75 Chestnut Street | Portland

To my knowledge there have been no suggestions from the city for what they might do with the Oxford Street shelter once Riverside is opened (which would be Spring 2023 at the earliest). Intuition says they'd sell the lot to a developer, but that's just speculation.

Even without the homeless shelter, this new building directly abuts a squat and rather unattractive parking garage and is within spitting distance of a working scrapyard, which I can't believe is still operating on the peninsula. If it helps our street cred nationally, I'd bet we have the only Whole Foods that's across the street from a scrap yard!
 
The city actively tried to get that scrap yard to move to Riverside, probably to the lot where the shelter is going (I don't know how many lots they initially got from Lucas Tree). They refused.
 
Max said:
To my knowledge there have been no suggestions from the city for what they might do with the Oxford Street shelter once Riverside is opened (which would be Spring 2023 at the earliest). Intuition says they'd sell the lot to a developer, but that's just speculation.

Even without the homeless shelter, this new building directly abuts a squat and rather unattractive parking garage and is within spitting distance of a working scrapyard, which I can't believe is still operating on the peninsula. If it helps our street cred nationally, I'd bet we have the only Whole Foods that's across the street from a scrap yard!
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Agreed. I travel a lot because of my work and usually Whole Foods, or the newer ones, are in the upscale areas of cities (aka, "Whole Paycheck"). And don't be surprised if the city continues to operate the current homeless shelter. By the time the new one opens, it will probably not be able to handle the numbers. Maine Med has this problem too. By the time the new addition opens, it too will be at capacity (last week they announced another new building for the Scarborough campus). You don't need a crystal ball for those predictions. The scrap yards becoming developed is a big unknown. Why would the Federated guy sell them now? You saw the article link I just posted from Maine Biz. Portland is projected to have the fastest growing home prices in the nation next year. This projection is tied to vacant land values. All that Mr. Federated has to do to make his hefty annual return is sit on the land (its appreciation). It would take a reckless Whale coming in to swallow that sales price. Sad. It could have been such a cool area to develop. Check out the new Echelon residential and shopping district in Boston's Seaport District that is opening early next year (from the recent Boston Globe article). It's residential, shopping, food, and entertainment designed for the future. If the scrap yards had this kind of development... (My prediction for the next hot growth area in Portland comes in 2023 when USM opens its new buildings. These designs are cutting edge and exactly how Gen Z wants to socialize and live within. It will create a BIG buzz and Portland will be the place to go to college. It's an easy train ride to Boston. I went to USM Portland for a year, years ago. I loved the urban feel of this area and walking around to other places was a snap. The houses abutting this area are going to go up, WAAAAAAAY up. I lived in one during that one year.)
 
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cneal said:
The city doesn't own the Oxford Street shelter. They lease it from a private owner for a whopping $164,000 a year (or $13,600/month):
www.pressherald.com

Estimates for a new homeless shelter in Portland approach $20 million

The expected cost of building a new homeless services center on Riverside Street is more than double the city's $8 million estimate in 2017.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com
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Good find. It's not going anywhere at that price. And $20 mill for a new one? Why not reduce the overflow of the existing one with more affordable housing? I listened to the head of the PHA talk a few years ago during the dedication ceremony at the second of their housing projects in history--Franklin Towers and the green Passive House multi-family building across (only two?). He said there was a waiting list of over 12,000! How do you fix this problem? Stop the few and far between 4-6 story builds. Portland needs 18 story solutions and not just on the peninsula. Otherwise, go ahead and build your $20 mill homeless shelter and watch it fill up in less than a year. If the city continues to let rich out-of-state transplants dictate policy the insanity will never end. Current policy is not working, so why not change it? In NYC, back in the 80s, they used to create SROs for the homeless -- Single Residency Occupation (with a voucher system). They were large apartment-like buildings and the units were tiny, like a dorm room. The Jane Hotel on the lower west side was set up like this back then, though now it's a kind of youth hostel with a Gen Z nightclub on the roof. The bathrooms of the SROs were in the middle of the floor, and shared, like old-style college dorms. Of course, this concept would need some tweaks for today. Occupants need privacy for sleeping and a place to keep their stuff. They don't need a private bath. The top floor units could have private baths for those serious about work, as an incentive to climb levels, with the ultimate goal of finding a better apartment. A mental health counselor needs to be present in a small office on the ground floor for 5 days of the week. This person has to be qualified in not only credentials, but as a cheerleader, of sorts. Also, a 24/7 armed security officer. That's it. And a 24/7 coffee shop on the ground floor where occupants can interact (staffed by the residents). True, the drug problem is a difficult animal to train. But that's ubiquitous. The expenditure is justified if the building is big enough--at least 500 beds. In closing, two types of buildings can be built--a typical affordable housing hi-rise and an SRO type of one. Spending money doesn't fix problems if you don't apply some intelligence. Einstein once said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
 
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Max said:
To my knowledge there have been no suggestions from the city for what they might do with the Oxford Street shelter once Riverside is opened (which would be Spring 2023 at the earliest). Intuition says they'd sell the lot to a developer, but that's just speculation.

Even without the homeless shelter, this new building directly abuts a squat and rather unattractive parking garage and is within spitting distance of a working scrapyard, which I can't believe is still operating on the peninsula. If it helps our street cred nationally, I'd bet we have the only Whole Foods that's across the street from a scrap yard!
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I wish they would remove this ugly and stout parking garage or build a 10-20 story building on top of it. It seems like such a useless waste.
 
DanielPWM19 said:
I wish they would remove this ugly and stout parking garage or build a 10-20 story building on top of it. It seems like such a useless waste.
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Too bad it isn't a city owned garage - does UPP own garages or just operate? If only there was an ambitious developer who wants to see if it's possible...
 
Daymark condo development to bring extra amenities to West Bayside

Poorly written title.

"The Daymark condominium development aims to bring high-end features and extra amenities such as a pet wash, maker's space, sports and gaming room, fitness area and lounge to [the] West Bayside [building]."

There, fixed.

I didn't realize there are two commercial units (total 3400 sq ft):

"Tenants have not yet been secured for those spaces. [And might not ever]"

Fixed that one too.
 
Sheesh, this is more of an advertisement rather than an article. "Send our marketing one-pager to MaineBiz and ask if they'll reprint it!"

I agree that these commercial spaces will likely be hard to fill. These new condo projects have provided a lot of ground-floor retail which is only very slowly being filled in. I see that one space at 40 Free Street has been leased, and I read awhile back about some golf-focused sports bar was going to go into the ground floor of 25 High Street, which could be an interesting venture. I also saw that the windows of the commercial space at "Verdante" have been papered over, I wonder if they've found a tenant for that spot?
 
Noticed this was just visible from Top O The Old Port

IMG_3825.JPG
 
if you drove down Portland Street and then by this new building during the day you’d say no way in hell you’d live there. The wanderers are all right around the building. It’s not like it’s skid row or methadone mile in Boston but it’s the worst gathering area in city. That said, I would live there. As close as you are to the bad you’re just as close to all the cool parts of bayside and Whole Foods right in front of you. You’re very quick walk to downtown/old port too. They’re not gangs hanging near the building, just really down and out and drugged out. The area is getting better not worse. I would just try to get a unit facing Whole Foods and marginal way and not on sides or back
 
I know people who've lived on the same block as Oxford St. Shelter and are fine with it; but plenty of people are scared of homeless people, and if you're one of them, this isn't the neighborhood for you. There's also a lot of police in the neighborhood, which can also be threatening to a lot of people (one officer operating in the neighborhood has shot and killed two victims and is still on the streets).
 
conner8773 said:
I'm not personally too concerned about homeless people (even less so of the police), more trying to figure out (1) if the area is going to turn around for the better in the long run and (2) how good the building's location is relative to other future developments (basically independent of the homeless issue - RE: parking garage, scrap yard, being at the bottom of a "valley" etc. etc.)
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Depends on how you define 'long run'! There's so much unused, underdeveloped, poorly used space in Bayside as a whole - the potential is huge and, in my opinion, highly important to Portland's growth and affordability. But discussed elsewhere, the scrap yard doesn't seem motivated to move/sell, the lots controlled by Federated Cos aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

You can, however, look to West Bayside for encouraging development - just 4 or 5 blocks from this building. Things like Bayside Bowl, Fork Food Lab (moving to SoPo though) have been there for awhile. The Barrett Made building behind Bayside Bowl, the Knickerbocker building, the Furman Block, 52 Hanover St has dug a huge hole behind Knickerbocker. You have the Nomadic Goat, high end beauty salon, in the Flatiron Block (what's the deal with this sign? I was just verifying the name on Google Maps and noticed it wasn't there in 2017 and appears in 2018. Was it being restored?) on the corner of Portland and Oxford. Two Fat Cats Bakery relocated to Lancaster St, the rehab of the Shlotterbeck and Foss building, Leavitt & Sons, etc...

I don't think anything is going to happen to any of the buildings between Oxford and Cumberland any time soon - but then again, as rents keep going up maybe these places start getting torn down and replaced.
 
Just for clarity so our new Portlander doesn't get flagged as a newbie: West Bayside, or sometimes just Bayside, is west of Franklin St. and ends at Forest Ave. East Bayside is east of Franklin, essentially ending at Anderson St.. but I don't know if there are nuances related to the streets that go up the Hill.
 
I change my mind saying I would live here. With the leadership in charge and more changes that could happen, this could keep getting worse before it gets better. I can’t fathom paying a mil for a condo and having all that I see outside your door. Hoping this is just a flukey violent week in Portland. If you have that much money, Go buy a house in cape or Falmouth or Willard.

2 years in a row the police have been attacked by fireworks in nearby Kennedy park. Guy was robbed and shot at a Few streets down last week. Someone got shot in deering oaks yesterday. None of this needed to happen
 
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