General Portland Discussion

cneal said:
I don't think anyone's posted this here, but the city planning office has produced this very interesting dashboard of housing production data:

https://www.portlandmaine.gov/1462/Housing-Dashboard

Some things to note:
  • The 2020 "green new deal" ordinance did not, as some predicted, put an end to new housing development; 2023 was a record-setting year for housing approvals, and 2021 was the third-best year in recent history (I'd argue that the city's ongoing zoning reforms and increased state investments in affordable housing have cancelled out any added costs of the GND)
  • 2015 was the city's second-best year for new housing approvals, but 1/3rd of the 1225 units approved that year were in the Midtown project.
  • In most years, the median time between planning approval to completion is 2 years.
  • There are 2,260 housing units that have been approved since 2020 but are not yet built, including Portland Foreside, the Bayside/Port Properties project, the co-op projects on outer Washington and in LIbbytown, and the buildout of the Catherine McAuley senior housing
  • Average housing completions over the past 5 years has been around 320 units/year. That's a 1 percent growth rate for the city as a whole (which has 35,000 households). By comparison, the average annualized population growth for the entire Portland metro area for the decade between 2010 and 2020 was 0.7 percent/year.
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Hate to rain on the parade here but I saw a slideshow presented by City of all the "approved" projects suggesting there was no slow down to housing development and I thought wow - this would be a great to show the housing that didn't get built because of the Green New Deal since I know almost all of them are DOA and the only one on the slide that has any legs is a hotel with the magic number 9 condos. I think in order to truly understand if the GND did or did not negatively impact actual housing creation I would compare the number of approvals to the number of actual building permits issued and then another level which is home many Certificates of Occupancy were issued. That is the real data. ~ C
 
There seems to be a large discrepancy between what gets -approved- and what gets built and as @Redfern pointed out a lot of previously approved projects are either stalled or dead.

There's very little actually breaking ground or underway right now. The biggest project underway at the moment is the first phase of Dougherty Field.
 
Actually now going through the dashboard. They have 52 Hanover, The Casco and Mercy showing up in the 2021 "Approval" which people might assume is after GND but all 3 of these projects (599 Units of Housing) were approved pre GND. ~ C
Housing Dashboard.png
 
Redfern said:
Actually now going through the dashboard. They have 52 Hanover, The Casco and Mercy showing up in the 2021 "Approval" which people might assume is after GND but all 3 of these projects (599 Units of Housing) were approved pre GND. ~ CView attachment 51050
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Where is this dashboard?
 
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One Portland Square might be going a little overboard with the exterior signage but if it keeps these companies located downtown so be it.
 
Portlander said:
One Portland Square might be going a little overboard with the exterior signage but if it keeps these companies located downtown so be it.
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I agree about keeping them downtown, but that business card for Verrill is the most out-of-place, ugly-ass POS since they put a sign obscuring the cornice of the Commerce Building. It might even surpass that because it's just so lame. And I am saying that as someone who doesn't have a general objection to commercial signage!
 
Portlander said:
Is it just me or does it appear to be a little crooked?
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That's... probably not the best thing to say about a law firm :LOL: . But, my hunch it's an illusion stemming from the parallel lines on the building and the sign itself not being flush. A photo from the top of the Garage, or better yet an upper floor of a Canal Plaza building (not that I assume you have access to every tower in Portland) might help... straighten it out.
 
Idle chit-chat: who else remembers the old Fourth of July celebrations on the Eastern Prom? Climbing a greased pole, the whole bit. I wonder when those died out (and it was long before the current gentrification of the Hill, believe me).
 
Discovered today and figured I'd share, the Greater Portland Council of Governments produces a podcast! https://open.spotify.com/show/1URlCCnnee9Co5xLNOm66f

Let's Connect is a weekly podcast focused on how cities and towns in Greater Portland are overcoming challenges in their communities. Hosted by Kristina Egan, Executive Director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, the show focuses on a range of issues, including housing, transportation, climate change, and economic development.
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The deck at Yosaku's now has nice ambient lighting to bring some additional life to Gorham's corner. If Portland Square 3 and 4 ever take off after the height increases from 120' to 320' (and the buildings are done right), along with The Canopy, this neighborhood will be fantastic.
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PWMFlyer said:
Walgreens on Congress street is on the list to close. This will be a prime spot for developers.. Attn Redfern...
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I think the Walgreens on Congress was slated for a rebuild like 15+ years ago to include a drive through pharmacy, but never happened. This would be PRIME real estate to redevelop. It's a great spot and frankly ugly. I'd love to see somethin nicer there - like another Hiawatha lol. :)
 
Interesting story on last week's 60 Minutes about Icon who have been making great progress with 3D printing homes:

www.cbsnews.com

7/7/2024: 3D Printing; Your Chatbot Will See You Now

First, a report on 3D printing homes on Earth, someday the moon. Then, a look at AI’s role in mental health treatments.
www.cbsnews.com
iconbuild.com

Technology for Humanity's Future - ICON

ICON develops advanced construction technologies that advance humanity by using 3D printing robotics, software and advanced materials.
iconbuild.com iconbuild.com

I didn't realize how far along things were - they're currently printing their first two floor structure (with a new printer that can also do foundations and roofs), they claim their printable material makes this process the lowest-carbon form of construction, they have a competition to design a <$99,000 home. Regardless of if you think they look good or not, I don't see how this doesn't change affordable housing - or single family housing in general - in the very near future (unless they can't get it to scale).

They have a pilot of 6 homes and a welcome center for a community supporting people experiencing chronic homelessness:

www.iconbuild.com

Community First! Village

ICON develops advanced construction technologies that advance humanity by using 3D printing robotics, software and advanced materials.
www.iconbuild.com www.iconbuild.com

They're working with NASA to use lasers and lunar regolith to (hopefully) create structures on the moon, transporting fewer materials:

iconbuild.com

Project Olympus - ICON

Olympus is a space-based construction system under active development to support the future exploration of the Moon with NASA and for commercial lunar construction projects. The Olympus construction system is being designed and engineered to construct landing pads, roadways, non-pressurized...
iconbuild.com iconbuild.com
 
Why can't Portland have a building that has something creative to its shape and lighting like this? Sure, it won't be as tall, but why not 20 stories? The prominence it would have at night from the harbor would make it stunning (and isn't it clever how they didn't forget the pedestrian traffic views from below). I love walking in and out of North Station now. I stayed at the Citizen M Hotel for a night, which is situated in the middle of the two towers, on the 14th floor and the views looking southeast during the sunrise were epic. (Photos credit goes to chrisbrat.)

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TC_zoid said:
Why can't Portland have a building that has something creative to its shape and lighting like this? Sure, it won't be as tall, but why not 20 stories? The prominence it would have at night from the harbor would make it stunning (and isn't it clever how they didn't forget the pedestrian traffic views from below). I love walking in and out of North Station now. I stayed at the Citizen M Hotel for a night, which is situated in the middle of the two towers, on the 14th floor and the views looking southeast during the sunrise were epic. (Photos credit goes to chrisbrat.)

View attachment 53112
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I’d love to see a mini version of this built when the PTC is relocated. It’ll be hugely disappointing if we don’t get a pedestrian-oriented mixed-use development but, based on the concepts NNEPRA has displayed, external parties will need to push them in that direction because they lack the vision needed to build a station that enhances the urban fabric.
 
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