Portland Bayside

Oops, you're right! I just double-checked the city's parcels map – Jackrabbit only owns the VA/Chase Leavitt/SMRT warehouse, while Cohen owns the WEX site to the south and the Hamilton Marine warehouse at 100 Fore to the north.

Interestingly, the city still owns a narrow strip of land between the two warehouses, an old railroad ROW. Hopefully they can use that to encourage a land swap between the two private owners and extend Mountfort St to the waterfront as planned.
 
Well, hopefully the lawsuit being settled frees the land up to be sold and developed by someone else. I'm tired of waiting for Federated to do something. I can't blame them for everything the city and Keep Portland Livable put them through (and the potential losses they've incurred because of it), but it's time to move on and find someone willing and able to develop the property.
 
If anyone was still holding out a sliver of hope that Midtown will ever be built, I found out from a friend in city government that Federated no longer exists as a company, the land is now owned by a shell company. Final nail in the coffin for the project.

The city is trying to get the land back
 
Cosakita18 said:
If anyone was still holding out a sliver of hope that Midtown will ever be built, I found out from a friend in city government that Federated no longer exists as a company, the land is now owned by a shell company. Final nail in the coffin for the project.

The city is trying to get the land back
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Interesting news ... was it someone from the planning department, or someone higher up? Trying to gauge how credible your source might be. Also, did they have any other updates about the project or when they might be taking the land back?? Thanks!
 
I wouldn't be surprised if this whole fiasco up-ended Federated as a company. You can't pour millions of dollars into planning something on this scale and get nothing out of it. Banks and financiers do not like a negative return on their investment.
 
https://www.centralmaine.com/2019/0...ide-project-while-interest-payments-stack-up/

The Federated / Midtown saga is still dragging on. Looks like Peter Monro is back in the picture as well

Peter Monro, one of the co-founders of a Portland activist group that sued Federated over its original proposal for much taller buildings, said the delay should give city officials time to rethink the whole plan. The suit was settled with a revised plan scaling back the size of the development.

Monro said development projects in downtown that rely on parking garages should be rethought in favor of those that link living and work spaces.

“I think there is a fundamental misconception in City Hall on how we should develop the city,” he said, saying most new metropolitan development focuses on ways to eliminate or reduce car use. “We would love to see some other things for the project to hinge on rather than parking.”
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The underlying reason the NIMBY group does not want Midtown is one of racism. They fear the project will bring in more "people of color," and that that will result in more crime, poverty, etc. Talk to the few blacks in Portland (not Africans, but those that were born in the U.S.), and they will be honest with you. "black girl in maine" has a FB page in which you can scroll through her thread. She's open about it, and her identity is too. You are only not racist if you treat everyone the same. That includes not "parading around" a few select peoples, so that you can "feel good about yourself."
 
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TC_zoid said:
The underlying reason the NIMBY group does not want Midtown is one of racism. They fear the project will bring in more "people of color," and that that will result in more crime, poverty, etc. Talk to the few blacks in Portland (not Africans, but those that were born in the U.S.), and they will be honest with you. "black girl in maine" has a FB page in which you can scroll through her thread. She's open about it, and her identity is too. You are only not racist if you treat everyone the same. That includes not "parading around" a few select peoples, so that you can "feel good about yourself."
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I thought the original plan for Midtown was for market-rate apartments? I don't doubt what you're saying, but I wouldn't have associated the project with what you're speaking of.
 
markhb said:
I thought the original plan for Midtown was for market-rate apartments? I don't doubt what you're saying, but I wouldn't have associated the project with what you're speaking of.
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Yes, it was, or still is. But with 800 new rental units, the rental market pricing will go down, making it more affordable. They do not want a large congregation of "economically challenged" groups (many poor families "of color" have multiple wage earners). Instead, they claim it will change the character of the city, this horrible large architecture. Except that, they have said virtually nothing about the massive new office building construction in the East End. Talk about changing the character of a neighborhood. I like it, the money that's coming in, but they do look like something more in line with what you would see in an office park out by the Maine Mall. Portland is the only congested city (in the peninsula part) in the world that builds long, low-rise buildings during a market upswing.
 
Federated needs to sue Peter Monro and his Keep Portland Livable clowns. The city was caught in the middle with limited options in my opinion.
 
Furman block on Kennebec st. Is flying up. They have steel up to the 3rd floor already.

I've heard rumors that there is a 4-5 story residential project in the works for the corner of Somerset and Franklin (current site of the Verizon store)
 
Somerset and Franklin is going to be a tricky site – the intersection already floods at least once every month with the king tides, and it's getting worse all the time. It was also underwater this weekend with backed-up storm sewers.
 
cneal said:
Somerset and Franklin is going to be a tricky site – the intersection already floods at least once every month with the king tides, and it's getting worse all the time. It was also underwater this weekend with backed-up storm sewers.
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Not a local so sorry to stick my nose in, but King Tides affect this intersection? Do the tides back up storm drains? This can't be spillover from Back Cove, right?
 
HarvardP said:
Not a local so sorry to stick my nose in, but King Tides affect this intersection? Do the tides back up storm drains? This can't be spillover from Back Cove, right?
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It's nice to have non-locals pop into Portland threads. Welcome

Stormwater drainage has been an issue in Bayside for a while. The area is very low-lying and during king-tide events or heavy rain, water from Back Cove does spill into the area via stormwater drains and the simple fact that some streets are below sea level.

The long-term plan is to elevate some of these flood-prone streets, and rebuild stormwater drainage along Marginal Way. Somerset was intended to be raised as part of the Midtown project,but alas that never happened. As Cneal mentioned, the flood-prone nature of that area has hindered development for quite some time.
 
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Cosakita18 said:
It's nice to have non-locals pop into Portland threads. Welcome

Stormwater drainage has been an issue in Bayside for a while. The area is very low-lying and during king-tide events or heavy rain, water from Back Cove does spill into the area via stormwater drains and the simple fact that some streets are below sea level.

The long-term plan is to elevate some of these flood-prone streets, and rebuild stormwater drainage along Marginal Way. Somerset was intended to be raised as part of the Midtown project,but alas that never happened. As Cneal mentioned, the flood-prone nature of that area has hindered development for quite some time.
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Thanks, I really enjoy the Portland development pics.

I knew it was a flat, low-lying area but I never realized how prone it is. This definitely explains why development in such a central area has been so patchy. One last thing: were it not for the underpasses at Preble and Franklin, would 295 essentially act as a levee here?
 
HarvardP said:
Thanks, I really enjoy the Portland development pics.

I knew it was a flat, low-lying area but I never realized how prone it is. This definitely explains why development in such a central area has been so patchy. One last thing: were it not for the underpasses at Preble and Franklin, would 295 essentially act as a levee here?
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Flooding is never -THAT- bad. Most water comes into the neighborhood via storm drains and natural accumulation. The Prebble st. extension near Hannaford isn't actually the most flood-prone area (although it does flood sometimes) The soccer fields between 295 and Back Cove also flood regularly now. The most frequent temporary lakes in Bayside are usually along Somerset near Whole Foods and Marginal Way near World Gym / UHaul.
 
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