General Portland Discussion

With 2023 just about done, I'm wondering what project(s) the people of this forum would like to see started/restarted in 2024 - could be Portland or beyond. I'm not talking about breaking ground, but conversations/plans around abandoned projects, new plans for vacant lots, etc... if you had to pick one area/project...

Here, I'll start:

I'd like to hear some news about any of the lots on lower India St:
  • Finishing the India/Thames/Hancock/Fore superblock
  • 208 Fore
  • Any of the parking lots in the Fore/India/Commercial/Franklin block
  • The rest of the Jordan's Meats block
Proposed adjacent/supporting projects:
  • Maine Public
  • Redevelopment of the Ocean Gateway lot
  • A solid plan for the VA building/lot
  • Franklin redesign
  • Wex 3
Some movement:
  • Some/all of the 1 Commercial retail space is "under contract"
  • Build out of the second Wex 2 retail space (wine bar) has started
  • The end unit on the Hamilton Marine building is going to be a Mexican restaurant - build has started

Assuming the next phases of Portland Foreside happen - creating a new retail district - it would be nice for there to be a welcoming streetscape connecting to the Old Port.
Addition: given the changing city, I'd like to see this area redeveloped with more density. I don't know if it's possible to do this without losing the affordable units in the area - something I would be against - but if it is, this could be a massive project. Activating this stretch of Fore St would also help with the connection of the Old Port to Foreside.

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n't know if
 
Let's not forget, when those were built it wasn't prime land. The Hill was the rough part of town (even with FSU Posse still decades away), the foundry went CLANG-CLANG-CLANG 24/7, the tracks at the base of the hill were still very active and the harbor was literally full of sewage.
 
Addition: given the changing city, I'd like to see this area redeveloped with more density. I don't know if it's possible to do this without losing the affordable units in the area - something I would be against - but if it is, this could be a massive project. Activating this stretch of Fore St would also help with the connection of the Old Port to Foreside.

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n't know if
Agree and wish that 100 Fore Street had been designed to help activate that block as well. I’m sure the strange zoning rules for that block had best intentions, but the outcome looks like the top/back of a parking garage where some retail 2- to 4-story facade would help define and add energy.

I also agree that it would be interesting to see a capable team like Utile, who planned for PHA sites in East Bayside and Front Street in East Deering, design a staged redevelopment of Munjoy South, to improve the quality and quantity of units there. And mid-rise units could accomplish both while allowing for improved open space/playgrounds as well.

It’s a great addition to the list!
 
Addition: given the changing city, I'd like to see this area redeveloped with more density. I don't know if it's possible to do this without losing the affordable units in the area - something I would be against - but if it is, this could be a massive project. Activating this stretch of Fore St would also help with the connection of the Old Port to Foreside.

View attachment 46378
n't know if
I believe that if these homes were given more variety in color, it would help with its justification of place, like the colorful row houses across from the Victoria Mansion. It's become an attraction in itself.
 
I'd include the apartments or condos at the corner of Congress Street and Mountfort Street (including Washington Place) and include a large redesign (or relocation) of Munjoy South Playground.

It would help improve the intersection at Congress Street to add more height and density on that end/corridor.

I'd still love to see that little pie slice of land at the corner of Washington/Congress (next to the Snug) be developed. There was a proposal for a nice 4 story building there, but never was built.
 
This is one of the most valuable pieces of land in Portland for potential investment/development. The views from this hill are fantastic, and the businesses surrounding are dynamic--the future. Too bad Roux didn't have this land because if so, they could have built a residential/hotel tower here. But then again, it's 140 units primarily occupied with relatively newly arrived African immigrant families, so I don't see anything happening as it's probably close to 500 people. They would all have to be relocated during a build first, to something suitable. Not an easy task, or politically speaking, that is. But possible if they build something else first, to relocate these renters to.
 
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^ Most of the new owners' portfolio consists of older affordable housing properties, and it looks like they tend to renovate instead of tearing down for redevelopment. But the site has crazy potential so maybe they've got other ideas here?

Worth noting that even if they demolish the complex and build something new, under the city's inclusionary housing rules, they'd still need to include 25% of the new units for lower-income households. The R-6 zone allows up to 60 homes per acre; at 9 acres this site could potentially have 540 homes and 1/4 of 540 is 135 affordable homes.

Given the affordability deed restrictions that are in place, though, they might be able to do a phased development where they build new replacement affordable units on some of the site's vacant land or parking lots, then, once they're ready for occupancy, vacate and demolish the old units to build more density elsewhere on the site - thus satisfying the inclusionary housing rules and the affordability deed restrictions.
 
In a dream scenario.....those streets can be rebuilt, right? Seems like Newbury St would be rebuilt to join either Adams St or Fore St? And maybe even Federal St could be extended to join Adams? Freedom Way could be extended North (West?) to Sheridan St for smaller blocks and better traffic flow? 2 or 3 low income buildings could be built in that area across from the cemetery....no?
 
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Some color on Commercial Street during the 60's.
Odd that the building on the far corner (Silver Street) was demolished and is now home to the Commercial Street Pub, Olive Cafe etc. Given that this was the 1960's, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Portland allowed that building to be demolished for a POS little building. The buildings just beyond it are also gone and have been replaced with the building Starbucks, Edgecomb Potters, etc are in. That building at least is an improvement and attempts to fit into the Old Port.
 
The buildings just beyond it are also gone and have been replaced with the building Starbucks, Edgecomb Potters, etc are in. That building at least is an improvement and attempts to fit into the Old Port.

Funny you should say that. It was a eyesore parking garage for the longest time. Eric Cianchette built that building over the parking garage back in the late 90's/early 00's, and the Historic Preservation Board had absolute fits over the design.
 
Funny you should say that. It was a eyesore parking garage for the longest time. Eric Cianchette built that building over the parking garage back in the late 90's/early 00's, and the Historic Preservation Board had absolute fits over the design.
What do you mean by he built it over? Like at a time there was a parking garage with a new building on top or he built it over the garage and dismantled the garage?
 
Odd that the building on the far corner (Silver Street) was demolished and is now home to the Commercial Street Pub, Olive Cafe etc. Given that this was the 1960's, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Portland allowed that building to be demolished for a POS little building. The buildings just beyond it are also gone and have been replaced with the building Starbucks, Edgecomb Potters, etc are in. That building at least is an improvement and attempts to fit into the Old Port.
That building, IIRC, was the home of DiMillo's On the Waterfront. There was a fire which necessitated its demolition and DiMillo's moved to the floating restaurant. Early on, the end unit in the replacement building was the home of the Nova Scotia Tourist Board, because Maine had some of the cheapest WATS (800-number) rates in the country. Later on, that block became known as the Three Doors of Death.

Funny you should say that. It was a eyesore parking garage for the longest time. Eric Cianchette built that building over the parking garage back in the late 90's/early 00's, and the Historic Preservation Board had absolute fits over the design.
It was the old Casco Bank bunker! Parking on the Fore St. level, solid concrete with an ATM machine (and maybe an actual branch at one time) on Commercial.
 
What an eyesore the bunker was and I think the Cianchette Block fits in very well and the casual observer wouldn't even realize it's a relatively modern addition to Commercial Street.
 
What an eyesore the bunker was and I think the Cianchette Block fits in very well and the casual observer wouldn't even realize it's a relatively modern addition to Commercial Street.
When I was at Auto Europe, that ATM was indispensable. I think a lot of people don't realize what a turning point the creation of the Regency Hotel was; before that, moving from Exchange to Market really felt like going from Metropolis to Gotham City. The Armory was a paper warehouse, Milk St. was the same width it is between Exchange and Market and whatever was torn down to create that entry plaza was really only good for casting shadows, and by the time you got to Silver things were downright creepy. The Old Port was Exchange, and Fore maybe from Pearl to Union St., and that was about it.
 
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The garage (bunker) and Casco Bank branch was in the area to the left and may have already been demolished in this photo?
 
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