an agreement to build a mixed-use development on Main Street in exchange for a $1 purchase price. But Ellsworth-based SFS Development LLC has not responded to multiple letters from the town, which plans to escalate, according to a town official’s report to councilors earlier last week. The lack of development on the still-vacant site is a bump in the town’s long-running efforts to diversify its downtown and bring in new businesses for visitors and its tax base since the Verso paper mill closed in 2014.