Bay House Portland construction started
- Thread starter tophat42
- Start date
Great photo Corey! Did you go out on a ferry to take that one?
From that angle it looks like the top of the Bay House is just about flush with the top of the parking garage, even though it's actually got one or two fewer floors, right?
I really hope that the parcel between the waterfront and the parking garage gets a signature development soon, because that parking garage is a bit of an eyesore and would be better tucked in between other buildings and not having a prominent place on the waterfront vista.
From that angle it looks like the top of the Bay House is just about flush with the top of the parking garage, even though it's actually got one or two fewer floors, right?
I really hope that the parcel between the waterfront and the parking garage gets a signature development soon, because that parking garage is a bit of an eyesore and would be better tucked in between other buildings and not having a prominent place on the waterfront vista.
P
Patrick
Guest
I can't recall 100% but I believe the original project had intended to put the powerlines subsurface, in line with the requirements for that area and the utilities master plan adopted and in place by CMP with a large underground substation nearby. However, because of the economy, changes in the lending markets, and consumer markets, the financing of this project only became possible (according to the developers) if the subsurface utilities requirement was waived. They also asked to pay the City back for road reconstruction ($200,000 I believe) over ten years instead of all at once. These two things were debated for quite some time and then the project was approved right before its maximum conditional zone change expired for good. So what you get is a compromise and the only one that was financially viable. We'll never know if in fact the project would have moved forward even had the requirement not been waived.
Agreed! If those telephone poles were perpendicular to the ground it seems like the power lines would be dangerously close to the Bay House's balconies. From a purely aesthetic point of view, there are lots of spots around town that would look better with the lines being buried. Quick examples of such spots include Danforth Street in front of the Victoria Mansion and the Old Port section of Commercial Street (lines on both sides). But I understand that it all comes down to economics, as Patrick illustrated in the Bay House situation.
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