General Portland Discussion

In addition to the large portfolio of property they recently acquired in West Bayside....This past week Port Properties spent an additional $20 million to purchase the Public Market Garage on Cumberland Ave. That's a total of $45 million of Port Properties capital invested in this part of bayside.


To me, this screams that Port Properties is planning something big for these Bayside parcels....
 
Just curious, have they ever developed anything substantial in the past? I was under the impression that their specialty was acquiring properties and managing them, not building new projects from scratch.
 
Just curious, have they ever developed anything substantial in the past? I was under the impression that their specialty was acquiring properties and managing them, not building new projects from scratch.
In the past they've worked closely with private developers to move projects forward. Right now they're taking a leading role in developing "The Levee" in Biddeford.
 
^ You are correct which makes me feel much better about Cosakita's optimism. :)
 
A likely reason that Port Properties has bought up the majority of buildable sites in Bayside. Hopefully they develop a comprehensive plan for a vibrant new mixed-use, high-density neighborhood to help accommodate sustainable growth — they're well positioned now to help the City core grow exponentially.
I'm curious about the likelihood (probably zero) that Port Properties will do a land-swap with Roux given all the flack for the B&M site.

I'm also curious if this growth will necessitate the need for Franklin Arterial to be realigned into a boulevard and open up land on either side for development.

There's a bunch of old housing stock in Bayside that isn't worth saving. Perhaps someday Noyes and the scrapyards will go. VIP bus lot seeking rezoning. Marginal Way could even see redevelopment. Is there ever going to be serious consideration to removing the excessive 4-leaf clover (et al) exit ramps?
 
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Roux needs to be on the peninsula due to all the partnerships it has here. The Federated scrap yard lots are ideal, but that guy is holding out for the biggest possible payout. And he will get that.
 
At this point, unfortunately, Roux has invested too much into the B&M site to abandon the location. They've done a lot of planning, stakeholder engagement and engineering and starting from scratch is non-viable at this stage in the development process
 
At this point, Roux has invested too much into the B&M site to abandon the location. They've done a lot of planning, stakeholder engagement and engineering and starting from scratch is non-viable at this stage in the development process

Agree: Timing is everything.
 
One of our senior arch members recently wrote this:
I was just at a luncheon with Roux, a lot is happening since starting up 23 months ago. Tech and bio companies are in talks to open offices here or move here. They are housing lots of students and teachers in hotels due to lack of availability. Lots of growth coming soon, stay tuned...
Housing students in hotels? Huh? All other U.S. cities focus on housing migrants and the homeless in theirs.

Roux made a mistake. Substantially more interest in the peninsula is creating an exciting dynamic for the future of Portland. Public and private partnerships such as the new graduate and professional center (with Roux), which is headed by a woman with a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, is no joke (Terry Sutton). The peninsula is where all the "fun" is. And I don't think the professional graduate center arm of the university is going back to the campus, on the other side of 295. But that's adjoining, so not too bad of a place to be. Suburban campuses can be a liability today. Gorham is on the wane. Today's students need access to transportation (they don't drive cars) and Boston is easily accessible from the peninsula for internships and jobs. Portland has an exciting combination of location, recreation, academic options, high-tech businesses, and entertainment. I believe that in 5 years (or maybe less) rents and home prices will double here (I pull metrics in creative ways for my work and project this). It's coming, a wave, and it's going to crash soon, but not destroy--change for the better. The 2030 Portland will be somewhat unrecognizable. Sure, Roux will more than likely build on its new acquistion off-peninsula and continue to fight with its neighbors over "institutional creep" and traffic, but it's still not too late to move--the land has gone up in value. Sometimes you make a mistake in business because the immediate future has changed the game. Big tech is gathering around M.I.T. I see the same thing happening for the East End. It's a hot triad of Roux and the law and business schools of UM/USM (the latter of which is adding more students due to demand). Another metric I study is the social media comments of the students. What they say is what they do. And that "do" is not one conducive to being on a remote campus. Where else can you live and study and in less than a ten-minute walk, be to school or work in one direction, and then the beach after (East End Beach) to use a kayak to paddle within the greatest sailing bay in the world (according to my Hawaiian born schooner captain last year). Hartford? New Haven? Providence? Manchester? Nope. The only thing keeping New Haven and Providence from sinking are its colleges. Education and tech IS the future, and it's shaping up now for Portland's new way of life. "The way life should be?" They should revise that to "The way life is going to be."
 
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Assuming the current height limit is about 50' across Bayside, but what if there could be closer to 100' in a cluster of a few blocks close to the Public Market Garage? Or even one block up-zoned to about 150'? Rough sketches here meant only to visualize those questions:
 

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Assuming the current height limit is about 50' across Bayside, but what if there could be closer to 100' in a cluster of a few blocks close to the Public Market Garage? Or even one block up-zoned to about 150'? Rough sketches here meant only to visualize those questions:
I think you try to do some kind of a deal with the Federated guy. Name a building after him. Let him make money off the hi-rise housing that needs to be built. Get creative. He has those primes pieces of land in the middle of Bayside. It would be a great location for Roux. There are numerous fun places to eat and drink and socialize in this area. Remember, many of the Roux students are existing professionals in their fields from all over the world. They are coming to the school to learn tech skills needed to excel in their respective fields. Many are in their 30s and even 40s (reference the recent graduating class). They don't want to study and network at a giant isolated campus and live in a "dorm." Another solution would be to buy the public housing development behind the current Roux (WEX) location and raze this. Move those residents to new and better housing in Bayside. Avesta can build it. Why should they have premium views of the harbor at such a low rent cost? These small houses are cheap in construction quality, poor in energy efficiency, and absent of any high-tech features and design. This public housing development is only 200 feet from the Fore Points Marina housing build. Some of those condos are going to go for up to $10 million by the time they are done. How's that for a disconnect?
 
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I was just at a luncheon with Roux, a lot is happening since starting up 23 months ago. Tech and bio companies are in talks to open offices here or move here. They are housing lots of students and teachers in hotels due to lack of availability. Lots of growth coming soon, stay tuned...

Building off of this, I'm hearing "through the grapevine" from multiple parties that West / Central Bayside is going to be getting a lot of attention in the next year or two...
 
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Assuming the current height limit is about 50' across Bayside, but what if there could be closer to 100' in a cluster of a few blocks close to the Public Market Garage? Or even one block up-zoned to about 150'? Rough sketches here meant only to visualize those questions:

Here's the (existing) Bayside height overlay. Just bear in mind that zoning is always up for negotiation:

And here's an annotated version of the new Port Properties parcel map with the zoning code's maximum allowable heights; note that 52 Hanover is 85'
Bayside PP Existing With Zoned Heights.jpg
 
Building off of this, I'm hearing "through the grapevine" from multiple parties that West / Central Bayside is going to be getting a lot of attention in the next year or two...

Logical. And west and central Bayside is closer to the USM expansion, and I'm guessing some students will choose to live in this area. It would have been best had Roux located here, but the Federated guy is going to hold on to his lots until they reach a premium. When will that be? 2050? I think Portland is poised for substantial growth for the next two or three decades. He will sell when he's maybe 90. I think he's now, what, 50ish? What are his intentions besides money? Any at all? Build a giant statue of his likeness in the middle of Bayside?
 
CC023EB1-58EB-442F-9C6F-16A408590E97.jpeg

I never noticed this signage next to Back Bay Tower facing Mechanic Street. I thought it was a very nice addition, I’m not sure if I’ve been blind to it for this long but I thought it was worth sharing!
 

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Driving down Congress today made me wonder if @Redfern has considered the 7-Eleven parcel. Pick up the land and hold onto it until the GND can be tweaked! They did such a good job with the nearby Hiawatha (and all the other developments), it makes me hope for more!
 
Driving down Congress today made me wonder if @Redfern has considered the 7-Eleven parcel. Pick up the land and hold onto it until the GND can be tweaked! They did such a good job with the nearby Hiawatha (and all the other developments), it makes me hope for more!
Agreed - @Redfern has done such a great job with in-fill and collaborating with the city. I can think of dozens of lots I'd love for them to buy and build.

Like who owns the lot at 433 Cumberland Ave at the corner of High Street? Can we at least get a 10 Story building here? ;)
 

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