Portland Bayside

The Press Herald covers the story out of the Bayside neighborhood meeting. Key takeaways: Jennings wouldn't talk, and the city has already paid $100,000 in interest on the federal loan that was a key to doing anything with that land.
 
This thing isn't over. It will be worth the wait if the current incarnation is changed because right now it is fugly. Hopefully, somehow...someway......they can add more height and less volume to the project.
 
Office space is certainly a new development for midtown and it will be interesting to see where that fit in to the new proposal. No doubt there's a strong demand for class A office space on the peninsula.
 
PPH casting some doubt over the future of Midtown in their article about the Rufus Deering Co. redevelopment.

" The amount of development in Portland over the past two years has taken attention away from the so-called “midtown” project, which was seen as a savior for Portland’s housing crisis but has become bogged down with planning and legal issues amid a changing market. Although approved in March 2015 for 445 apartments in three-six story buildings, there is no indication when – if ever – the Florida-based developer, The Federated Cos., will break ground."
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I wonder if they are in the process of hitting the "reset" button for that (Midtown) development in light of 58 Fore Street's victory over the nimbys?
 
It's been almost 5 months since we've heard even a peep from Federated or the city in regards to Midtown. Is the project stalled again? or worse, has Federated given up entirely?
 
Cosakita18 said:
It's been almost 5 months since we've heard even a peep from Federated or the city in regards to Midtown. Is the project stalled again? or worse, has Federated given up entirely?
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The last we heard about this was from Jon Jennings who told a community group that Federated was rethinking this development. My guess is they'll either come back with a radically different proposal soon or they're going to throw in the towel on the whole thing.
 
I wouldn't blame Federated for throwing in the towel, but the clock is ticking if they want to break ground in 2017 (Which is probably fantasy I'm sure) The market rate housing market is very slowly cooling, and I'm sure they know that if they want to make the most out of Midtown they need to get the ball rolling soon...
 
I've seen a lot of shift in the development attitudes, from NIMBY to YIMBY, mostly related to housing costs and the fact that people now want to live in vibrant, busy cities. That should bode well for Portland. I was speaking to a developer at the conference mentioned in the article and he said he believes Portland is no longer a tertiary city and is now a secondary city (for those who don't know, places like NYC are primary markets).
 
I was speaking to a developer at the conference mentioned in the article and he said he believes Portland is no longer a tertiary city and is now a secondary city
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I can certainly see that. I would argue that Portland is the de-facto "capital" of northern New England. It's a hub for travel, culture, art, cuisine, transportation and business. Nashua and Manchester, although technically larger, have always felt sort of like backwaters to me.

Portland has all the elements needed to create a vibrant mini-metropolis. Developers and planners should capitalize on that.
 
It's the capital because it's the only real city in Maine, so anything in Maine goes through Portland. This gives it a boost over other cities in Northern New England.
 
Cosakita18 said:
I can certainly see that. I would argue that Portland is the de-facto "capital" of northern New England. It's a hub for travel, culture, art, cuisine, transportation and business. Nashua and Manchester, although technically larger, have always felt sort of like backwaters to me.

Portland has all the elements needed to create a vibrant mini-metropolis. Developers and planners should capitalize on that.
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I used to wonder about these things when I was younger and it mattered to me (for some reason), but not so much anymore. Now that it's been brought up though, I think NNE has no capital. It's such a widespread area that has disparate interests and really no central node or "capital" needed. If the cities were all next to each other, I would argue it's probably manchester, but that doesn't mean I prefer it over Portland. Similarly, Portland is arguably more important than Portsmouth, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't (on occasion) prefer Portsmouth to Portland.

Portland is certainly unique in that it ties the best parts of Manchester, Portsmouth and Burlington together in many ways. But each of those places has its positives as well. It's touch to compare apples to oranges. Also, my real opinion is that Boston is the capital of northern New England. It's really the only place that draws from all NE states. The other places are so local in nature.
 
I do consider Portland to be the most important "urban center" north of Boston. Reasons include many of the positive attributes already mentioned in previous posts. However, I think that geography has blessed Portland and gives it an advantage over Manchester (Nashua is not in the same league) due to it's 108 mile distance from Boston. Manchester is too close (54 miles) to give it the same regional clout that Portland enjoys. This same scenario also works well for Bangor being located 132 miles north of Portland, only on a much smaller scale.

Manchester and Nashua both have larger city populations than Portland but they each have greater land areas, approximately 34 square miles each compared to Portland's 23. Cities are becoming judged more by their metropolitan populations when it comes to relative size over actual city limit numbers. This trend started decades ago when cities like Louisville, Lexington and Nashville consolidated their city limits with their respective counties which inflated their city population counts. Many others annexed surrounding towns which made overall city size comparisons unfair to ones that remained traditional.

Greater Portland (#104) is larger than Greater Manchester (#132) and has not been added to Boston's CSA like Manchvegas has which is why I give an unbiased and slight edge to my hometown. Location, location, location!
 
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Finally some news on Midtown

http://www.pressherald.com/2017/06/...0-in-loan-interest-as-midtown-project-stalls/

Federated received site plan approvals on March 3, 2015, to build 445 apartments in three six-story buildings with first-floor retail, along with an 800-vehicle parking garage. That site plan approval, which has been extended twice, is set to expire for good on March 4, 2018, the city said.
....
Greg Mitchell, the city’s economic development director, said Monday that city officials are essentially waiting for Federated to file its application to begin construction on the parking garage. Based on his conversations, Mitchell said the developer is continuing to evaluate market conditions as it decides whether to change any aspect of the project.
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Jonathan Cox' terse reply of "nothing to discuss" doesn't fill me with hope for the Midtown project.
 
Max said:
Jonathan Cox' terse reply of "nothing to discuss" doesn't fill me with hope for the Midtown project.
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Yeh, if it's possible the City should move on from Federated and Jonathan Cox and look for a new developer. Federated has had their time to get something going down there and something needs to happen to that disgusting looking piece of property as it currently sits.
 
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