LEWISTON — Phil Bolduc had been looking to expand Neokraft Signs on Main Street for the past five years when an electrician installing a new piece of equipment six months ago overheard him talking about his plans.

“He said, ‘Instead of doing that, why don’t you just buy my building?’ — that’s how it happened,” Bolduc said Tuesday.

In March, Bolduc is moving Neokraft from 686 Main St. to 70 Commercial St., moving from 15,000 to 27,000 square feet. He sold his property and bought the new property over the past week.

Bolduc said he had been looking locally for a while without much luck.

“A lot of things got grabbed up by this whole marijuana (business),” he said. “It drove prices up.”

Bolduc anticipates building out new office space but not having to do much else to make the new address his. Neokraft employs 34, and he would like to hire more with the move.

In addition to having more room for the company’s sign work, the move was also for the employees, he said. The new location is less than a mile from the turnpike, easing their commutes.

“They’ll be getting home that much faster,” Bolduc said. “I’m all about my employees — I want them to have a good life. With a successful business, you share that with your employees, you’re a successful company.”

Kevin Fletcher, who specializes in commercial sales at Keller Williams Realty, helped broker the sale of 70 Commercial St. by Maine Commercial Properties to Neokraft, or NK Ventures, for $1.8 million, and Neokraft’s Main Street property for $725,000 to an undisclosed buyer, who plans to redevelop the site.

“I think it goes to show their commitment to the area,” Fletcher said. “Neokraft could have gone anywhere. Neokraft was founded in Lewiston and I think that (it will stay) is kind of cool.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

An employee in this 2013 photo makes a sign at Neokraft Signs in Lewiston. Company owner Phil Bolduc said Tuesday he is moving Neokraft from Main Street to Commercial Street. (Sun Journal file photo)