Bayside Federated Companies

Dr. StrangeHat said:
I think Executive Sessions are closed doors, right?
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Yes, so unless there was a motion to do something other than adjourn after the closed-door portion (HIGHLY unlikely), the only people who know how it went are sworn to secrecy.
 
www.pressherald.com

Portland City Council weighs future of land once slated for failed ‘Midtown’ project

The city bought back the 3 lots on Somerset Street from a developer in July. Councilors are exploring options for the future of the 3.25 acres, which have been empty for about 15 years.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com

The Press Herald mentions that they had the Executive Session, then basically goes around the room and gets each Councilor to give their wishlist. Including a park was popular with a couple of them (strikes me that you could dress up the Bayside Trail and make it more of a linear park.)

My biggest takeaway is that Kate Sykes has little to no interest in advocating for the needs of the SF homeowners in her district. Anyone who was paying attention probably knew that when she was elected, but I'd say, if the District 5 Councilor is not going to take on that role, then who?
 
markhb said:
www.pressherald.com

Portland City Council weighs future of land once slated for failed ‘Midtown’ project

The city bought back the 3 lots on Somerset Street from a developer in July. Councilors are exploring options for the future of the 3.25 acres, which have been empty for about 15 years.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com

The Press Herald mentions that they had the Executive Session, then basically goes around the room and gets each Councilor to give their wishlist. Including a park was popular with a couple of them (strikes me that you could dress up the Bayside Trail and make it more of a linear park.)

My biggest takeaway is that Kate Sykes has little to no interest in advocating for the needs of the SF homeowners in her district. Anyone who was paying attention probably knew that when she was elected, but I'd say, if the District 5 Councilor is not going to take on that role, then who?
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The commentary that housing is needed and could be done well with the right developer is great.

But I don't get the need for a public park or the desire for open space? Apparently it's a line in the sand?

Literally ... Deering Oaks is right there, Kennedy Park, and ALL OF BACK COVE.

By all means, walk up the hill a bit for Lincoln Park, and the precious Congress Square Park.

Except ... all of these places will be riddled with homeless people, so no one will hang out in any of the parks - existing or newly created. That's not a judgement on homelessness or our city's management of it, but just something realistic. These lots should be appropriately land-filled to raise the ground-level and then developed to their highest potential. Stick a pocket park in the middle somewhere to breakup a row of buildings - that's fine. Maybe that will deter SOME homeless hanging out there. Perhaps with appropriate lighting, ground-level retail, and foot traffic it won't be inundated by the homeless. Then we'll just see complaints, car break ins, police presence, drug use (already all over Bayside), and pissing in corners. No one is going to want to live here unless Bayside is cleaned up. The city isn't thinking broadly enough to address all of it.
 
Though I look forward to the Midtown parcels eventually being developed, my personal priorities are Herald Square, Top of the Old Port parking and the remaining Portland Square lots. I'm for filling in the holes closer to the core and then expanding on the fringes of downtown.
 
I think everyone is in agreement the housing is needed. Redfern is planning their big development across the street as well as reveler. It was our friends at Keep Portland Livable that torpedoed the project due to the views from Chestnut Street Lofts... Also, the property is deed restricted from the railroad that only certain things can be built there due to contamination. We will see if anyone is dumb enough to partner with the city for this project. I laugh at the video at the people and Councilors that chimed in, i was involved in this project and we had public input from the start. How people forget how much has gone into these parcels...
 
PWMFlyer said:
Also, the property is deed restricted from the railroad that only certain things can be built there due to contamination. We will see if anyone is dumb enough to partner with the city for this project.
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Do we know if this is still true? I recall being told that "only" commercial uses could be built on the lots back when the first RFP went out in 2007 or 2008, but after a couple of years, Federated proposed housing.

At this point, the deed has changed hands several times, and so has the corporate ownership of the railroad. I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that eminent domain (which the city exercised to get ownership back) eliminates deed restrictions anyhow.
 
Island Frye said:
www.pressherald.com

Portland councilors still at odds over how to market Midtown parcels

During a discussion Tuesday, some said they remain undecided on whether the city should sell the Bayside land at all. Other ideas on the table: social housing and recruiting a major retailer like Target.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com

The saga continues...
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These lots in the heart of the city require professional urban planning. Allowing city councilors to decide on this, who don't need experience at anything really--except somehow getting elected--is foolish and maybe even malicious.
 
With the 4 parcels up for sale in Bayside, is it officially time to create a new thread and talk about what we would like to see out of these blocks?
 
Are they officially listed? And did the city decide on a marketing plan?
 
Will the group Keep Portland Livable come out of the trash heap and voice opposition to any buildings over 10 stories where the city is advocating higher stories.
Would it make sense to include the other parcel that is for sale that Perry owned?
Is the garage still part of this development?
 
Weird.. for some reason I'm getting an Access Denied for Loopnet.
 
MarkHB said:
Weird.. for some reason I'm getting an Access Denied for Loopnet.
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Websites have gotten pretty aggressive when it comes to trying to block AI scrapers. This one might be very aggressive. Try the latest version of the browser you're using.
 
Thanks; I was able to get it on my phone.
 
It's kind of pathetic here, putting this up on LoopNet, like you don't have anyone interested in a huge swath of land in the middle of a dynamic and growing city. The city seems to know virtually nothing other than how to tax. In Boston, they have a serious planning and development department. With this method, they're back to listening to another Federated type company propose cheap housing so that they can make a big profit. It's really quite simple. Find someone who knows something about development and offer them a small commission to find an entity out there who can provide a buyer who fits the criteria that you are looking for. And stipulate that they be creative with it. The good thing about this idea is that they will call around to the best developers who don't have time to look at LoopNet because they have so many good projects in their pipeline. I lived in NYC for six years not long ago for work. I can't tell you how many people I talked to who think Portland, Maine is really Portland, Oregon. They have no idea what is going on here. None.
 
TC_zoid said:
I lived in NYC for six years not long ago for work. I can't tell you how many people I talked to who think Portland, Maine is really Portland, Oregon. They have no idea what is going on here. None.
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That's not really surprising... Since to me it seems like the migration into Portland is entirely coming from people who were living in the Boston area.
 
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