Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

I'm happy with the Congress Square Plaza being built upon by the hotel as long as it doesn’t just put a blank wall along the street. I also hope the sidewalk is kept wide enough to allow for the amount of pedestrians that are in this area.

Those new Westin/Eastland renderings look pretty slick. There is a "virtual tour" of the rendering over here. I like how the High Street high-speed highway looks narrowed too, but I don't think that's part of the plan.
 
mainejeff, some of the homeless will hang out in Deering Oaks but normally when the weather is warmer. The park at Congress Square is only popular due to it's close proximity to Paul's Food Store which is where they can purchase their alcohol, cigarettes and food.
 
If anyone is into this kind of stuff, the CBRE | The Boulos Company's 2013 Office Market Survey for Portland is now in print and available on their website in PDF form. Here is a direct link to the .pdf. Some interesting statistics about occupancy rates and the new developments around town. Shameless self promotion - I have the front cover photo again this year, plus the back cover.
 
Danforth Upon High:

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They've started the construction or reconfiguring of that commercial street building where Starbucks is supposedly going. Also there is a for sale/development sign next to Brian Boru where the Cianbro trailers for the civic center construction are. Could build something nice there.
 
What is this about a new Starbucks? Are they keeping the other two locations or are one of those closing? The for sale sign on the lot next to Brian Boru has been up for a while I think. The owner of the lot, I don't remember his name, was at the Spring/Free Street Streetscape Improvement meetings I attended. If/when the improvements are made to Spring Street this will be a very appealing area for some new buildings to face the street instead of a sea of parking lots.
 
Corey said:
What is this about a new Starbucks? Are they keeping the other two locations or are one of those closing? The for sale sign on the lot next to Brian Boru has been up for a while I think. The owner of the lot, I don't remember his name, was at the Spring/Free Street Streetscape Improvement meetings I attended. If/when the improvements are made to Spring Street this will be a very appealing area for some new buildings to face the street instead of a sea of parking lots.
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I believe a Scarborough developer, Kerry something, proposed a 12 story and a 7 story building on the Boru property in 2007, then the economy tanked...
 
Are there any bike lanes proposed for Portland and any bike sharing services being proposed?
 
Nexis4jersey said:
Are there any bike lanes proposed for Portland and any bike sharing services being proposed?
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There just happens to be an article in the Press Herald today about a possible bike sharing operation being launched. [Edit - Dr. Strangehat beat me to it while I was typing] I think it's definitely worth looking into since it has been pretty successful in some other cities. As far as bike lanes, they are several painted bike lanes around the city. Most streets downtown don't require special accommodations for cyclists since we/they can move at the same speed as traffic. Regardless of whether we get a bike sharing program or not, it would be great to see some sort of investment in proper cycling education (for both motorists and cyclists).

grittys457 said:
http://www.newenglandcommercialprope...tland-ME-04101
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Thanks, that seems like a nice location for a coffee shop. I like local coffee places but I also like Starbucks and it seems like they are all co-existing thus far.
 
Nexis4jersey said:
I think Portland could use a IKEA within its borders....
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I'll pass on an IKEA around here. The area is already close to full retail saturation, and I'm honestly not quite sure if IKEA has the same draw to Mainers as it does in other parts of the country. There are already a number of low-to-high end furniture and home goods retailers in the area, and those places seem to do well. Plus, the trend around here is to “buy local” and support the mom and pop shops.
 
First floor of bay house frame is up and the fore street hotel has begun construction.
 
It's been a bit quiet on this forum lately, but there's a lot going on for a city of Portland's size. Here are some photos from this morning:

Danforth on High
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Courtyard by Marriott on Commercial Street
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Canal Plaza Hotel (What hotel brand will this be?)
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Bay House (This would have been a good name for the Midtown project in Bayside!)
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Civic Center renovations
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Westin/Eastland
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Nice shot of the Canal Plaza Hotel site Corey, that will be a Hyatt Place property. The Civic Center renovation at the Free Street entrance is coming along nicely. Was checking it out this past week with the legendary Patrick and am pleased that the new addition is blending in well with the main structure through the use of materials and trim work. Does not look like a poorly planned add on and gives me hope that the finished project's exterior will be a welcome improvement visually.
 
With the amount of money that is going into the renovation of the new Westin Hotel, I hope the developers will remove the old paint that covers up the former Radisson signage on both sides of the upper boiler shaft. Would be great if they sandblast the brick and replace the windows at the 15th and 16th levels of that part of the structure. Top of the East is actually the 14th level due to the Mezzanine level that is not included in the actual floor count. This area can be partially viewed from Corey's recent photo.
 
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