Diocese spokesman Dave Guthro said the $2.75 million purchase in December represents the first time the diocese has bought a property in Maine with the intention of using it for profit.
The Portland Press Herald says the property, anchored by a Rite Aid drug store, includes a grocery store, a laundromat and a retail space that is currently vacant.
The property on Congress Street is located roughly between the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Cathedral School, and St. Peter's Church, cited as the first Italian Catholic Church in Maine.