I just dropped this bomb on the Press Herald comment sections of the articles today:
The opponents to this project say that this is an out-of-state developer, with no ties to the area, just coming in and building what they want. That is incorrect. While the Federated Companies is based in Miami, FL, the bulk of the planning and consulting work has been completed to date by local companies, including:
Shinberg Consulting – Portland, ME (developer’s representative)
Fay, Spofford & Thorndike – South Portland, ME (civil engineers)
Mitchell & Associates – Portland, ME (landscape architect)
The Louis Berger Group – Portland, ME (traffic engineer)
Owen & Haskell – Falmouth, ME (land survey)
CWS Architects – Portland, ME (parking garage architect)
Drummond Woodsum – Portland, ME (legal counsel)
In addition to this, Federated Companies previously owned the Bayside Village student housing on Marginal Way. Prior to their purchase of that property, the Bayside Village was mired in mismanagement and rowdy tenant behavior. Federated was able to rehabilitate the property, and today it stands as a testament to their apartment management ability and strengths.
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The property associated with Phase One of this development is currently made up of five parcels that are assessed at a total of $880,900. The City owns these properties, so they are not collecting any real estate taxes on the properties. However, based on the City’s mill rate of $19.41, they could be collecting $17,098 annually in real estate taxes in their current state if they were owned by a for-profit entity. Phase One of this development is slated to cost around $38,000,000. If that were to hold as the project’s assessed value, then Phase One alone would generate $737,580 annually in real estate taxes, which is a 4214% increase from the $17,098 these properties could be generating in their current state today.
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The opponents of this project state that the developer is getting a $9 million in Portland taxpayer money to build the project. However, the opponents fail to mention that the $9 million is part of a Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grant that is going towards the construction of the parking garage, which the city is requiring to be built. None of that money is coming out of Portland tax-payers pockets, at least directly. It is a miniscule fraction of Portland residents Federal tax dollars.
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The opponents of this project state that this project has been rushed through the approval process. This is incorrect. Federated entered into a purchase-agreement with the City for this property in July 2011, and the planning process began before that. The developers and their representatives have gone through dozens of meetings with city planners and the Planning Board and have revised the project numerous times to account for the City’s wishes and demands. This project has been well over two years in the making. The opponents are stepping in at the last minute, when they had ample opportunity to have their say over the past two years. They are now threatening legal action due to their own procrastination, stating “To delay is to destroy.” Is this the kind of message we want to send to developers - to spend millions of dollars planning and proposing something, only to have a handful of people shut you down at the last minute? Think of the time, effort, and money that has been spent. These aren’t mythical robots dreaming up ideas in Florida and shipping them north. These are local architects, engineers, and consultants that have spent the better part of the last two years putting their time, sweat and tears into this thing.
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The opponents of this project state that the scale of this project is not necessary to make the economics of building market-rate housing work for the developer to move forward. They point to the in-fill development of smaller market-rate housing on Munjoy Hill as examples. However, the opponents fail to mention that those in-fill projects are (a) not being built upon filled land, which requires additional costs to build a proper foundation, (b) not being built on former industrial and railroad land, which requires additional costs to environmentally evaluate and remediate, and (c) being built with an average rental cost that far exceeds the average rental rate in the City and the average expected rental rate in the Midtown project apartments. The Munjoy Hill in-fill projects are raising rents throughout that neighborhood, pushing middle-income families off of the peninsula or to less desirable areas.
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The opponents of this project complain that the developer has so far placed all of the open spaces on the "north-shaded-side" of the project. However, that is the side that faces the Bayside Trail, hence why it is the logical place to add open space. The south-side of the project faces a street. Keep Portland Livable has released renderings of a potential development in the proposed footprint of the Midtown project that ironically also puts most of the open space on the Bayside Trail side of this project. In fact, it appears as though they’re proposing almost exactly the same kind of open space that Federated is proposing along the Bayside Trail and the north side of Somerset Street. Federated is not developing the lots across Somerset Street (as Keep Portland Livable’s renderings propose), where more open space could, in theory, be developed and would never be in the shadow of this project.
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The opponents of this project complain that the project will cast a shadow on the Bayside Trail and surrounding area. One City Center and One Monument Square cast a shadow on Monument Square over a portion of the day, and Monument Square has some of the highest foot traffic of any open space in the entire city. Deering Oaks Park also includes dozens of large trees that cast shadows on that open space. Does everyone among us require constant sunlight during the day, or do some of us appreciate occasional shade, especially in the midday heat of the summer? The entire length of the Bayside Trail from the Eastern Prom Trail to the proposed extension to Deering Oaks Park will not be in the shadow of these buildings. Keep Portland Livable has released renderings of their ideal potential development in the proposed footprint of the Midtown project that includes three 9-10 story buildings and two 4-5 story parking garages. Ironically, these buildings would also cast shadows on the Bayside Trail during a large portion of the day.
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The opponents of this project state that the buildings will block the view of the downtown spine of buildings along Congress Street. However, if you are driving along I-295 northbound or southbound, your view of the downtown spine of buildings will only be blocked by these buildings along the stretch of highway where Bayside Village and 84 Marginal Way already block that view. As you approach from the north or south, you will still be able to see the downtown spine of buildings. The view from Marginal Way will be blocked, so the few that appreciate the view from Marginal Way will have to seek another view corridor. Keep Portland Livable has released renderings of their ideal potential development in the proposed footprint of the Midtown project that includes three 9-10 story buildings and two 4-5 story parking garages. Ironically, these would also block the view of the downtown spine of buildings from Marginal Way.
These buildings will not block the view of the downtown spine of buildings from across Back Cove, as the base floors of the buildings along Congress Street are already 80-120 feet above sea level. The high-rises associated with this project are being built much closer to sea level and will top out at 165 feet, meaning you will still be able to see a large portion of the tops of the downtown spine of buildings from across Back Cove.
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This is a good deal, Portland. Don’t let Peter Monro and his change-fearing cronies talk you out of this.
