Roux Institute Campus Development | Portland

Max said:
On an unrelated note, that is perhaps the worst graphic I have ever seen used to illustrate anything. There's no reason to it other than to show 3 clusters of blocks arranged by height. There's no relationship at all to the actual dimensions of the buildings. Each row does not represent a floor, columns do not represent width. Puzzling. Further, the BDN's website is so clunky and bloated with ads it feels like surfing the web circa 1998.
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Correction, it IS the worst graphic anyone has ever seen to illustrate anything. The reporter is a buffoon (to allow it).
 
TC_zoid said:
This is all good. Roux SHOULD have a bigger building footprint because tech is the dominant economic future--everywhere. Nearby Boston is on its way to becoming the top tech city in the world--Harvard and MIT are key to that happening. Roux needs to have a large student population and on campus residential options. The Portland (and Brunswick) to Boston train tether is part of the reason for all of this. It's an easy and comfortable slightly over two-hour ride. This campus should look and be so futuristic that the average Mainer will have a conniption when they see it. Lol.
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I hope your vision of the campus is as accurate as the conniption locals will have of it - haha. Would love to see a gorgeous reflective glass building here.
 
I'm holding off on my judgement of this proposal. The height does seem way out of place for that parcel.....but I would like to see actual renderings with surrounding structures, elevations, water views, etc. I think that the location right next to 295 is throwing everything off.
 
The article states that eventually the school could reach 4,500 students. I see nothing wrong with that number, and perhaps it should be higher--much higher. UMO was recently upgraded to an R1 research university, of which there are only 146 in the entire country. It's an impressive cred to have, and an indicator to strength of education and jobs for the future. The Portland area does not have a thriving university, or significant place of learning. UMO has over 11,000 students. Certainly Portland, of which is a much bigger and better positioned city (location) for economic and population growth in Maine, should be at that number or more. Portland does not have the room for an expansive campus. Roux needs to go higher in height in the manner that true urban located schools do. And forget the Gorham campus--it's a big yawn with that location. Everything changes. Think about the people who will be around in the future. It's about them, and not you.
 
TC_zoid said:
The article states that eventually the school could reach 4,500 students. I see nothing wrong with that number, and perhaps it should be higher--much higher. UMO was recently upgraded to an R1 research university, of which there are only 146 in the entire country. It's an impressive cred to have, and an indicator to strength of education and jobs for the future. The Portland area does not have a thriving university, or significant place of learning. UMO has over 11,000 students. Certainly Portland, of which is a much bigger and better positioned city (location) for economic and population growth in Maine, should be at that number or more. Portland does not have the room for an expansive campus. Roux needs to go higher in height in the manner that true urban located schools do. And forget the Gorham campus--it's a big yawn with that location. Everything changes. Think about the people who will be around in the future. It's about them, and not you.
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Is "you" referring to "me".....or "us" in general? The Roux could have taken over Bayside....plenty of land and access there. They could have built vertical and had easy access to everything.....but no doubt the elites wanted that ocean view.;)
 
mainejeff said:
Is "you" referring to "me".....or "us" in general? The Roux could have taken over Bayside....plenty of land and access there. They could have built vertical and had easy access to everything.....but no doubt the elites wanted that ocean view.;)
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"You" is rhetorical for anyone against a more dense and taller Roux. Sorry if it didn't come across that way.
 
Moreover, the location of Roux is not as good as Bayside, in my opinion, or if the empty lots and scrapyards are replaced by it. Roux adjoins a noisy and busy 8 lane highway (and interchange). Who wants to be next to that? Also, directly across from Roux to the south is a "beautiful" view and odor (sometimes) of a sewage treatment plant. Also, and it's a big one, the Federated guy will not part with that land without getting a premium price. Then again, why would he sell in an uncertain world? Stocks go down. Crypto currency goes down (all The Whales are doing that now). Precious metals go down. But vacant lots in the middle of a highly desirable city to live do not. He can bank on that, and even borrow against it. He won't sell. It's probably the most highly stable and rising investment in his portfolio.
 
This is an exciting project for the B&M site...but I really can't help but think this campus would be much better suited for a downtown parcel. Imagine if they had fought harder to secure the Top of the Old Port parking lot. A big block in the heart of the city already zoned for tall buildings. A much more central and attractive location, easier to serve with high-frequency Transit and easier to integrate into Portland's existing urban fabric.

But I'm still excited and interested to see how this area is built out and reimagined.
 
Cosakita18 said:
This is an exciting project for the B&M site...but I really can't help but think this campus would be much better suited for a downtown parcel. Imagine if they had fought harder to secure the Top of the Old Port parking lot. A big block in the heart of the city already zoned for tall buildings. A much more central and attractive location, easier to serve with high-frequency Transit and easier to integrate into Portland's existing urban fabric.

But I'm still excited and interested to see how this area is built out and reimagined.
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This is too good of an idea to have happened.
 
TC_zoid said:
This is too good of an idea to have happened.
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Great Comments. Top of the Old Port would have been amazing, but would have paid a premium. Curious if there would have been enough space? Also very apt on Midtown/Federated - they'll sit on that as long as they can sadly. It's challenging not to be incredibly disappointed that the original plans never went through. The complaints of wind tunnels and dark shadows were so misguided. Many of the complaints from so-called NIMBY's were actually only part-time Mainers who didn't want the city to change or have too much "diversity". It's sad to think the original plans may have actually been completed a while ago.
 
Cosakita18 said:
This is an exciting project for the B&M site...but I really can't help but think this campus would be much better suited for a downtown parcel. Imagine if they had fought harder to secure the Top of the Old Port parking lot. A big block in the heart of the city already zoned for tall buildings. A much more central and attractive location, easier to serve with high-frequency Transit and easier to integrate into Portland's existing urban fabric.
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After the B&M site was announced, there was an article in MaineBiz and their broker said something like "we looked at all the usual suspects" on the peninsula, which I would assume includes the Top of the Old Port parking lot. I agree that this would have been the ideal location in terms of transportation options and positioning for height, and it's disappointing they couldn't work something out there, but without inside knowledge of the negotiations it's impossible to know why they couldn't do it.

But it does seem like Top of the Old Port and the 385 Congress block are ripe for a new downtown neighborhood. It reminds me of when I lived in DC, they built something called City Center on top of what was primarily parking. Granted, in typical DC style it's a bunch of 12-story glass boxes with bland high-end retailers, expensive condos and restaurants for people with expense accounts, but a mix of retail, recreation and housing right in the middle of the city is what Portland needs on these sites.
 
The Top of the Old Port lot was at one point going to be Lincoln Sq, but that fell through, then boulos came up with the convention center idea, that never happened. That lot is prime realty...and the owners know it. Then you have the lot across the street that is owned by the Hobsons Condos. The ultimate goal would discontinue the street and develop both lots. There was also a legal issue with the paper street that used to go through the Top of the old port property. Now they have a very visible piece of property to highlight the Roux Institute. Does anyone know the height of the old smokestack that was taken down? This would be a good reference to use for preexisting height structures on the property.
 
According to a group of concerned East Deering neighbors the former smokestack was 150 feet:


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Max said:
According to a group of concerned East Deering neighbors the former smokestack was 150 feet:


hotel-rendering-545x420.jpeg
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Do residents not realize this will generate tax revenue in other ways via the hotel, restaurant, and other things? Or am I largely mistaken in my assumption? I'm kind of tired of all of the "height" and "views" talk. Once public comments are announced, I'll definitely be attending.
 
DanielPWM19 said:
Do residents not realize this will generate tax revenue in other ways via the hotel, restaurant, and other things? Or am I largely mistaken in my assumption? I'm kind of tired of all of the "height" and "views" talk. Once public comments are announced, I'll definitely be attending.
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A 150 foot-high chimney spewing pollution is preferential (or sadly missed) to a 200 foot-high new hotel housing people from all over the country and world here to study, talk, and share tech knowledge to improve Maine's (and the nation's) educational and economic base? Huh? What?
 
It’s understandable when people complain when new development is coming into their neighborhoods, that more people and more traffic is going to negatively impact them and their property. It makes sense, that certain developments could have just that outcome. (Ironically, what would these residents be saying if a bean factory was going to be built next to their houses, with delivery trucks coming and going, and a 150 foot smoke stack spewing steam and the smell of food over their houses every day?) This is going to be a world-class facility, with no shortage of construction money. And it’s not going to be a dead-zone, this will become it’s own neighborhood. Sure, it will increase people and traffic in the area. You know what else it will increase? The property values that are right next to it. People can stay put, and enjoy the campus’ public open-spaces that I bet will be designed in. They can rent their homes out for top dollar, probably making enough money to pay for their next housing payment as well. Or, sell their property now that it has tripled in value. I wish I bought in this neighborhood a year ago! I just couldn’t stand the smell coming from the factory 😊
 
Here's an impossible idea - the Exit 8 ramp could get north bound traffic easily into the site. The ramp could also be used to get people back onto 95, but would only be convenient for people traveling south if you put in a roundabout at Washington Ave/Veranda 😬

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The tri level interchange might be an opportunity if done right. Options by using the railbed then connecting to the highway. You would lose rail abiity if you did that. This is a hard spot to avoid the neighborhood. Another option could be but would be expensive would be access from where uhaul is to build access via a bridge. Tunnel to Washington ave?
 
If real estate on the peninsula was deemed too expensive, I doubt major infrastructure updates are in the plans, unless they are funded by the State.

Out of curiosity regarding the neighborhood, does any neighbor have a leg to stand on regarding lost views? Last I checked, nearly everyone's water views in this neighborhood was already blocked by I-295 and the Tukey's Bridge/Washington Ave. interchange. The only part of this neighborhood with water views is this section, and as far as I can tell, this project will do nothing to impede those views. If anything, it will block their view of the interchange and bridge.

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