Descendants of LL Bean founders face lawsuit over alleged underpayment of construction commissions.
Linda Bean, the 82-year-old granddaughter of LL Bean founder, is being sued by The Boulos Co., a prominent Maine commercial real estate firm, for allegedly failing to pay $228,000 in commissions for the sale of a 24,000-square-foot building in downtown Freeport 35 Main Street in the shopping district, Portland Press-Herald reports.
The building houses the Gap Factory Store and American Eagle Outlet Store and is close to LL Bean Inc.’s retail park and Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen and Topside Tavern.
Bean and Boulos signed a representation agreement in 2019 to sell the building and an adjacent building, 39 Main Street, which houses the Banana Republic store, citing the complaint.
The agreement stipulates that Bean will pay Bloss a 4 percent commission if the building is sold to Bean himself, a related entity or the Freeport Historical Society. However, Boulos alleges that Bean, through her company, “35 Main A & B, Freeport LLC,” purchased the property in December 2022 for $5.7 million without paying a commission.
Boulos argued that Beans had been unfairly enriched by benefiting from their work without meeting their payment obligations. The lawsuit was filed in Cumberland County Superior Court on June 1. Public records confirm that 35 Main A & B, Freeport LLC purchased the property for an undisclosed sale price.
Many details of the dispute remain unclear — including the reasons behind Bean’s alleged sale of the property to a company she controls, the application of the commission to the Freeport Historical Society purchase, and the commission Boulos may have received if the property had been sold to another buyer. Home.
Attempts to contact Bean for comment were unsuccessful, and Boulos declined to discuss the case, the Portland Herald reported.
Headquartered in Portland, Boulos Co. has been known since its founding in 1975 as the premier business sales brokerage in Maine. It represents notable properties, including 201 Federal Street, an upcoming 18-story apartment building in Portland.
The company previously worked with Linda Bean in 2010 when she purchased the building at 88 Main Street, which is now home to her Maine Kitchen and Topside Tavern .
Linda Bean gained national attention in 2017 when she made more political donations than allowed in support of former President Donald Trump’s campaign, leading to a boycott of LL Bean Inc. She lost the 1988 and 1992 elections as the Republican candidate for Maine’s 1st Congressional District.
— Ted Glazer
