I took a bike ride this weekend through Knightville, the neighborhood at the other end of the Casco Bay Bridge, and there's a surprising amount of development going on over there. The city is rebuilding Waterman Drive to become more pedestrian-friendly and neighborhoody (it had been the approach to the old Million Dollar Bridge), and a developer recently gained approval for a four-story office condo building to replace the suburb-style Beale St. Barbeque and its neighbor.
There's also a big mixed-use project going up on the other side of the neighborhood, on Ocean St - two stories of apartments on top of main street retail spaces. I think it's called "village at mill creek," but unfortunately I can't find any renderings on the web.
This is really a great neighborhood, surrounded by the harbor, within walking distance of grocery stores, schools, and the SoPo greenway, but it usually feels pretty dead over there. Hopefully these projects will give the area more life.
Approved: 100 Waterman project receives final site plan nod (Printed Sept. 21, 2007)
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This entry was posted on 10/1/2007 11:57 AM and is filed under Amanda Estes,zoning,So Po News,Knightville Mill Creek.
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Developer Andrew Ingalls and his team appeared before the South Portland Planning Board last week with a new name and modifications aimed at attracting retail businesses to the four-story office condominium building slated to be built in the city?s Knightville neighborhood.
On Sept. 11, the planning board voted 5-0 (members Judy Carpenter and Craig Babbidge were absent) to approve the final site plan for 100 Waterman, previously named Fore River Office Park.
?100 Waterman sounds stronger,? Ingalls said. ?It doesn?t pigeonhole the site. I think it sort of cleans it up from a marketing perspective as well.?
A June 4 vote by the city council to include the 90-100 Waterman Drive parcel in the Knightville Design District and the Village Commercial zoning district, paved the way for Ingalls to take advantage of the districts? 50-foot height limit and minimum front yard setbacks. While Knightville residents favored a three-story building to Ingalls? proposed 31,668-square-foot four-story design, Ingalls said the taller building had the potential to revitalize the neighborhood with retail and possibly a restaurant.
As part of the approval, Ingalls will provide condominium documents with stipulations reserving the potential for first floor retail and restaurant space.
?There?s quite a bit of vacancy now in the Mill Creek area,? Ingalls said. ?As a commercial broker ? I?ve been talking with a lot of those people and what we hear most often is traffic ? ?We need people.??
While Ingalls has said a strictly retail development wouldn?t be profitable in the area because of the low traffic flow, he said a mix of retail with businesses such as insurance companies and doctors? offices would make the building more of a destination.
While not making any changes to the project?s design, Ingalls said a modification has been made to install a grease trap for potential restaurant use on the north side of the building. The plans also reflected the designation of three marked parking spaces for delivery trucks, a response to the board?s earlier concern about loading areas.
Planning Director Tex Haeuser said staff was also recommending trash pickup on the site be limited to the hours of 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
?This is a mixed use area and the noise from a dumpster is a common complaint we get from commercial projects in residential neighborhoods.?
In order to encourage pedestrian traffic to the site, crosswalks were added to the two entrances located on B and C Street. Sidewalk connections were also added on the Waterman Drive side of the building with the intent of making a connection to the sidewalks that will be constructed as part of Waterman Drive improvements now underway.
Shawn Frank of Sebago Technics said there had been some discussion about burying the electric wires currently running along the back of the site. However, a site visit with a Central Maine Power (CMP) representative determined the wires were not only serving the existing Beale Street Barbecue restaurant, but also ?completing the circuit for the whole peninsula.?
Planning Board Chairman Rob Schreiber said he was pleased with the team?s intent to make 100 Waterman an environmentally sustainable site, although it is not required to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certification, which is considered the benchmark for environmentally sustainable building design. Prior to the council?s June vote on the zoning change, Schreiber proposed an amendment to require any building taller than 45-feet and fronting Waterman Drive to receive LEED certification. That amendment failed due to concern it would create a conditional zone.
Overall the planning board said it was happy with the modifications to the site.
?This is so exciting to think that we are going to have ? a very innovative and beautiful building in what I call the gateway to South Portland and we?re going to look in my estimation, a whole lot better than the other side of the river,? said Carol Thorne.
During the preliminary review in August, board member Don Russell said Ingalls had ?backtracked? from a guarantee of retail on the first floor of the building, but said, he was pleased with the modifications to ?support the original expressed intent.?
?My faith and hope says that if there?s any team, any project that can break through that all daunting, ?What the market will bear? ? this is the team,? he said, referencing Ingalls? earlier statement the market will ultimately determine the building?s tenants.
There's also a big mixed-use project going up on the other side of the neighborhood, on Ocean St - two stories of apartments on top of main street retail spaces. I think it's called "village at mill creek," but unfortunately I can't find any renderings on the web.
This is really a great neighborhood, surrounded by the harbor, within walking distance of grocery stores, schools, and the SoPo greenway, but it usually feels pretty dead over there. Hopefully these projects will give the area more life.
Approved: 100 Waterman project receives final site plan nod (Printed Sept. 21, 2007)
Print the article
This entry was posted on 10/1/2007 11:57 AM and is filed under Amanda Estes,zoning,So Po News,Knightville Mill Creek.
By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
Developer Andrew Ingalls and his team appeared before the South Portland Planning Board last week with a new name and modifications aimed at attracting retail businesses to the four-story office condominium building slated to be built in the city?s Knightville neighborhood.
On Sept. 11, the planning board voted 5-0 (members Judy Carpenter and Craig Babbidge were absent) to approve the final site plan for 100 Waterman, previously named Fore River Office Park.
?100 Waterman sounds stronger,? Ingalls said. ?It doesn?t pigeonhole the site. I think it sort of cleans it up from a marketing perspective as well.?
A June 4 vote by the city council to include the 90-100 Waterman Drive parcel in the Knightville Design District and the Village Commercial zoning district, paved the way for Ingalls to take advantage of the districts? 50-foot height limit and minimum front yard setbacks. While Knightville residents favored a three-story building to Ingalls? proposed 31,668-square-foot four-story design, Ingalls said the taller building had the potential to revitalize the neighborhood with retail and possibly a restaurant.
As part of the approval, Ingalls will provide condominium documents with stipulations reserving the potential for first floor retail and restaurant space.
?There?s quite a bit of vacancy now in the Mill Creek area,? Ingalls said. ?As a commercial broker ? I?ve been talking with a lot of those people and what we hear most often is traffic ? ?We need people.??
While Ingalls has said a strictly retail development wouldn?t be profitable in the area because of the low traffic flow, he said a mix of retail with businesses such as insurance companies and doctors? offices would make the building more of a destination.
While not making any changes to the project?s design, Ingalls said a modification has been made to install a grease trap for potential restaurant use on the north side of the building. The plans also reflected the designation of three marked parking spaces for delivery trucks, a response to the board?s earlier concern about loading areas.
Planning Director Tex Haeuser said staff was also recommending trash pickup on the site be limited to the hours of 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
?This is a mixed use area and the noise from a dumpster is a common complaint we get from commercial projects in residential neighborhoods.?
In order to encourage pedestrian traffic to the site, crosswalks were added to the two entrances located on B and C Street. Sidewalk connections were also added on the Waterman Drive side of the building with the intent of making a connection to the sidewalks that will be constructed as part of Waterman Drive improvements now underway.
Shawn Frank of Sebago Technics said there had been some discussion about burying the electric wires currently running along the back of the site. However, a site visit with a Central Maine Power (CMP) representative determined the wires were not only serving the existing Beale Street Barbecue restaurant, but also ?completing the circuit for the whole peninsula.?
Planning Board Chairman Rob Schreiber said he was pleased with the team?s intent to make 100 Waterman an environmentally sustainable site, although it is not required to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certification, which is considered the benchmark for environmentally sustainable building design. Prior to the council?s June vote on the zoning change, Schreiber proposed an amendment to require any building taller than 45-feet and fronting Waterman Drive to receive LEED certification. That amendment failed due to concern it would create a conditional zone.
Overall the planning board said it was happy with the modifications to the site.
?This is so exciting to think that we are going to have ? a very innovative and beautiful building in what I call the gateway to South Portland and we?re going to look in my estimation, a whole lot better than the other side of the river,? said Carol Thorne.
During the preliminary review in August, board member Don Russell said Ingalls had ?backtracked? from a guarantee of retail on the first floor of the building, but said, he was pleased with the modifications to ?support the original expressed intent.?
?My faith and hope says that if there?s any team, any project that can break through that all daunting, ?What the market will bear? ? this is the team,? he said, referencing Ingalls? earlier statement the market will ultimately determine the building?s tenants.
