Portland Bayside

there is a bunch of material to build sidewalks in the lot that is going to be built on for the new office buildings in bayside. where are they going?

and I think the building height was scaled down, according to something I read on the downtownportland corporation's website. but it is going to be almost 100,000 square feet
 
I noticed that material in the currently empty lot also, maybe it's for that part of the 'bayside trail' or for much needed sidewalk improvements along Somerset St. They could also be storing materials there for the work they are doing on Preble St. by the overpass.
 
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=226298&ac=PHnws

Planners to vote on office complex
The $40 million project on two acres in Bayside will include a parking garage for 700 vehicles.

By ELBERT AULL, Staff Writer December 8, 2008

The two nonprofits plan to begin building the office complex next year. Construction should be complete by September or October of 2010, said Meg Baxter, president of the local United Way.
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A black box, a grey box, and some brick. Ouch. I hope they do some tweaking with the design.
 
Welcome to 1975! In all seriousness, the facades look like they're from yesteryear (the black reminds me of the One Boston Place facade and the gray looks like part of the old World Trade Center in NYC or even the Erastus Corning Tower in Albany). However, the brick will probably be precast and as such will look cheap. Brick is over done, especially in New England cities.

The good news, It seems (aside from the brick section) that they've made an effort to have this interact on a pedestrian scale.
 
^I was thinking of those towers in Albany too.

It will be great if the area here can come alive but there is also a lot of work left to do between Congress St. and Marginal Way.
 
Well the council voted for the office building and it passed 6-0
 
I've been following this project pretty closely as it relates to the Bayside Promenade trail that's set for construction next summer. There's actually no brick in the design. It's actually a prefab rainscreen paneling system called "Trespa":

http://www.trespa.com/na/

What looks like brick here is actually a mahogany-red veneer paneling system. Here's how it looks on an existing building:

http://www.trespa.com/na/topnavpages/projects_ideas/ext_collections/2004_Torenpad.aspx

We'll see how it turns out, but I think it's promising. It looks pretty good in other buildings on their web site; it's also LEED certified for green-building projects like this one.

The planning board memo on the city website also has some better renderings, including some that show how the building will look from various other places in the neighborhood. It looks like it's going to be a nice addition to the skyline; with the other new office buildings in the neighborhood, the neighborhood ought to feel like a real extension of downtown.

http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/pbreportmehealthgarageoffice5.pdf
 
The parking garage and office building being proposed right now are being built by MaineHealth, the owners of Maine Medical Center. They have planning board approval now and they're just getting their financing lined up. It's a fairly recession-proof industry, so odds are good that construction will begin by springtime.

At the same time, Portland Trails and the Trust for Public Land hope to begin construction of the Bayside Promenade Trail between Elm Street and the Eastern Promenade next spring.

MaineHealth also bought the two railyard development parcels that face Elm Street, and plan to develop those with additional office buildings sometime in the future. No news on the other parcels east of Chestnut Street.
 
olympia was going to build an office tower across the street, but the recession made in nonviable as a business venture. waterman housing was going to build a condo project on this site, but didn't get the bid. now Mainehealth has the whole west lot. I think the other buildings are going to be for united way. they look taller than the maine health building in the conceptual renderings. not sure if this will show up in the skyline because the area is lower than downtown, which means it might just block some of the buildings on congress street like intermed does, and not add any variety of its own.

The city is looking to make bayside an urban entrance/front door to downtown, but what is odd is that the buildings, like intermed, face downtown, so it is more like an urban exit.

the city should concentrate on developing lots that are more central in bayside.

54599398ky1.png
 
I agree. There is so much work left to be done between Cumberland Ave and Kennebec Street.
 
The sad part is that there is no safe connection from all the stuff being built in Bayside and the downtown/old port district. I'm not saying it's a warzone to walk through, but there is no route that I would want my wife or sister or probably myself walking through at night. It's not even that big of a bad area, but it's just two blocks of bad news no matter what route you try to take.

I love taller buildings and I love that Intermed used glass, but I think it looks like total crap from 295 and that part of the city. Looks great from the front entrance, but the back just looks stupid. All blocky and it comes to no natural end up top, it just ends.
 
I was in the old port/downtown area last Christmas, and I have to say, if more of Portland could be like that, it would easily be one of my favorite cities in the US. More buildings with decent design, like the one rendered above, will definitely help. IMO, that is a much nicer rendering than anything being proposed in Boston right now.

My geography is a little bad-I've been over near the train yard where SailMaine is, and there's a fairly new Hilton (or something of the sort) nearby. Is that where this is proposed for?
 
kennedy said:
My geography is a little bad-I've been over near the train yard where SailMaine is, and there's a fairly new Hilton (or something of the sort) nearby. Is that where this is proposed for?
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no, that is the eastern waterfront (also being redeveloped, but on a low rise scale). The eastern waterfront is the site of various proposals, most of which are not being built right now due to the economy, consisting mostly of upscale condos, essentially trying to create a "new port" which is adjacent to the "old port" area.

the area where this is built is a stretch of industrial scrap yards northwest of that area, on the other side of the peninsula, completely disconnected from the business/shopping district. the city is, in effect, trying to create a new mini downtown, which may or may not connect to the existing downtown (the area between bayside, where this is proposed, and downtown, can't seem to attract investment.

the area where you asked about (sailmaine) is also proposed for a shopping district similar to Faneuil Hall in Boston, but this is just a concept right now. all industrial buildings.
 
grittys457 said:
I'm not saying it's a warzone to walk through, but there is no route that I would want my wife or sister or probably myself walking through at night. It's not even that big of a bad area, but it's just two blocks of bad news no matter what route you try to take.
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I feel the same way. I've never had any problems when I have had to walk through here at night before and consider myself pretty lucky. It helps in the winter because there are less people wandering the streets. Another area of concern is the walk from downtown to USM, through the Deering Oaks area and under 295. It's trouble!
 
well they have installed lights by intermed, and I think the park is safe. it used to be an area for parkside kids to cause trouble but not anymore. the area that is oddballest is by portland high school and the club there, by franklin towers.
 
I never thought Deering Oaks was bad at all. Sure, there were some homeless, occasionally a crackhead, but nothing that's made me feel unsafe even at night.
 
Josh said:
Anyone know of any more high rises or tall buildings on tap for Portland? Too bad the Waterview didn't happen. :(
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Boulos may propose another tower, as both of the others were not built for various reasons. there are the two mainehealth buildings, and Kerry anderson from scarborough has plans to develop the large lots in the old port with mid rises but those plans are on hold right now.
 
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