Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

Some more renderings of the proposed Home2 hotel at 203 Fore St.

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Corner of Fore and India St.
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Looking east along Fore St.
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Middle Street frontage.

personally I find the Middle St. frontage to be disapointing. There's a lot of potential for retail frontage along the street, with high pedestrian volume given the number of popular restaurants nearby

Also, the planning board application makes refference to a "yet-to-be constructed off-site garage"
 
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Yes, do agree they could make the exterior foot traffic entries a bit more dynamic. The back with the motorcourt type feel makes me think of the old designed Best Western, 645 Congress, which became USM housing and today, apartments and retail. As is, the open space is for cars approaching. The best solution is underground parking, but of course, more expensive to do. It would be an excellent idea to build a large 1,500 car underground garage downtown for 3 reasons: one, you don't see it, two, it would be much warmer and comfy getting into and out of your car in the winter, and three, another incentive to shop downtown as opposed to the mall. And they could heat it with solar panels on the roof. (Hollywood & Highland garage in LA is underground, but much bigger at 3,000 spaces) But perhaps too progressive and expensive an idea for Portland, Maine. Did a job in Tokyo a few years ago and there is an underground garage in which you get out of your car at the top, then watch it disappear through a large doorway and you can watch it on a video monitor being automatically parked into vertically stacked slots. So cool to watch that. But I guess that means you can't leave Fido or the grandparents inside! Ha.
 
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TC_zoid said:
Yes, do agree they could make the exterior foot traffic entries a bit more dynamic. The back with the motorcourt type feel makes me think of the old designed Best Western, 645 Congress, which became USM housing and today, apartments and retail. As is, the open space is for cars approaching. The best solution is underground parking, but of course, more expensive to do. It would be an excellent idea to build a large 1,500 car underground garage downtown for 3 reasons: one, you don't see it, two, it would be much warmer and comfy getting into and out of your car in the winter, and three, another incentive to shop downtown as opposed to the mall. And they could heat it with solar panels on the roof. (Hollywood & Highland garage in LA is underground, but much bigger at 3,000 spaces) But perhaps too progressive and expensive an idea for Portland, Maine. Did a job in Tokyo a few years ago and there is an underground garage in which you get out of your car at the top, then watch it disappear through a large doorway and you can watch it on a video monitor being automatically parked into vertically stacked slots. So cool to watch that. But I guess that means you can't leave Fido or the grandparents inside! Ha.
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I keep hearing about a potential garage near the new WEX hq as a potential solution, but I don't know how much that would help, especially in the summer months. The garage at the Maine State Pier / CBL ferry terminal is almost always at capacity, even in winter, and space at the Ocean Gateway garage is being gobbled up by new developments. Once 58 Fore St gets going, a major parking / mobility solution will be needed in the eastern waterfront area. (on a related note, I'm still amazed that there's no METRO bus service along most of Commercial St)
 
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Hope everyone's 2018 is off to a good start! Here are a few photos around the bustling India Street Neighborhood from back in December.

Luminato
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16 Middle Street - I like the ground level retail here, nice big windows/doors.
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AC Hotel by Marriott
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Future WEX Building
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Future 20 Thames Site
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Mason Block
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Thanks for the photo update Corey, the "New Port" is booming!
 
Max said:
The article also says work is underway at the Widgery Wharf site, but I just drove by there the other day and didn't notice any construction.
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Just read a small write up from CBRE regarding Widgery Wharf from 12/29/2017. Not sure if this has been posted already:

We are pleased to announce that a recent office lease signing has initiated the construction of an 18,000 SF, three-story office building on Portland’s waterfront at Widgery Wharf. F.L. Putnam Investment Management Company, one of Maine’s largest investment advisory firms, has leased 5,512± SF of office space on the top floor of the Widgery Wharf building in Portland from landlord Charlie and Malcolm Poole, developers operating under CM Union, LLC. Incorporated in Maine in 1983, F.L.Putnam provides investment management financial planning advice and services to high-net-worth clients, endowments, and foundations throughout the U.S. The firm currently employs a team of 12 investment and operations professionals in Portland but also serves clients out of its Wellesley, MA, Portsmouth, NH and Providence, RI locations. F.L.Putnam will be relocating from its existing Portland office at 245 Commercial Street to this new office development by the end of 2018.
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Max said:
Interesting to see that a scarcity of quality downtown office space was noted at both the big MEREDA conference this week and a smaller event:

http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20180119/NEWS01/180119927/1092

http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20180117/NEWS01/180119942

But it also sounds like the demand is a bit lackluster at the moment, but perhaps that will change in 2018 and we'll finally see a signature office building being proposed downtown!
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That long awaited redevelopment of the Portland Square parking lots, eh? ;)

I could see a significant mixed use tower coming realatively soon. I can think of a few sites downtown that would be great as condo / office / event / apartment space. I can't realistically see another hotel being proposed downtown anytime soon, even if it was part of a mixed use project. Especially with 3-4 hotels in the planning stages right now.

let's just hope the economy doesn't crash before these projects have a chance to break ground :p
 
Cosakita18 said:
That long awaited redevelopment of the Portland Square parking lots, eh? ;)
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Perhaps, or maybe Tim Soley will firm up plans for his 20-story plus tower behind Canal Plaza, although I think at the time it was being talked about he said it would have to be hotel and/or residential. Can't see it being hotel at this point, but a nice 20-story glass condo building could be attractive.
 
Max said:
Perhaps, or maybe Tim Soley will firm up plans for his 20-story plus tower behind Canal Plaza, although I think at the time it was being talked about he said it would have to be hotel and/or residential. Can't see it being hotel at this point, but a nice 20-story glass condo building could be attractive.
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I have a hunch that any proposal there would probably end up being scaled down to the 10-15 range to appease NIMBY interests, especially so close to the Old Port. Same goes for Portland Square.

I think that there's more than enough hotel supply in the Portland metro for the forseeable future, but I'm still amazed there's no "premier" event space or convention center on the Peninsula. There are a smattering of smaller facilities but nothing that could attract a major national convention. I could easlly see a convention center being the catalyst for a significant office / residential tower on the peniunsula ( Although a convention center requires a much larger footprint, and thus potential locations are much harder to find)
 
The logical place for convention space are the expansive parking lots next to Brian Boru. That way, a pedestrian bridge can be built connecting to the civic center for even more space, etc. It's also best to have a hi-rise added with an anchor tenant in a business that could have a related convention here, e.g., Unum. Also, yes I know, a hotel (a hi-rise). That way, in the winter, there is no walking outside (existing Holiday Inn could also be connected). And in the summer, a wonderful draw Portland is for people coming from not only around the country, but internationally as well. A huge potential here not realized.
 
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TC_zoid said:
The logical place for convention space are the expansive parking lots next to Brian Boru.
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That's the Portland Square complex. That would definitely make an ideal spot for a convention center / tower (although it would add to the problems along that already choked part of Commercial St.) but again I just can't see another hotel being part of it. There would be 5 other hotels within 2 blocks of the site already (Courtyard Marriott, Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland Harbor Hotel, Hyatt, and the yet-to-be-built hotel at the former Rufus Deering site) There's just no way Portland has enough demand to satisfy another 100+ room hotel.
 
The existing Holiday Inn could be connected instead. It would need a renovation though. The Residence Marriot Inn next to the future WEX building did that. Two months ago it finished a $2 million remodel of the lobby, rest. and bar. WEX is bringing people from all over the world, so they need a nice place to stay. Not happening with the existing Holiday Inn, or for the upper end of clients. In NYC working now and learned Mass Mutual flies in some employees by helicopter every day to work in an office here. Not upper level execs either. They have money, as does a company like WEX or Unum. That's why its key to have a top level company locate for this land. Apple announced today its investing $350 billion in the U.S. now. New tax law causing this. The timing is perfect, but City of Portland seems to be a bit "slow" sometimes in capitalizing on opportunities.
 
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Did you guys notice that the "Home2Suites" planning board workshop got postponed at the last minute last week?

The staff report made clear that the design violated several terms of the zoning ordinance that they were unlikely to win. Seems like the developers realized it would need serious changes.
 
cneal said:
Did you guys notice that the "Home2Suites" planning board workshop got postponed at the last minute last week?

The staff report made clear that the design violated several terms of the zoning ordinance that they were unlikely to win. Seems like the developers realized it would need serious changes.
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Just read the staff notes and can't say I disagree with their concerns. I'd prefer to see this parcel broken up into different buildings with more storefronts and a more active streetscape.

By the way I noticed walking by this block over the weekend that the foundation for the 4-story cPort credit union/condo building at the corner of Middle and India Streets has been dug. It looks like one big construction zone with the Mason Block condo building so most people might not be aware a separate building is being constructed there.
 
Walked by Widgery Wharf over the weekend to get a better look, and there is indeed construction going on, it's just set back from the street. I had it in mind that the building was going to front Commercial Street (where Sapparo is now, plus the parking lot next to it):

https://www.pressherald.com/2016/07...n-three-buildings-with-offices-retail-spaces/

But it sounds like this is just one of 3 buildings planned and this one is an office building that is set back from the street:

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Max said:
Just read the staff notes and can't say I disagree with their concerns. I'd prefer to see this parcel broken up into different buildings with more storefronts and a more active streetscape.
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Definitely agree. The current design seems too much like a suburban hotel. They aren't making good use of the space, specifically along Middle St.
 
The developer for the project is a big real estate investment trust based in West Palm Beach – Chatham Lodging Trust – and their architect is from Kansas.

It certainly looks like they have little knowledge of the neighborhood they're building in and are just mailing it in (maybe quite literally). Too bad for their investors.

The Middle Street frontage is the most valuable part of their site in terms of foot traffic and leasable retail/restaurant space. Putting a lawn there makes no sense.
 
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