185 Commercial Street | Portland

I like them both but would lead towards the "accordion closed" design if I had a vote on the board.
 
I think the idea of the brick street wall came to the forefront when the Courtyard hotel did it so well, making certain people doubt the CIEE / Old Port Sea Bass building in retrospect. Also, I'm not sure there even was a historic district in place when that was built, AND the spot it was in wasn't even a lot cleared by urban renewal; it had been WL Blake's pipe shop which was set well back from Commercial.
 
nomc said:
Was it written somewhere that the Maine Public building was going to largely be glass? If so, it could face an uphill battle - one member essentially called the CIEE building a mistake due to the inclusion of glass on Commercial.
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My recollection is that early discussions of a Maine Public HQ were that they wanted it to be "open and accessible" to the public, something like the WGBH studios on Boylston Street in Boston, so maybe you'd have the broadcast studio on the first floor visible from the sidewalk. But beyond that I don't recall specific conversations about glass vs. brick, etc.

I haven't watched last night's HPB meeting but their discussions have centered around not so much brick vs. glass but uniformity and simplicity of materials, basically saying that there's a tenet in the historic preservation code that says buildings on Commercial are characterized by bland and simple facades and so new buildings should conform to this standard. At least that's my understanding of it. But I agree that staff and board have seemed to be all over the place in terms of their opinions of this proposal.

Jim I think the "closed vs. open" would be seasonal, the idea is that the condo owners could enjoy their decks in the summer while appeasing the board's desire for a more uniform facade the rest of the year. I don't know if the condo bylaws would require decks to be closed Sept 1 - May 31 or how they would enforce it exactly. Rich people problems!
 
I skimmed through the last HPB hearing on this proposal and the board seems like they're scrutinizing this building to an unnecessary degree. They basically keep coming back to the building seeming too busy or complex for Commercial Street. I think the architect has been responsive to their previously-expressed concerns and she made a good rationale for how the building will be "of its time" but still fit in well on Commercial. They basically left it that the architect will work with staff to try to address the board's concerns, but it seemed like they were generally opposed to the amount of glass and the more "modern" appearance being proposed.
 
I watched most of the last meeting and they were indeed - in my opinion - scrutinizing to an unnecessary degree. They're most obsessed with the cut in for the decks. They did eliminate the one on the second floor (which is planned for retail anyway) and added those accordion windows so that in the winter it's a glass wall. I don't believe any of the renderings show the accordion windows open - I can't image they are going to look good bunched up against the brick wall. Although I didn't watch all of this last meeting it seemed like they were not going to hold it up any further. The architect was very responsive through this process and did a good job at the last two meetings showing how the building meets the design standards and precedents in the immediate area.
 
Last night the HPB approved an updated design for this building, below. Curiously it evolved into an almost all-glass wall facing Commercial, which I guess satisfied the board's concerns that the facade be more uniform and uncomplicated.


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I think this is the best design presented so far, although I think the accordion windows bunched up in the summer are going to look bad.
 
No fences yet, but sign on the lot advertising the retail space says this is opening summer 2024.
 
Yeah, the lot is full of cars - rake in the cash for one more summer and then put the fences up.
 
Anyone seen any activity or heard anything about this project? I think they just passed the 1-year approval mark so unless they've filed for an extension it may be expired. I hope it's not been abandoned, they went through many iterations before the Planning and HPB boards for the approvals.
 
Looks like PB approval expired in Feb of this year, I don't see any extensions.
 
Likely in jeopardy since Maine Public is no longer a potential tenant as they will be moving into the former public market building.
 
PlantArch said:
Likely in jeopardy since Maine Public is no longer a potential tenant as they will be moving into the former public market building.
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This wasn't Maine Public, this was the parking lot by Amigo's party deck, next to Holy Donut.
 
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