Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

There are only three holes (infill) remaining to Franklin Street. The MEMIC parking lot, the small parking lot beside Bill's Pizza and the Standard Baking lot next to the Hilton.
 
Anyone else seen the canal plaza building with bank of Maine in it? The back corner on temple street side has walls smashed out on first floor to make what I'm assuming a retail or restaurant spot. Pretty weird to see as I can remember anything like it. Especially to a building that size
 
Portcity75 said:
Anyone else seen the canal plaza building with bank of Maine in it? The back corner on temple street side has walls smashed out on first floor to make what I'm assuming a retail or restaurant spot. Pretty weird to see as I can remember anything like it. Especially to a building that size
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I have been seeing this, and I have no idea what they're doing.

Also, does anyone know what's going on in the Franklin Street median between Congress and Cumberland? They cut down a bunch of trees, and now there's a tarp-like thing covering a big stretch of the basin between these two streets.
 
Max said:
Also, does anyone know what's going on in the Franklin Street median between Congress and Cumberland? They cut down a bunch of trees, and now there's a tarp-like thing covering a big stretch of the basin between these two streets.
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They're just keeping the ground covered until they replant trees in the spring. Sadly not a precursor to a rebuild of Franklin.
 
There's a proposal for a 5-story residential building with ground floor retail at 879 Congress Street. It looks like 4 floors from the street, but it drops down to 5 in the back due to the grade change.

With the Maine Med parking garage demolition scheduled to begin in January, this part of Congress is going to be a construction zone for the next three years! I'm also surprised the big surface lot next to Salvage BBQ has not been proposed for development.

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^ Good find. That lot has been empty and for sale for ages.

The Canal Plaza work looks like it's for a new entryway, and also adding some windows to give the basement offices some natural light:

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Citizen Self Service web site
egweb.portlandmaine.gov
 
That's a sweet hotel. I lived near that gas station and tandem for a few years. Big improvement
 
Odd place for a new hotel PWMFlyer but I'm pleased with any new construction on Congress Street. Guess it will be perfect for visitors who have family or friends that are being cared for at Maine Med.
 
Portlander said:
Odd place for a new hotel PWMFlyer but I'm pleased with any new construction on Congress Street. Guess it will be perfect for visitors who have family or friends that are being cared for at Maine Med.
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Bear in mind it's right across the street from "The Francis" which opened a couple years ago. And Tandem next door is literally overflowing with tourists every weekend.
 
I think it's a great spot for a boutique hotel and is a 100% improvement to the streetscape from what's there currently. And it's a pretty sleek looking design to boot!
 
There appears to be some major work happening on the facades at the Bay House, looks like all the balconies are being renovated, among other things.
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I love the design of the proposed hotel and agree that it will enhance that portion of Congress Street. It is just not the downtown location I'd choose if I were a visitor to Portland when there are so many other lodging options closer to the Old Port and waterfront.
 
I like how that hotel will create a 4-5 story street wall along that stretch of Congress along with Walker Terrace. I like the design, too. Fits well with the neighborhood.

If anything, Tandem will now be a bit of a sore thumb in that stretch.
 
Crazy how 15 years ago there were 4 gas stations between Longfellow and Bramhall Square and 3 in these two blocks between Walker and Neal. Walker Terrace replaced one of them back in 2005, now this one's going away; it's only a matter of time before the 7-11 across from Hot Suppa folds.
 
PWMFlyer said:
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I really like the design of this building. It's a great infill development and it's a good balance of fitting in and standing out with the surrounding built environment

However, the number of hotel rooms in this city is definitely NOT sustainable, and whenever the economy slows down again, there are going to be a lot of empty hotel rooms in this city. tourism is an incredibly fickle industry, and it is usually the first and hardest hit when the economy slows.

I understand the complexities involved in the economics of development , but in a city with a housing shortage as acute as Portland, I find it unfortunate that the number of hotel rooms being built far outstrips the number of housing units being built. I know that "that's just how the development business works" and that may be true, but it's not good planning practice, and it doesn't make for a good City. A City built for locals will always attract visitors, but a city built for visitors will never attract locals.
 
Cosakita18 said:
I really like the design of this building. It's a great infill development and it's a good balance of fitting in and standing out with the surrounding built environment

However, the number of hotel rooms in this city is definitely NOT sustainable, and whenever the economy slows down again, there are going to be a lot of empty hotel rooms in this city. tourism is an incredibly fickle industry, and it is usually the first and hardest hit when the economy slows.

I understand the complexities involved in the economics of development , but in a city with a housing shortage as acute as Portland, I find it unfortunate that the number of hotel rooms being built far outstrips the number of housing units being built. I know that "that's just how the development business works" and that may be true, but it's not good planning practice, and it doesn't make for a good City. A City built for locals will always attract visitors, but a city built for visitors will never attract locals.
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Homeowners in Portland don't want more housing because property values will continue to rise with scarce stock (along with their Airbnb rentals). And without more hotels, more housing would convert to Airbnb.
 
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