Intermed - as it develops (now officially a high-rise)

Ok, So i had some time right after class and my girlfriend needed to run into EMS and i just so happened to have my camera on me so I decided to snap some pics (Note: I took them through my car window which is filthy so they're not of the best quality):











The third photo really shows how badly the power lines need to be put underground. It's good to see density instead of strip-malls though.

Also, if anyone wants me to move the last two photos to the appropriate thread, let me know. I figured I'd keep them together for the hell (aka laziness) of it.
 
Very nice. Maybe we can add a few floors on top of the Wild Oats/EMS building to help it fit in better now!

I think it makes great sense to put as many power lines as possible underground in our northern climate as they are prone to heavy ice and cars sliding off the road into them.

Pretty fancy car you got there? I'll trade :p
 
^^I like the first pic best as it displays a relatively new and improving street wall where one never existed before. It will look nice I think once both buildings are finished. While neither building (or the AAA building) are architectural wonders, it's good to have this type of development here.

Those lines do need to go underground. hopefully soon. I don't know how they handle ice and snow on a regular basis.

The car? that little hood ornament is about the fanciest part of it, it's pretty spartan as far as cars go, the leather seats are about the only luxury feature. It's an '02 C240 with a 6 speed manual... rear wheel drive, not fun in the snow. I miss my 4wd. gas milage is good though.
 
Is there any plans in the works to bury the lines? Thanks for the update!
 
I think that the city has a streetscape plan for Marginal Way that includes new, wider sidewalks, streetlamps, etc. - probably buried utilities as well. Since the Maine Dept. of Transportation refuses to pay for anything that doesn't involve more pavement, though, it's probably going to be left to individual developers to do the work as the street develops. So those lines in front of the old WiOMart are unlikely to go anywhere as long as that place remains a strip mall.
 
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Tonight, from North Street.
 
Looks pretty impressive from this view. Heck of a shot! I'm concerned for the NIMBY'S though...this is too big and too close to the highway for them, it might put them into some serious shock or some backwards disorder!!
 
Enhancement or distraction? Some fear new Bayside buildings will mar the view of downtown. Others reserve judgment until the work ends.
By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Staff Writer March 10, 2008

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=174660&ac=PHnws



"You want to be in a city that's prospering," said Jennifer Casey, a Portland resident.

For others, the building at 84 Marginal Way is a jarring interruption in a once-panoramic view and an unwelcome sign that Portland's skyline is changing.

Skeptics include City Councilor Cheryl Leeman, chairwoman of the council's community development committee, which oversees Bayside's redevelopment. "It's huge, and at this point it's terribly unattractive," Leeman said of the Intermed building. "I'm hoping when it's completed it doesn't have the visual impact that it has now."

Leeman worries that other buildings proposed or anticipated in Bayside will be as large and prove to be a similar distraction from the city's skyline. She said the buildings' height and overall appearance will be on her mind Wednesday, when her committee reviews several development proposals for 3.3 acres of city-owned former railroad land on Somerset Street.
Click to expand...


Nice to see the chairwomen of the community development committee finds buildings taller than Wild Oats to be 'huge' and hurting our skyline. I'm sure someone on this forum would know if Leeman is in support of the I-295 widening? I assume she is.

Jim Hanley, one of the building's developers, said it embodies the city's vision for Bayside. Intermed alone will attract 300 employees and 700 patients to the district each day. Other tenants will be Drummond Woodsum, a law firm now on Commercial Street, as well as a coffee shop and a pharmacy at street level.
Click to expand...

(thumbs up)
 
Leeman is the only Republican on our city council. Ironic that she'd have this knee-jerk, anti-development stance, while the city's three Green Party councilors are also the most in favor of density and economic development.

Too bad this article only looks at things from the perspective of people who drive on the freeway. Which is typical for the Press Herald, where most of the reporters drive in to work from the 'burbs.

But if you look at the new building from the city, instead of from the freeway, it's an unambiguous aesthetic improvement - it blocks our view of the ugly, noisy highway. You'd think that the Press Herald and Councilor Leeman, with their downtown offices across the street from and in City Hall, respectively, might have thought to look at the building from this perspective.
 
First of all, since when is 7-10 stories (that is what it is, right?), "huge?" Second of all, what the hell does the opinion of passers-by on the freeway matter? Shouldn't it be the people who live in the neighborhood and around that area who's opinions count? It's one building and it really doesn't block anyone's view of downtown except from JUST the right spot.

It's crap like this article that turn neutral people into NIMBYs which the old cities and towns of New England need like a hole in the head. Great to see a politician speaking out against positive development.
 
I just want to stick up for Cheryl because she has always been pro-development in the past and she has been on the right side of the issues many times when the other mumblin' stumblin' councilors are figuring out ways to block Hooters or something else stupid.

Cheryl really looked bad on this one though. I'm very surprised she said those things. I'm sure it won't be a big deal and the proposals for bayside will go through as planned. I think the Press Herald just blew it up and needed something to write about. What a crappy newspaper.
 
Good eye!

Usm...ughh, I have class tonight.
 
Saw they put in a row of glass today. Glass is my friend. Can't wait to see it covered. Hopefully it doesn't blind people on 295. I'm guess they make it so it doesn't.
 
Looks like it's going to have some pretty large floor plates. Anyone know how many elevators this thing is supposed to have?
 
^ I haven't a clue. The floor plates do look pretty big.

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Another great angle! The student housing looks huge! I'm not sure about the wood frame construction though....a bunch of wild college kids..(no pun intended, been there done that)..I think the fire hazard would be a lot higher.
 
It's funny that the article in the press herald a while back was talking about how Intermed will block the skyline but the student housing actually blocks it more.
 
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