Bayside Federated Companies

[Seanflynn78]

I noticed Patrick started this thread. He probably can give us an update as I read in a midtown article he was working for Federated. But guessing he cant comment unless he has a friend on here, wink wink nudge nudge...just kidding But "Where have you gone Patrick? Bayside needs you!" He was the unofficial Mr.Portland on here years ago and gave excellent input on the state of the Forest City.

 

[Portlander]

Patrick is doing well and his focus outside of a busy law career is a growing family and enjoying a more rural lifestyle which is a complete turnaround from when we first met. He still frequents this site and has not lost his passion for Portland and all things urban and we still text and talk on occasion. His most active period on archBoston was while he was single and now that he's married with children his priorities and available free time has shifted. His balanced viewpoints and ability to bring individuals together for the betterment of Portland was refreshing and one of the main reasons I decided to became a member over 13 years ago after being a spectator on the sidelines.

 

[Portlander]

Finally, resolution between Federated Companies and the City of Portland over the failed Midtown project.

 

[PWMFlyer]

So back in 2011, Federated negotiated for 3.25 acres for $2.8 million. Plus the garage was supposed to be built, but the city continues to pay interest on that boondoggle...

 

[TC_zoid]

I do not have confidence in the city to handle this. Please, please call Redfern and let them COMPLETELY take over. Reveler would be another good choice. The city has allowed parts of the downtown to fall into a de facto dystopia. It is capable of passing on control of these lots to an entity or entities that will do even more damage. It should not be primarily affordable housing for the obvious of reasons. We need a development here that will create a complete reversal of what is currently happening.

 

[um1990]

I do not have confidence in the city to handle this. Please, please call Redfern and let them COMPLETELY take over. Reveler would be another good choice. The city has allowed parts of the downtown to fall into a de facto dystopia. It is capable of passing on control of these lots to an entity or entities that will do even more damage. It should not be primarily affordable housing for the obvious of reasons. We need a development here that will create a complete reversal of what is currently happening.

My recollection (which may be totally inaccurate ) was that years ago, Munjoy Hill was a pretty undesirable area... Now it's kinda one of the jewels of the city (maybe a slight hyperbole ) ... Would be great to see some similar revitalization.

 

[markhb]

I have to wonder how high things could have gotten had they gone to court, if the settlement is for $15M. My hunch is that there was some concern that the "no you can't build a hotel" stipulation was going to turn out very badly for the city.

I can picture some of our city councilors envisioning turning the whole property into a massive Soviet-scale monument to the struggle against capitalism.

 

[TC_zoid]

My recollection (which may be totally inaccurate ) was that years ago, Munjoy Hill was a pretty undesirable area... Now it's kinda one of the jewels of the city (maybe a slight hyperbole ) ... Would be great to see some similar revitalization.

Yes, it's when new people come into a neighborhood and buy homes. They care more.

 

[PWMFlyer]

They should have included Peter Munro and his gang at Keep Portland Livable in the suit.,, LOL

 

[DanielPWM19]

I have to wonder how high things could have gotten had they gone to court, if the settlement is for $15M. My hunch is that there was some concern that the "no you can't build a hotel" stipulation was going to turn out very badly for the city.

I can picture some of our city councilors envisioning turning the whole property into a massive Soviet-scale monument to the struggle against capitalism.

"I can picture some of our city councilors envisioning turning the whole property into a massive Soviet-scale monument to the struggle against capitalism"

Oh god, please no. Could you imagine some Eastern European Brutalist yucko built here?

 

[cneal]

Nice find!

I was curious to note that the settlement didn't include Lot 6 – the one at the NE corner of Lancaster and Chestnut – but according to the city's tax assessor's map, that's already under City of Portland ownership. So it looks like the city's eminent domain proceedings for that lot were a success (and this settlement will presumably block Federated from challenging it).

I do wonder where the $15 million is coming from – the city doesn't exactly have that kind of money lying around, which makes me wonder if there's already another developer waiting in the wings with an offer to buy the land once the settlement is official. Hopefully we'll learn more at the Council meeting.

 

[PWMFlyer]

Now the question is what happens now?
Does the property go on the market to recoup the $15 Million
Does the City proceed now and build the garage that was supposed to be built 10 years ago?
Does the City go out and get bids to develop the lots again? Port Property? Redfern? Atlantic Redevelopment back for the garage?
Did the E Perry property sell within the midtown parcels?
Maybe this could be an opportunity for Hearts of Pine, to take part of the parcels, plus buy the parcel across the street and build a stadium????
Or the City has a developer already lined up and has kept this quite till this was over?

 

[markhb]

Nice find!

I was curious to note that the settlement didn't include Lot 6 – the one at the NE corner of Lancaster and Chestnut – but according to the city's tax assessor's map, that's already under City of Portland ownership. So it looks like the city's eminent domain proceedings for that lot were a success (and this settlement will presumably block Federated from challenging it).

I do wonder where the $15 million is coming from – the city doesn't exactly have that kind of money lying around, which makes me wonder if there's already another developer waiting in the wings with an offer to buy the land once the settlement is official. Hopefully we'll learn more at the Council meeting.

The details of the settlement say that Federated will provide a quitclaim deed to Lot 6, so that's in there, too.

According to the assessor's DB, E. Perry still owns their land.

 

[PWMFlyer]

Does anyone know who owns the lots where Oakhurst parks their trucks and the lot for Whole Foods Employees? was there talk of a development project several years ago ?

 

[markhb]

The parcel highlighted with the blue marker is the E. Perry site, which as I said is still owned by E. Perry. The portion of the other highlight that lies between Somerset and Kennebec (straight off the end of the storage building) is owned by something called the Howles Corporation, which also owns the storage building. The highlighted area south of Kennebec, the former New England Metal Recycling between K. and Lancaster, is owned by our friends at Redfern.

Source: city tax database and maps.

 

[TC_zoid]

Developing all of these empty lots for building towers with mostly affordable housing is going to destroy or inhibit whatever Bayside could become for improvement. I like the master planning here (see below image) from the city of Lewiston allowing Kaplan Thompson to kind of take over. I think an ideal mix is low, mid and hi-rises, and with a variety of styles and color. Redfern is certainly capable of this. Their 29 townhomes development with the woonerf (street) focus on the hill is one of my favorites. Perhaps taking some more inspiration from the Scandinavians might be a good way to go. If Bayside gets filled with 8-15 story buildings with no real variety of styles and purpose, I think it becomes largely a fail. Redfern, take the ball and run with this--save the city. The NY Times article painting a picture of downtown Portland as the next Portland (OR) from two months ago still stings. It used to be articles from them on how wonderful Portland is to visit and live. All of those accolades are now somewhat irrelevant.

 

[cneal]

Surprise! The Kaplan Thompson project you posted above is literally affordable socialist housing being built by the Lewiston Housing Authority (and for that matter, if you're a homeowner with a 30-year mortgage, you're also the beneficiary of a socialized system of federally subsidized housing credit, where the central government assumes a considerable amount of risk for your loan).

I do agree with you that it's a huge improvement to that part of Lewiston. There's a large body of empirical research that examines real estate sales data and consistently finds that affordable housing developments have a positive impact on surrounding property values and school test scores:

The analysis shows that stand-alone and clustered LIHTC properties have positive spillover effects on property prices in the surrounding communities. Moreover, neighborhoods with 3 or more LIHTC developments had even larger positive spillovers on neighboring property values.

It's not 1950 anymore folks, you don't need to clutch your pearls about imaginary Red Scares.

 

[Tom Nevers]

Developing all of these empty lots for building towers with mostly affordable housing is going to destroy or inhibit whatever Bayside could become for improvement. I like the master planning here (see below image) from the city of Lewiston allowing Kaplan Thompson to kind of take over. I think an ideal mix is low, mid and hi-rises, and with a variety of styles and color. Redfern is certainly capable of this. Their 29 townhomes development with the woonerf (street) focus on the hill is one of my favorites. Perhaps taking some more inspiration from the Scandinavians might be a good way to go. If Bayside gets filled with 8-15 story buildings with no real variety of styles and purpose, I think it becomes largely a fail. Redfern, take the ball and run with this--save the city. The NY Times article painting a picture of downtown Portland as the next Portland (OR) from two months ago still stings. It used to be articles from them on how wonderful Portland is to visit and live. All of those accolades are now somewhat irrelevant.

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I agree that the architecture looks great and, thankfully, they worked with the existing grid. However, it’s worth noting that 50% of the homes created through this project are Section 8 housing and additional units will be made available at below market rate. A full 20% of homes built through this project offer preference for people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, or have disabilities.

So, great project but it required $30 mil from the feds and is definitely not focused on providing market rate housing. Just pointing this out as it may be counter to what you’re hoping to see in Bayside.