Eastern Waterfront

Looks like they are finally getting down to business now. There is a fence surrounding the whole area of the Eastern Waterfront Garage. Drove by tonight and half of the building where the Breakaway was has been torn down. Pretty cool looking since you can look into half of it. You should take a pic tomorrow Patrick if you are down there. They are also doing something at the bottom of Commercial/India and the road is one way only now.
 
My sister lives up on the hill right above the eastern waterfront area. from her top floor you can see ocean gateway, the planned site for the new pier proposals, the jordan's meats site, and the longfellow site. now, if only there was actually something going on to see.
 
Well, building is total demolished today. Weird to be able to drive down India St and see the Oceangate terminal. Hopefully that view will be gone again in a few months. Now if they could smash the building two up from there with the obnoxious drunk people, we'd be cooking.
 
A little more progress on Ocean Gateway

dsc0085me5.jpg
 
Just when I thought I was out.....they pulled me back in.


From thebollard.com

Hotel and condos on Jordan?s Meats site reborn?
In an April 18 e-mail bulletin, Mainebiz reported that plans to build a hotel and condominiums at the former Jordan?s Meats site are being reworked by Rhode Island-based development company the Procaccianti Group. The business publication said Procaccianti intends to submit revised plans to the city in coming weeks.

?We?re going to deliver the right product for that area,? Procaccianti spokesman Ralph Izzi told Mainebiz. ?We haven?t arrived at it yet.?

Izzi did not return calls from The Bollard seeking comment.

Procaccianti?s original project included a Westin hotel with over 200 rooms, 95 condo units, a restaurant, retail space and underground parking. The project stalled after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges in March of last year against local developer Michael Liberty, of The Liberty Group, which had partnered with Procaccianti to build it. It?s unclear if those charges were a factor in the project?s problems.

There?s also been wide speculation that the city?s willingness to allow hotel development on public land at the foot of the Maine State Pier negatively affected the viability of the hotel project Procaccianti envisioned a block up the street. Procaccianti had not asked for a tax break to build its $100 million-plus hotel/condo complex, but both teams bidding to build a hotel at the pier site are requesting financial assistance from the city, including property tax breaks.
 
maybe they could just rennovate jordan's meats and call it "The condos at Jordan's."
 
New Forecaster has article on how the Westin is officially dead. They are looking to build offices and hope for someone to take the other part of the land to build a modest hotel, like Embassy Suites.

There is a sign up now if front of the Riverwalk garage, like there is in front of Intermed. Didn't see it until tonight but it still looked good. Looked like they might have changed the style a bit. That area is in full mode right now. Everything is getting busted down. Said there will be an official groundbreaking for the garage, I think, tomorrow.
 
PORTLAND ? The Rhode Island-based development group that six months ago axed a plan to build a 250-room high-end hotel and 97 luxury condominiums is back with a new, dramatically scaled-back proposal for the former Jordan?s Meats plant property.

The Procaccianti Group, through a Virginia branch of commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis, is marketing a portion of the property at 38 India St. as a ?hotel development opportunity.?

According to promotional material, the developer plans to subdivide the property and build an office building on slightly more than half an acre at the corner of Franklin Arterial and Fore Street. The remaining 1.75 acres is suggested for development as a mid-range hotel along the lines of an Embassy Suites, with 180 rooms and surface or underground parking for 80 cars.

Procaccianti won approval in November 2005 to build a Westin Hotel and Residences, with condominiums priced from $550,000 to $5 million. But nearly a year later, the former Jordan?s Meat plant remained standing, while the surrounding parking lot turned into a lease lot for downtown workers.

In October 2006, after months of dodging inquiries about the delayed start of construction, Procaccianti applied for a one-year extension for its project and put the site and the project up for sale. The developer paid $6 million for the meat factory, which was closed by Tyson Foods in 2005. The property is valued at $3.1 million by the city.

The developer is already in preliminary discussions with Portland Planning Department staff to subdivide the property. The land covers one square block, with the exception of a corner building at Middle Street and Franklin Arterial, which houses businesses and the Pepper Club and Hugo?s restaurants.

Procaccianti spokesman Ralph Izzi said in October that the company was taking time to re-evaluate the real estate market in Portland. He said Procaccianti was considering adding office space to the project.

Izzi did not return a call for comment this week. Lee Urban, the city Planning Department director, also did not respond to requests for comment.

The Westin project was one of three major projects proposed for the Eastern Waterfront in 2005. The others are both still in the works. Riverwalk, a mixed-use development slated for the eastern end of Commercial Street and India Street, has its approvals. A groundbreaking for the accompanying Longfellow Parking Garage is scheduled for Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

That garage is expected to provide parking for several nearby projects, including the city?s Ocean Gateway terminal and a proposed Marriott Residence Inn, at the corner of Fore Street and Hancock Street Extension. Another project, the 170-unit Village at Ocean Gate condominiums, is still before the Planning Board.

The city-owned Maine State Pier could also be redeveloped into a major mixed-use project, if the City Council votes to approve leasing the 85-year-old pier to one of two developers vying for the opportunity.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.
 
Gargae seen as catalyst for development

PORTLAND ? Four years in the making, developers and city and city and state officials held a celebration April 26 to mark the beginning of construction of the 720-space Ocean Gateway parking garage.

The garage is one element of the Riverwalk development, a $100 million condominium and retail complex planned for land along India and Commercial streets. Once known as ?The Longfellow Residences,? the project has been renamed ?The Watermark.?

The parking garage is expected to supply spaces for the city?s new Ocean Gateway cruise-ship terminal, island residents and several Eastern Waterfront projects still in the pipeline.

Riverwalk developer Drew Swenson told the 80 or so people gathered in a tent he expects to break ground on the condominium and retail portions of the development this summer.

?This has been a long road,? Swenson said. ?Nothing this important and good ever happens quickly.?

Swenson teamed up with Shipyard Brewing Co. founder Fred Forsley and Boston venture capitalists Steve Brackett and Alexander Spaulding to create Riverwalk LLC. Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. is also a partner in the development, as is the city of Portland, which sold the waterfront land to Riverwalk.

Gov. John Baldacci was among the guests Thursday. He lauded Riverwalk for its commitment to using union labor.

?This will have many ripple benefits,? the governor said.

The Ocean Gateway parking garage is expected to be completed in a year.
 
Excellent information. where did you take a picture in City Hall of those renderings?
 
In the planning department - their office is on the fourth floor at the west end of the building. Files on all they city's major construction projects and proposals are available for public viewing there.

I've been meaning to go back to see the proposals for Oak Street and the hotel proposed on Fore St. in the Eastern Prom, but haven't had the time.
 
whoa, never knew that. I'll have to swing by sometime. Thanks for the info.
 
They are putting in the big floor windows at Custom House today. The building really looks sharp from the corner next to Fore St. restaurant. Very glassy corner. Looks like they'll have the exterior finished this week.
 
Can't write in detail cause I gotta get to work. New Forecaster talks of the new plans submitted for the Jordan's site. It will now be a Starwood Element hotel, long stay. It will be 8 stories and the other part will still have condos but only about 50ish. Still tons of space for retail and restaurants. I don't understand this, but it says that on the sketch part of it was 138 feet. On an 8 story hotel?
 
Thanks for the update

residential floor heights are smaller than commercial floor heights

that sounds about right

also, remember the structure will need to be taller than the pier development, which could block views
 
The new Forecaster says that The Watermark(riverwalk condos) will have a groundbreaking tomorrow, Thursday. They also said that due to high construction costs they have axed the office building part of it and have put it up for sale. I think that's the part they were going to add on right to the garage.

www.thewatermarkportland.com

has been updated but no pics of the buildings. As long as that main part of it stays the same, I'm fine with it.
 
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