DanielPWM19
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Maybe the mural will be where they expect the vehicles to turn into the site?
Herald Square | 385 Congress St | Portland
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Portlander
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Herald Square site prior to construction from the 17th floor of 201 Federal Street. Wonder if they'll reuse the bricks from the former printing building for the facade of the new hotel?
Portlander
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My math may be a little off as I get older but it appears that the hotel has grown to a full 12 floors not including the rooftop level?
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TC_zoid
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This is such a game changer for Portland. And the location you can't beat. I can't tell you how many beautiful boutique hotels I've been to around the country and when you walk a block or two, be prepared for a mugging. Experienced that (not the mugging) in downtown Minneapolis at a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel (the Press Hotel is in this grouping). The hotel staff warned us not to walk on the street after 9pm.
matt.greeson
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Honestly, I love it, but it also looks like the podium might be ugly till the later phases are (hopefully) built
I noticed that as well. Hopefully they will add a few more floors.
I've said this before, but I LOVE the masonry detailing. It raises the whole building to a new level. The only part I'm not sure I dig at the moment is the valet entrance. For something so visible/prominent on Congress, I feel like more thought could have been put into it, its just very blehhhhh.
Here are some close ups:
Here are some close ups:
Portlander
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Thanks for the renderings nomc. It appears that the brick portion of the Congress Street facade is a little off angle and not flush with the rest of the building which is kind of unique. The color schemes are a nice compliment to the Press Hotel and the Central Fire Station.
NR2Portland
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Awesome renderings, thanks for sharing. The first and second floors look to be 20+ feet tall comparing them to the people inside the hotel in the renderings. Any idea how tall the building will be in total? What an addition this could be to the downtown away from the Old Port!
Portlander
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So the building will be 143'9" to the roofline and an additional 10' to the top of the penthouse for a grand total of approximately 154 feet. It will join 201 Federal, Franklin Towers, Back Bay Tower, Westin Harborview, Time and Temperature, One City Center and City Hall Tower in the 150 foot (not counting church spires) or taller club. In addition, the proposed residential building next door to the hotel looks like it will top out around 165-170' giving downtown Portland 9 high rises that exceed 150 feet. Portland House (rear elevation) and Promenade Towers also fall into the category but they are outside the central core. For comparison purposes Manchester has only 3 buildings that exceed 150' downtown, the Brady Sullivan Tower (14 floors) would be 4th but it's located at the northern end of Elm Street and far from the city center.
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TC_zoid
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And a much nicer way to enter the Merrill for shows. Not Maine in Maine as I like to say. Portland is still lacking a serious sports and concert venue. I predict some exciting proposals are not far down the road... (And you can build a profit model if you do it right.)
I agree.....I feel like Bayside will be the spot for a new "entertainment" (concerts/sports) venue. And like you say.....build a profit model that prioritizes comfort, amenities and convenience over # of seats! 8K seats with plenty of club seats and corporate boxes.....and maybe a cool brewery and/or sports bar that is also accessible from the street when the arena is not open. So many possibilities!
Today I was curious enough about how this will look on the skyline that I figured out how to do it in Google Earth - just a rectangular blob, but I think it gives a good idea of how it will change the area. It might be a touch wide, I'm reasonably confident the height is correct.
I'm not even sure the podium works that well as part of the full buildout, but as it's being proposed in this first phase I think it will look and function very awkwardly. It's hard to envision its purpose as a public way... I mean look at the mockup below. There's a staircase on Congress and one on Myrtle, but no one would use that as a "short cut." If it's a warm sunny day is there some appeal in sitting in an elevated spot with some greenery around you? I suppose, but it's hard to imagine how it doesn't just attract mischief. I mean there's a 15-20 foot dropoff around the whole thing -- are they gonna put up a tall fence around the entire perimeter to keep people from jumping/falling off?
Even with the proposed mural it's still a lot of "blank wall" facing east and north (and I have to believe it would attract constant graffiti). I know there is a plan for temporary landscaping / surface parking on lots 2-3, which will perhaps address some of these safety and access issues. But as we all know, big developments often doesn't proceed as initially envisioned, so in the event phases 2-3 don't get built out in a timely manner, these walls could be a part of the streetscape for years to come...
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