Herald Square | 385 Congress St | Portland

Max said:
Even with the proposed mural it's still a lot of "blank wall" facing east and south (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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I would assume the mural is in part for graffiti control - that's why they put a mural on the wall across from Back Bay Tower. Not sure how that's fared.
 
The mural across from Back Bay Tower has fared well, still no graffiti as of this morning. However, the Oak Street portion of the former AT&T building that did not have a mural has been tagged.
 
Max said:
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 south (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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Agreed. Is this all for the sake of underground parking they don't have to excavate for, or is it elevation? Either way, it needs rethinking.
 
Approved by the planning board last night:

www.pressherald.com

Portland board approves 179-room hotel for major project next to City Hall

The 179-room hotel with nine condos and 75 parking spaces was approved unanimously, but the developer says it's too soon to say when construction might start.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com

Based on the article, it seems like Brady doesn't have a timeline for when construction will actually begin.
“I don’t have a timeline yet,” Brady said in an interview prior to Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re just finalizing the site plan approval and will see how things progress to the next steps. It won’t be any time within the next six months
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Seems like they also haven't determined whether the Hotel / Condo phases will be constructed simultaneously.
Reger Dasco Properties is the developer behind other phases of the project that will include two condo buildings and have yet to be approved by the board. Brady said it hasn’t been determined yet whether the hotel or condo buildings will be constructed first.
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Glad it's approved but the uncertain construction timeline is a little puzzling. He initially floated this idea in late 2019 and it looks like it will be at least 4 years before a groundbreaking. I'll feel better about the project once we see a demolition crew on the site. :)
 
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Portlander said:
Glad it's approved but the uncertain construction timeline is a little puzzling. He initially floated this idea in late 2019 and it looks like it will be at least 4 years before a groundbreaking. I'll feel better about the project once we see a demolition crew on the site. :)
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I feel better once they start digging. A demo crew could be a prelude to "temporary" repaving for parking.
 
Digging through last night's planning board packet, there are some hints as to the other phases of the project:

They make it clear that the hotel and residential phases are entirely separate projects on different timelines and managed by different developers....However based on the language in the report it seems like the stormwater analysis was done with the assumption that Phases 1 and 2 would be built simultaneously.

Another interesting note is an email from September where Joe Dasco says "We are working on plans for a condo building at the corner of Pearl and Congress" (The Phase 2 lot)

To me that would imply that the Phase 2 residential project is likely going to be moving through the planning process in the not-too-distant future.
 
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While it might be disappointing that construction is not imminent....I'd rather them be thorough and get things right.....especially if it means that phases 1 & 2 get built simultaneously. Seems like this might be a spring 2024 groundbreaking.
 
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Came across this. Construction start this month.
 
That would be great though Jim Brady was quoted in the PPH saying it was not going to happen until 2024.
 
What’s going on with this big project for the city? I saw last there was a possibility of June construction but I haven’t seen anything going on. Hope this can get moving. What a project.
 
This project is stalling. We need other tall building project in Portland. Redfern help us out!!
 
From PPH article in Feb:

“I don’t have a timeline yet,” Brady said in an interview prior to Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re just finalizing the site plan approval and will see how things progress to the next steps. It won’t be any time within the next six months.”
 
With the new zoning guidelines maybe they can come back with a taller proposal. As per many conversations in the Boston threads, 10-12 floors seems to be the least cost-effective range for building residentials. (at least that's the defense for why we keep getting 5-7 story wood framed garbage)
 
If the proposed ReCode changes to the downtown height overlay were adopted, they would be able to build up to 250 ft. Realistically that would probably equate to 22-24 story buildings.

But then again they would have to go through the entire planning process again. Whether they're willing to do that or not is anyone's guess.

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