Infill and Small Developments | Portland

My mother used to work at the telephone answering service that was in the Congress Building, and since we had 1 car I had to go pick her up on many evenings. Although I am not Baptist, I always admired the way Immanuel Baptist Church seemed to be solidly planted, in an "our faith is our rock" sort of way.
Portlander said:
Very likely unless they own or are planning to purchase the "real estate" home on the right. John Hatcher is a wheeler dealer and does not pass up great opportunities.
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I've never met him, but I was amazed to find out in one bio or article that he actually created The Foundry - the night club / disco that once existed in the former Portland Stove Foundry building at 53 Kennebec St. (I looked that address up :) ).

The number of mysterious fires that happened in LGBTQ-associated establishments in the 70's and 80's is... mysterious.
 
nomc said:
More proof 1 Commercial redevelopment isn't dead yet - public HPB hearing on it scheduled for the next meeting. Looks like they aren't proposing any changes over the (approved) 2019 plans. Looks like commercial/retail on first floor, office on 2/3, and residential on 4.

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Looks like work has started on this - they've fenced in part of the parking lot in the rear and plenty of trades vans around. I really think this project and the new park across the street will be a great transition from the Old Port to the New Port.
 
Great news! That eyesore has been bothering me for years and it will be a nice transition point between the two ports. Now if they can finally get the Maine Public HQ project underway.
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Nice reuse of the parking lot and you were correct on the location and I wish the demolition of Geno's Rock Club was also part of the project!
 
Has Geno's closed? What's with the paper on the doors?
 
Not sure and I have nothing against Geno's personally but I am annoyed that the building owner has done nothing but apply a can of black spray paint over the crushed rock facade during the last 20 years. Have some pride in the appearance of the building you own and it's #2 on my list of downtown eyesores.
 
Is that building protected under the GPL Downtown Historic District as a contributing building that showed Porn.... ahh the days of the red light District in Portland
 
Re: 1 Commercial Street Commerical Space 1st Floor

Drift Collective, a Portsmouth, N.H., brand whose clothing evokes a beach vibe and is produced in-house, will open a store in Portland's Old Port.

The Drift Collective LLC leased 1,954 square feet of retail space at 1 Commercial St.

The deal was brokered by Steve Baumann of Compass Commercial Brokers and Andrew Samonas of Samonas Realty LLC.

The space, at the corner of Commercial and India streets, is being renovated after a prolonged vacancy. The space was most recently the Benkay Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar.


Baumann told Mainebiz that Drift Collective will be on the first floor and the three upper floors will each have an apartment unit.

Because the building is historic, the permitting process was a lengthy one, he said. The building is owned by family trust, which also owns the buildings next door on Commercial Street — which include Brickyard Hollow's current location and space the brewpub is moving into. The 1 Commercial St. space also includes a dirt lot that fronts India Street.

Optimum Construction Co., of South Portland, is managing the renovation. Archetype Architects of Portland handled design.

It's expected Drift Collective could move in by mid-August.

Drift Collective, which has a store at 50 Daniel St. in downtown Portsmouth, started as a bikini company and now produces a range of clothing for men and women. It is owned by Emily Stearns.


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What on earth happened to the rest of that building? Did it suffer a fire that left the first floor intact? But then why even bother to save any of it?
 
Winston3D said:
What on earth happened to the rest of that building? Did it suffer a fire that left the first floor intact? But then why even bother to save any of it?
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I have the impression that that building was all there ever was. I went looking to find out what happened to the Legion post (I found a tribute on Facebook that said they lost their charter last spring), and that post as well as the real estate listing called it "the bunker".
 
Winston3D said:
What on earth happened to the rest of that building? Did it suffer a fire that left the first floor intact? But then why even bother to save any of it?
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42 Atlantic Street... This is the strangest thing I think I've ever seen. Maybe it's a house of horrors. Looks like something you'd see on a dark Netflix series.
 
So, I found the 1924 property record, and it does indeed look like the right side is the remnant of a once 3-story building (counting the attic), while in the photo the left "bunker" side appears to be a yard. From the Facebook post I found, it seems that the Legion post was very much a social center and community watering hole (with an annual Christmas party for the Cerebral Palsy Center that seems to have been a really big deal) when the Hill was full of WWII and Korea vets.
 
BNA(bayside Neighborhood) posted a neighborhood meeting on March 6th at 530pm at 409 Cumberland Ave for 3 properties to be developed for low income housing .
197 Oxford, 50 Cedar, and 158 Lancaster. Acorn engineering is managing the projects, Avesta is co-applicant. 197 is a 5 story housing first project with 52 units.
 
Not sure of the exact lot boundaries, but here's roughly where the proposed buildings would be - the Daymark is on the right, I've outlined the 89 Elm St development in blue. I'm wondering if the 197 Oxford building would take the garden too - doesn't seem like you could fit 52 units in 5 floors in the lot I've outlined.

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Edit: they had a map on Facebook:

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