Maine Mall Area Development Projects

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PWMFlyer

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There are some big developments in the pipeline for the mall area. This proposal came to us tonight at the SP Planning meeting. New Gen Hospitality is behind this project.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 is to build 2 hotels 6 stories each at 220 Maine Mall Rd aka Mall Plaza or the old Shaw's. The shopping center strip will be demolished, displacing all businesses. TD Bank and Friendly's will also be torn down. Dicks will remain for the short time before moving to Sears property. Also BK and Verizon will be gone at some point in the future will possible residential.
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Interesting! Hate to be that guy, but I think a lot more could be done than a couple hotels surrounded by asphalt but it’s all good. Brutally basic/dull design seen from most suburban hotels these days. Great parcel! Hope it gets better
 
Also Canes has approached to buy the Unos restaurant, Chick-fil-A will start construction soon on its restaurant near best buy
 
NR2Portland said:
Interesting! Hate to be that guy, but I think a lot more could be done than a couple hotels surrounded by asphalt but it’s all good. Brutally basic/dull design seen from most suburban hotels these days. Great parcel! Hope it gets better
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Agreed. That property has so much more potential than that. Sure, anything is better than the current eyesore that Mall Plaza has become, but this is just a continuation of the cookie-cutter hotels that were developed closer to the airport between Maine Mall Road and Western Ave.
 
Hey it me.

Kudos for being old enough to remember when Shaw's was in that plaza! (Also, I'll shoutout "Greater Bookland" which was that chain's last attempt at competing with Borders, and hell.... I go back to when the Verizon was a Bonanza.)

I'd hate to lose Friendly's (there are so few of them left) and I hope Petco finds a spot elsewhere. And Maine Gold & Silver lost its home and moved over here just a few years ago, and they'll have to find something else.

I do know someone who will be excited to hear Cane's is coming.....
 
I've lived in the mall area for the last 18 years and for some reason don't remember Shaw's being in that location. I do recall Bookland, but not Bonanza and I used to take dates to York Steak House which was connected to the mall in my player days back in the late 70's!
 
Portlander said:
I've lived in the mall area for the last 18 years and for some reason don't remember Shaw's being in that location.
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Wasn't Shaw's in Jetport Plaza (same strip mall where Staples is today) in the space that was most recently Burlington Coat Factory? I recall that being a grocery store as a kid.
 
Portlander said:
I've lived in the mall area for the last 18 years and for some reason don't remember Shaw's being in that location. I do recall Bookland, but not Bonanza and I used to take dates to York Steak House which was connected to the mall in my player days back in the late 70's!
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The adults used to take me to the York Steak House in the Westgate Mall in Brockton, MA in the 70's. I loved it. It was cafeteria style, you would get a tray, tell the lady what you wanted and how it was to be cooked, and she'd put a little marker on your tray. You would then move down the line getting your sides while a guy in a chef hat would cook your steak. Those were the days let me tell ya. Dinner was big like the cars
 
Shaw's was in the area of Mall Plaza which was most recently DSW when the shopping center opened. It later moved to Jetport Plaza IIRC, taking over what was originally Heartland Food Warehouse, an early effort by Purity Supreme. That's the Burlington space. When they left there, they went to the corner of Payne Rd. and 114.
 
Shaws also had its regional offices located on the second floor before they were bought out.
 
MarkHB said:
Shaw's was in the area of Mall Plaza which was most recently DSW when the shopping center opened. It later moved to Jetport Plaza IIRC, taking over what was originally Heartland Food Warehouse, an early effort by Purity Supreme. That's the Burlington space. When they left there, they went to the corner of Payne Rd. and 114.
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Heartland! That's the store I remembered from when I was a kid!
 
PWMFlyer said:
Shaws also had its regional offices located on the second floor before they were bought out.
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Coincidentally, Zayre (and presumably later Ames) had their district offices across the parking lot, in the South Portland store that is now Dick's.
 
PWMFlyer said:
There are some big developments in the pipeline for the mall area. This proposal came to us tonight at the SP Planning meeting. New Gen Hospitality is behind this project.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 is to build 2 hotels 6 stories each at 220 Maine Mall Rd aka Mall Plaza or the old Shaw's. The shopping center strip will be demolished, displacing all businesses. TD Bank and Friendly's will also be torn down. Dicks will remain for the short time before moving to Sears property. Also BK and Verizon will be gone at some point in the future will possible residential.View attachment 71147
View attachment 71148
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Welcome to the old East Germany. This is garbage architecture.
 
There were a couple articles I read recently about the two new hotels at Mall Plaza, and a surprising portion of people are bemoaning the loss of Mall Plaza. I don’t really understand the nostalgia for it. It’s one of the most dated, underwhelming properties in the entire mall area.

Retail clearly isn’t what it used to be, and there’s plenty of excess space in the market already. These businesses aren’t being erased, they can relocate into better, more viable spaces nearby.

Are the new hotels architecturally exciting? Not particularly. But they’re still an improvement over a tired strip mall, and they at least move the area in a more productive direction. The potential addition of residential is the real upside here (noted in the Press Herald article), that kind of mixed-use development is what will actually make this area more sustainable long term.

It might not be stunning design, but at least it's net positive IMO.
 
I sit on the SOPO planning board. I raised the issue about the tenants that lease space. NewGen told us that they had numerous conversations with the City, Economic Dept, and the occupants.
NewGen also has plans for the golf course(Sable Oaks) up the hill. This is the model they are pushing from other developments around the country. Several Hotels clustered around restaurants. I was not happy with the design or the outcome of this. Its not the first time NewGen has done this in SOPO.
 
PWMFlyer said:
I sit on the SOPO planning board. I raised the issue about the tenants that lease space. NewGen told us that they had numerous conversations with the City, Economic Dept, and the occupants.
NewGen also has plans for the golf course(Sable Oaks) up the hill. This is the model they are pushing from other developments around the country. Several Hotels clustered around restaurants. I was not happy with the design or the outcome of this. Its not the first time NewGen has done this in SOPO.
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Just going by what's in the public record, did they say anything about Friendly's relocating? Or are they just going to close?
 
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