465 Congress Street | Portland

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No news, just a photo from this morning.
 
New CU app, Fathom working on this as a hotel, 92 rooms. I wonder if this would change anything about the proposed development just down the street.
 
Looks like the housing component is gone. What about parking? Is 477 Congress going to have a hotel also? Then you have 385 Congress Street?
 
Not surprised that hotel plans are still popping up in Portland.....has to have one of the highest average hotel rates (excluding taxes) in the country.
 
Another of the building’s most striking features has been covered up for years, Brady said.

“It has a beautiful central staircase that goes from the second floor all the way up through to the roof with a skylight above it,” he said. “Many people who’ve been in this building haven’t actually seen the staircase because the way fire codes work today, it was all drywalled around to create the fire rating around that stair.”

Brady plans to open one side of the staircase with fire-rated glass so that guests exiting the elevator on any floor will see it.
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Are there any historic photos of this? Hopes to open in 2026, but seems aggressive since they have to navigate tax credits and it hasn't gone through planning.

Also, the article mentions 385 Congress:

Brady said recently that the company is hoping for more competitive pricing before moving forward with the project because high construction costs have made it difficult to develop ground-up projects, which don’t qualify for historic tax credits.
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PWMFlyer said:
www.pressherald.com

Iconic Portland high-rise to become hotel with speakeasy in old bank vault

A development company behind several other hotels in the city plans to turn a historic bank building into a 92-room hotel with a restaurant.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com
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And this could not be from a better and smarter developer than Brady. He will do for this building what he did for the former Press Herald one. I've stayed in many historic mid-rise and higher buildings renovated for use as a hotel, and nearly all of them get it wrong. He won't because he uses top design firms that understand the experience from the point of view of the more sophisticated customer, and not just how to save money. It will be written about and marketed nationally, and will bring even more of a sophisticated kind of tourism to the city, or the kind that spends more than a cheap meal at DiMillo's or a few foolish items from gift shops like the cruise ship passengers do.
 
I'll be honest: it hurts my heart that that ground-floor space will be turned into a bar. It's the finest remaining space in the city that just makes you know you're in a BANK. As a kid, I remember it being the headquarters of Sun Savings & Loan, which (I just looked it up) was folded into Peoples Heritage after the S&L collapse.
 
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TC_zoid said:
And this could not be from a better and smarter developer than Brady. He will do for this building what he did for the former Press Herald one. I've stayed in many historic mid-rise and higher buildings renovated for use as a hotel, and nearly all of them get it wrong. He won't because he uses top design firms that understand the experience from the point of view of the more sophisticated customer, and not just how to save money. It will be written about and marketed nationally, and will bring even more of a sophisticated kind of tourism to the city, or the kind that spends more than a cheap meal at DiMillo's or a few foolish items from gift shops like the cruise ship passengers do.
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I just hope something happens to save this building (and the Time and Temp building). It's getting grim on Congress Street.
 
No one really goes to the bank anymore. Might as well go have a drink and pretend you're at the bank instead!

Sounds like a cool project overall, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
 
You can see the Central staircase skylight from above. They should add a rooftop bar.!!!
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Gotta love that sign on the roof pointing planes on the harbor visual in the right direction haha!
 
Looking at 477 Congress, more I think it would be better to get rid of the 2 floors added and bring the building back to its original look. use a replica front sign that illuminated the building back in the hey day.
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NR2Portland said:
Gotta love that sign on the roof pointing planes on the harbor visual in the right direction haha!
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Some of us were trying to figure out what the number 6 represents a few years ago. It is obviously not a bearing marker and the distance from the Fidelity Building to the airport is less than 3 miles? Maybe the new name of the historic tower could be the Fidelity Hotel.
 
Portland Municipal Airport . The Old runway was 15/33 then it was realigned to 18/36
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See the cross runway, that could have been 6/24 before 11/29 using the building as a beacon before the airport?

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