Portland Foreside | 58 Fore Street | Portland

On a weekday, go to Twelve a half hour before it opens and wait in line to sit at the bar (table reservations are booked weeks in advance). Order anything and you will leave thinking you just had the dining experience of a lifetime. (I've been to the best restaurants all over the country.) The sous chef at Twelve used to be the sous chef at Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan, and that restaurant a few years ago when he was there was voted the best in the world by a top accolade source. Do it. You only live once.
 
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Some photos of the gap between the street and the surviving older buildings; hopefully they're working on restoring them. The cliff face at left is the original shoreline.

PXL_20231025_165243243.jpgPXL_20231025_165236674.jpg
 
Does anyone know the extent to which this development has plans to prevent flooding? I haven't listened to all the meetings, but I don't recall hearing much/any discussion about it. As it stands in 2024, storm surge - particular with the astronomical high tide - easily makes it to the path, even with the fancy dock system. The first floor in the renderings and plans looks to be at the same grade as the current parking lot, so I can't imagine that'll go well in the future.

Compare all of this to Roux where there has been much discussion and thought to flooding.
 
If you look at Portland's FEMA flood maps, the eastern prom trail along the eastern waterfront is generally 12-13 feet in elevation, which is better off than the old B&M building, whose south end is at about 10' elevation and has been getting pretty wet this winter.
https://portlandme.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=975da31f7aff455d8da5ae0776efac55
https://portlandme.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=975da31f7aff455d8da5ae0776efac55
(zoom way in to see elevation contours)

But your point is absolutely right – 12 feet was considered 'safe' just a couple of years ago, and now it's not. Boston is planning to raise its flooding waterfront roadways to 16 feet. The target is likely to keep moving higher, faster than anyone expected.

That said, developers are getting good at raising ground levels in waterfront developments, so it's not a dealbreaker, and I expect that the suckers who sell the insurance for this project will insist on it.
 

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