Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

markhb said:
When Sears finally shuts down, that can go there! I'm sure they'd rather be on the mall side anyway.
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I like how you said "WHEN Sears shuts down" not "IF Sears shuts down"

Speaking of the Maine Mall, I was talking with a friend who works as a manager at BonTon, and they said that Target is a potential future tenant for that space, which makes sense. Their store over on Running Hill road is fairly isolated, and sits right in the path of the MTA's proposed path for the Gorham spur.
 
Cosakita18 said:
I like how you said "WHEN Sears shuts down" not "IF Sears shuts down"

Speaking of the Maine Mall, I was talking with a friend who works as a manager at BonTon, and they said that Target is a potential future tenant for that space, which makes sense. Their store over on Running Hill road is fairly isolated, and sits right in the path of the MTA's proposed path for the Gorham spur.
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Sears Holdings is showing no signs of being able to run a successful business. It looks to me like they'll keep cutting until they have one Sears left on the Loop in Chicago and one KMart in Detroit. The ironic thing is, Sears' catalog business model was Amazon 100 years before Amazon, and they never managed to pivot back.

Also, somehow the Press Herald missed it when preparing the story on WEX's earnings call, but City staff is recommending to the Economic Development Committee that the city accept the WEX project for Thames and Hancock Sts.
 
If you read the details of the original proposal, the parking will primarily be a garage in the triangular space in front of Hamilton Marine on Fore St.
 
http://www.pressherald.com/2017/08/01/two-hotel-developments-planned-in-portland/

Looks like there could be as many as 300 new hotel rooms in the pipeline for downtown.

West Elm (the same West Elm that just opened a store on Middle St.) is planning a 150 room boutique hotel as part of the 58 Fore St. redevelopment.

Additionally, The site plan for the Rufus Deering Co. redevelopment have been amended to include hotel and convention space.


Two new hotel developments could add almost 300 rooms to Portland’s hot hospitality market.

West Elm, the furniture and home furnishings company, announced Tuesday plans for a 150-room boutique hotel in the Portland Foreside development, due to open in 2020. The company, which recently opened a retail store in the Old Port, branched out into hospitality this year in partnership with DDK, a hotel management firm. It announced five U.S. locations it plans to open by 2019.

West Elm’s Portland hotel is part of the master plan for the former Portland Co. property on the eastern waterfront that includes housing, shopping, restaurants and a deep water marina. Portland Foreside Development, an affiliate of CPB2, a local real estate developer, is behind the redevelopment of 10 acres of waterfront east of the city’s Ocean Gateway.
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So the question is, how many hotel rooms can this city realistically support?
 
Cosakita18 said:
http://www.pressherald.com/2017/08/01/two-hotel-developments-planned-in-portland/

Looks like there could be as many as 300 new hotel rooms in the pipeline for downtown.

West Elm (the same West Elm that just opened a store on Middle St.) is planning a 150 room boutique hotel as part of the 58 Fore St. redevelopment.

Additionally, The site plan for the Rufus Deering Co. redevelopment have been amended to include hotel and convention space.




So the question is, how many hotel rooms can this city realistically support?
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Who knows...but business must be pretty good because I can find better deals staying in Boston than Portland! It's pretty crazy how fast Portland is growing.
 
Walking by the State Theatre this morning there was a crew taking down parts of the current marquee. They must be getting ready to do the renovation they proposed earlier this year, should be a nice little improvement to Congress Square. I still don't understand how or why the Schwartz Building is totally empty though!

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Also saw the work going on today and it will be a nice visual improvement over the rotting wooden letters it's finally replacing. Thanks for the drawing Max!

Learned today through a reliable source that a developer is planning a 16 story residential tower on the parcel of land bordered by Shepley, Casco and Cumberland Ave. This long rumored project may be getting a kickstart due to the addition of a new parking garage on Brown Street which is currently going through the planning process.

Depending on final design numbers, this could end up replacing Franklin Towers as Maine's tallest building if the roofline/mechanical build out is more significant. At any rate, it will be a nice addition to Portland's skyline especially when viewed from 295.
 
An interesting location for such a tall building. Although if I'm not mistaken that area is zoned for 210' so it would have potential to surpass the 173 foot Franklin towers.

I could definitely see some strong neighborhood opposition to the removal or disruption of the small private park / open area on the corner of Casco and Shelpley.
 
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Back Bay Tower is only a block away and it's 15 floors at the Cumberland Avenue elevation and 16 levels as it slopes down Parris St. In addition, the Westin Hotel has 14 floors with a 16 level boiler shaft just a couple of blocks from Shepley St.

The key word with the park would be "private" and it's rarely used by the MECA students it was intended for. Local residents are not allowed to enjoy the minuscule patch of grass beyond the chain link fence so I don't think there will be too many complaints.

My only concerns would be complaints concerning the building's height and mass even if it does conform to current zoning requirements. Have not been privy to any renderings yet so we'll have to wait and see.
 
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Portlander said:
Back Bay Tower is only a block away and it's 15 floors at the Cumberland Avenue elevation and 16 levels as it slopes down Parris St. In addition, the Westin Hotel has 14 floors with a 16 level boiler shaft just a couple of blocks from Shepley St.
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Now if only the Waterview at Bayside had survived the NIMBY opposition and been built before the market crash, we might have a nice little cluster of tall buildings along Cumberland :rolleyes:

I hope this isn't one of Portland's "phantom" projects that seem to always be just over the horizon. ( How many years have people been saying that redevelopment of the Top of the Old Port parking lot or the Portland Square parking lot was "imminent" ) :p:p
 
I agree, but Portland is hot right now and I think anything residential related on the peninsula will get a green light. The failure of the massive Midtown project to date may end up being a blessing for future developments due to the continued shortage of housing for all income levels.
 
Would this project have to go through a historic review? I know it's not technically within the Congress Street historical zone but it borders the Zone on the opposite side of Casco Street, and I've never been totally clear on what the criteria are for a project to need a historic review before it goes to the planning board.
 
Portlander said:
Learned today through a reliable source that a developer is planning a 16 story residential tower on the parcel of land bordered by Shepley, Casco and Cumberland Ave.
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Very exciting! And I think you could be right that the (seeming) demise of the Midtown project may open up possibilities elsewhere.

And as someone else mentioned it does make me once again wish that Waterview had come to fruition, we could have had a mini tower row going on along that stretch of Cumberland Ave. I can't believe the website is still active: http://www.waterviewatbayside.com/
 
Cosakita18 said:
Would this project have to go through a historic review? I know it's not technically within the Congress Street historical zone but it borders the Zone on the opposite side of Casco Street, and I've never been totally clear on what the criteria are for a project to need a historic review before it goes to the planning board.
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Given that the Hyatt is similarly across the street from the Old Port historic district, I'm guessing not. :)
 
^ The Hyatt did, in fact, go up for design review before the Historic Preservation Board, which does, per ordinance, have an advisory role for projects that abut historic districts.

And in general, the Historic Preservation Board has been supportive of high-quality contemporary architecture like the Hyatt and the CIEE building on Fore Street. They generally frown on new buildings that try to imitate historic styles – there's nothing historic about a 2017 building trying to look like an 1860s building, but a well-done 2017 building that actually looks like it was built in 2017 could, potentially, be a historic landmark 50 years in the future.
 
Portlander said:
I agree, but Portland is hot right now and I think anything residential related on the peninsula will get a green light. The failure of the massive Midtown project to date may end up being a blessing for future developments due to the continued shortage of housing for all income levels.
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Agreed.
 
Portlander said:
Learned today through a reliable source that a developer is planning a 16 story residential tower on the parcel of land bordered by Shepley, Casco and Cumberland Ave. This long rumored project may be getting a kickstart due to the addition of a new parking garage on Brown Street which is currently going through the planning process.
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Did your source indicate that this project was in more of a conceptual / early stage of planning (Sort of like Tim Soley's fantasy 23 story tower near Canal Plaza) or was it ready to go into the planning process?

Asking because of the curiosity of a friend :p :p
 
In the planning process, not conceptual. Wish I could share more.
 
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