MECHANIC FALLS — The former Central Maine Healthcare building at 22 Pleasant St. could become dental offices, according to Town Manager Vic Hodgkins.

Following an executive session Thursday, the Town Council endorsed a purchase and sales agreement of $280,000 with Mary Ann Pineda, Bruce Bartlett and/or Associates.

Hodgkins stressed the need for sensitivity with negotiations, but he said, “What I can tell you is that the potential buyer is setting up dental offices.”

He said he and councilors believe it’s “positive for the town.”

“It will allow the town to come out of this hole” and out of the real estate business, he said.

Hodgkins said the council has paid “due diligence” to the offer and “if it’s going to close I think we could expect a quick close.”

The town is “cautiously optimistic,” he added.

The former urgent care clinic building has been on the market since 2019.

In November 2017, residents voted to buy it for $275,000 as part of a $500,000 bond. The plan was to renovate it for municipal offices, the Public Library and Police Department and pay off the municipal building bond. But delays in getting federal approval for the construction costs prevented work from starting.

In 2018, a structural engineer’s report revealed the building was too small to house all the town departments, in particular the Police Department and the library. In June 2019 the town put it up for sale.

A purchase and sales agreement with Pythia of Portland had been reached in June 2022 for $450,000 with the idea of converting it to a “quick service restaurant.” The price included a good part of the municipal parking lot.

That deal fell through in the fall of 2022.

In January, councilors approved a 12-month agreement with The Boulos Co. to list the building for $349,900.

The current purchase and sales agreement is just for the building lot. The parking lot would remain municipal property.