Infill and Small Developments | Portland

Max said:
On a MEREDA webinar this morning the developer of 5 India Street said that construction should get underway in the next month or so. He also said it will be a rental building and the units will be smaller, on the order of 500-600 sq. feet. The rendering he showed was the same as the one approved by the planning board.

All three of the developers on the call seemed to be in consensus that the future of development in the city, at least in the near term, is residential. They also each expressed major concerns about several referendums on the upcoming city ballot, in particular one that would increase the number of affordable or work-force units in new developments of 10 or more units. They basically said this would kill residential development in the city (because of the economics of it). They've got a website that describes their positions: https://www.buildingabetterportland.com/
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Thanks for the update. I think the black cladding on 5 India shown in cosakita’s post at the beginning of this thread looks pretty awesome and hope that is still the plan.
 
Looks like site work has begun at 5-7 India Street.


IMG-4676.JPG
 
@Max beat me to it - was just about to upload a photo too
 
I'm not sure where these belong, but here are two interesting stories:

43 & 91 Douglass Street Portland Affordable Housing:

www.pressherald.com

Affordable housing developers plan to move forward, despite Portland’s Green New Deal

Teams including Avesta Housing and the Szanton Co. both are looking to develop 90 or more housing units in Libbytown.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com

Maine Mall:

www.pressherald.com

A plan to transform the Maine Mall just won an award, but can it be done?

The 90-acre, mostly paved shopping mecca in South Portland would be infused with homes and parks for a more balanced live-work-play environment.
www.pressherald.com www.pressherald.com
 
That mall plan eliminates a little bit too much parking IMO. They need a garage if that is the case. I love the idea of residential mixed in with retail, medical & office space though. And obviously the mall area could use more green space and beautification.
 
mainejeff said:
That mall plan eliminates a little bit too much parking IMO. They need a garage if that is the case. I love the idea of residential mixed in with retail, medical & office space though. And obviously the mall area could use more green space and beautification.
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I think there are three garages indicated in the image.
 
I saw a notice in this morning's paper, that, apparently following the ReCode effort, the folks at Tony's Donuts have expanded their rezoning application (from B-1 to B-2) to cover everything from Anania's (on the west corner of Bolton and Congress) to the diving school on the corner of Douglass St., rather than just rezoning the former gas station they themselves own. Pretty much it would make that whole side of Congress match the opposite side for zoning.
 
218 Washington Ave has been demolished - site seems to have been proposed for a future condo building. Plan #2016-280 - seems dead to me, but I'm not particularly adept at navigating the self-service portal.
 
nomc said:
218 Washington Ave has been demolished - site seems to have been proposed for a future condo building. Plan #2016-280 - seems dead to me, but I'm not particularly adept at navigating the self-service portal.
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I noticed this driving by this morning. There was a big condo project in the works for this site a couple years ago, but I haven't heard anything about it recently. I don't know why they're clearing it now.
 
nomc said:
218 Washington Ave has been demolished - site seems to have been proposed for a future condo building. Plan #2016-280 - seems dead to me, but I'm not particularly adept at navigating the self-service portal.
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Well that's an improvement. But that green garage structure next door, the one appearing to slide down the hill, needs to go. I walked by that last year, and had an urge to give it a push. But I thought about the people on Anderson Street below, so I held back.
 
I just noticed that the Westbrook Planning Board has a workshop item for March 2 for a credit union building at 90 Riverside St. -- the former Exit 8 Mobil which has been vacant for some time (and which has been said to be very difficult to develop since, while the buildable area is in Westbrook, the curbcuts are in Portland). I'm surprised it's a bank, since the giant high-visibility signposts are intact and the Burger King was able to establish a precedent to reuse its.
 
markhb said:
I just noticed that the Westbrook Planning Board has a workshop item for March 2 for a credit union building at 90 Riverside St. -- the former Exit 8 Mobil which has been vacant for some time (and which has been said to be very difficult to develop since, while the buildable area is in Westbrook, the curbcuts are in Portland). I'm surprised it's a bank, since the giant high-visibility signposts are intact and the Burger King was able to establish a precedent to reuse its.
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Technically Westbrook, but since most people consider it Portland and it was mentioned here, I'll continue the discussion here. Normally I wouldn't pay too much attention to a suburban bank/credit union development, but this design caught my attention during last night's Westbrook Planning Board meeting. I'm not sure if it's just the contrast to what was there, what is there now and what surrounds it, but I think this will be a nice addition to the area around Exit 48.

The screen was a little dark during the video of the meeting, so the screen shot are also a little dark. I tried to adjust the lighting to clear it up some.

Capture2.PNG


Capture1.PNG
 
Also, the presenters noted that the site has been difficult to develop due to contaminated soils from the old gas station, the need for a soil management plan, and the fact that there is no existing sewage connection to the site (nor is there the potential of one due to logistical and technical reasons).
 
Yeah, pretty good! And a much better view sitting at the light off 95 vs looking through the sandy lot to the Kohls. Off the top of my head I can't remember if the connection to the parking lot currently exists, but that seems crucial. That road/intersection gets jammed.
 
nomc said:
Yeah, pretty good! And a much better view sitting at the light off 95 vs looking through the sandy lot to the Kohls. Off the top of my head I can't remember if the connection to the parking lot currently exists, but that seems crucial. That road/intersection gets jammed.
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Yes, that connection does exist already. The entrance/exit on Riverside will be right-turn only, so people will have to exit via the Westbrook Crossing parking lot to go in any other direction.
 
Excavation happening today at 218 Washington Ave and some signs are up on the fence. Seems like they're targeting Summer 2022 for occupancy.

https://218washington.com
 
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