I'm so glad they did the curved corner. It almost creates a perfect end to the line of buildings on Commercial kind of like the Hay Building in a sense. More attractive this way.
I think the Walgreens on Congress was slated for a rebuild like 15+ years ago to include a drive through pharmacy, but never happened. This would be PRIME real estate to redevelop. It's a great spot and frankly ugly. I'd love to see somethin nicer there - like another Hiawatha lol. :)
Should be at least 3 stories taller. They'll probably end up cutting a floor instead. Someone wants to save the church, they should sell it for $1 for the stipulation that it needs to be moved. The End.
I also recall people balking about this development because it would block their views of the water when they commute to Portland. The old speak about "entitlement" to views was raised and so on, and you know how that battle goes.
So I checked out said view several times by car to see this...
This is the kind of development, infill, and density Westbrook needs. It's sleek and sexy, albeit common in design. Glad they thought outside of the proverbial "box" by not doing square/rectangular buildings.
If it were even feasible, Portland could build a tunnel under back cove (removing Tukey's bridge entirely and burying a part of the I:295 corridor) that extends to North Deering up to where Rt 1 and I:295 split.
But engineering cost, plus flooding, plus plus plus ...
Whether we all agree or not ... that the design of the addition is good, that the chamber building should be moved/demolished, or the shitty leadership at PMA ... I consider any expansion of the museum with attractive architecture to be a "WIN" for Portland. I'm kind of tired of the decades of...
I think I'm the outlier with hating the Toshiko Mori design. Not for encapsulating the old Chamber of Commerce building, but for the "saw tooth" roof design. Ugly AF. The Lever design, while simple, was the only one that caught my eye.
The Chamber building is nothing special; anything special...
LOL ... they can sell the building for $1 and require it be moved if people are that worried about it.
Also ... proposed 5-6 stories in actuality will turn into 3-4 stories just like the building on the corner of Middle and Franklin,