Rock Row (née The Ridge, née Dirigo Plaza) | Westbrook, ME

TC_zoid said:
I looked into this developer a while back (from MA) and his record is a bit sketchy with development and builds. But it's interesting what is going on here. The one big smart thing he did was get a lock on all of this land. Most city downtowns are not functioning well for its citizens today. Welfare, etc. services co-exist with retailers and residents and it brings a lower class of citizen to areas that were once thriving. Portland's First Friday's used to be such a dynamic experience with the existing retail a while back. In addition, the focus on pressuring the population to take mass transportation tends to alienate those with more income preferring their cars. The Rock Row idea is happening all over the country now, and one key is the re-design of the roads, of which are not thoroughfares but narrow width entries and exits to parking (mostly big garages). This way, the streets stay relatively safe and are walkable. The idea of teasing or proposing stores and chains is simply a way to help people imagine would could be here. Whole Foods implies a more upscale customer, and that has it's advantages. I wouldn't be surprised if they stuck a Louis Vuitton tease in here too. But yes, it is a bit misleading. I only see continued growth for Rock Row. How ironic that the trend is a return to the suburbs. But we can thank our city "leaders" for that. The front page article from the NY Times a couple of months ago painted a picture of the Portland (ME) downtown core as being a haven for drug addiction and crime. Another aspect that stands out with these new shopping and living areas like Rock Row and The Downs is private security instead of the somewhat apathetic city police departments. Private security has the freedom to harass and remove those that are unwanted.
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(y) Only thing I'd mention is that IMO (mostly based on conversations I've had) the "apathy issue" is not so much with the police departments, it's the political "leadership" (although COP can be a relatively political position)
 
Cosakita18 said:
In another sign that the Rock Row developers really don't know what they're doing....Their website shows a plan of the retail buildout of phases 2 and 3 which shows major national brands filling up basically all of the proposed retail space.

I would be -astonished- if these retail spaces (which haven't even been approved let alone built and marketed) have been leased as they're showing in this plan. (Whole Foods, Lego, J-Crew, Vineyard Vines, Arhaus, Yeti, Gap, Banana Republic and many more)

To me this seems like its verging on false advertising and I could see them even potentially getting into legal trouble with one of these brands.
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Where on the site is this? I know they've been mentioning Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma forever (they showed up when they had the VR tour on-site, showing what the concept was at a few different points).

I also note that this doesn't include the Cinemark theater (my personal priority) or the convention center (which I believe was intended for the site they indicate as Whole Foods). Or the food and beer hall, or (from what I can read) the fancy Italian place from Washington. The main site is still very much talking up those things (other than the Italian place, which is buried in the sales brochures).
 
It's a race to the finish. Rock Row is now feeling the threat from The Downs, which is taking the wind out of their sail. Both are pushing for the same items, housing and a center for retail. The outline shows basically every store in the mall with a storefront at Rock Row. It's funny that most of these stores are on the brink of bankruptcy or have left the mall and gone somewhere else. Let's build housing!!! it seems to work at the Downs. Where is the so-called food venue that was to be the cat's meow? or the Element? Cinemark? how about an IMAX theatre instead aka The Speare with live music? Does anyone have a clear direction? Brick and Mortar retail is dying, how about an IKEA?
 
markhb said:
Not TC, but I would say (and hope) purely behavior. Portland's problematic population is overwhelmingly non-Hispanic white
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Unwanted, I’m guessing: homeless, drug users, blasting music from cruising and/or parked cars, drag racing, teen bicycle gang “hit and runs”, “extreme protesting”… just a few things that I’ve seen across our great country and Southern Maine will eventually see it too.
 
TC_zoid said:
Unwanted, I’m guessing: homeless, drug users, blasting music from cruising and/or parked cars, drag racing, teen bicycle gang “hit and runs”, “extreme protesting”… just a few things that I’ve seen across our great country and Southern Maine will eventually see it too.
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"Extreme protesting" to combat our "extreme government"?
 
I'm sorry guys.....I don't like the veiled politics in some of these posts.....mostly by one individual.
 
mainejeff said:
I'm sorry guys.....I don't like the veiled politics in some of these posts.....mostly by one individual.
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I'm not for Trump if that's what you are implying. "Extreme protesting" can be from both sides of the political spectrum. I'm more on the Bill Maher side of things. All across the U.S. I'm seeing more and more of these kinds of private area retail and housing configurations. They are privately run, so they can provide their own security. I think that's a good thing. Look at Portland and how it has allowed some residents to run amok. Go argue with the NY Times. They've commented about Portland, ME too. I guess they got tired of Portland with all the accolades so they had to point out some of its shortcomings. Am I the only one on this blog with subscriptions to both the NY Times and Press Herald?
 
TC_zoid said:
I'm not for Trump if that's what you are implying. "Extreme protesting" can be from both sides of the political spectrum. I'm more on the Bill Maher side of things. All across the U.S. I'm seeing more and more of these kinds of private area retail and housing configurations. They are privately run, so they can provide their own security. I think that's a good thing. Look at Portland and how it has allowed some residents to run amok. Go argue with the NY Times. They've commented about Portland, ME too. I guess they got tired of Portland with all the accolades so they had to point out some of its shortcomings. Am I the only one on this blog with subscriptions to both the NY Times and Press Herald?
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So what if you were? Is there some kind of political litmus test to talk about architecture now? And you haven’t been “in your face” in any case, and you aren’t one who seems to inject politics every other post. Sorry, was gonna stay out of this because I just enjoy learning about cool developments and architecture in Maine, and I’ve gleaned so much from folks on here! I frankly have no idea about the “politics” of the people whom I’ve learned the most from, and would never consider deriding them if we happened to disagree politically. Cheers.
 
PSA, if there's a user whose posts are consistently bizarre and uninformative, I highly recommend using the "Ignore" option, and you'll never have to read them again.

Find it by mousing over their user name next to one of their rants:

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Let's see what conceptual plan #50 gives us this time...LOL
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They just did a revised subdivision of the South campus (south of the tracks), tinkering with the arrangement of the lots. I THINK the convention center was supposed to be on that side; let's see if it is and if it'll still include the semi-outdoor performance space.
 
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Actually, the proposal is up on the Planning Board Materials page... And it's NOT "let's build 6 more 4-story medical office buildings"! I'm on my phone but if anyone else wants to start clipping, etc. be my guest!
 
Building Y is residential/retail (39 units/townhomes and 29,065 SF of retail)

Building V is hotel/retail (120 keys and 18,000 SF of retail)

Building S is residential, retail, parking garage (250 units, 39,873 SF of retail, 550 space garage)

Building T is "family entertainment", retail, parking garage (90,000 SF of "entertainment", 12,810 SF of retail, 210 parking spaces)

"family entertainment" = movie theater, indoor recreation, food establishments, retail
 
Load up that corridor along the rail tracks with as much density as possible. Hopefully in 10 years we activate that rail line again that stretches into downtown Westbrook to Thompsons Point and Union Station.
 
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