Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

I agree that would be a good spot for it, but from what I've hear, there have been efforts to make it more urban and transit oriented but they have met with stiff competition. Oh well.

Also, I heard from an inside source at City Hall that prior to buying the Cumberland Cold Storage building, Pierce Atwood had plans to build a 60-80,000 square foot new office building on the eastern side of the Jordan's Meats (Hampton) site (the one currently earmarked for future residential development by Opechee (the Hampton developer). Although I don't know how accurately I understood this information, that's what I got out of it. Would have been kind of neat.
 
I spent all day saturday in Portland. The new development is coming along nice over at fore street, and the bayside promenade has come along way.
I am wondering what else is slated for the Eastern Waterfront? there seemed to be a lot of fenced in empty lots, which I'm sure is from the recession. What was/is slated to go be built in the eastern waterfront neighborhood?
 
The Village Cafe was demolished in 2007 so that a large condo structure could be built. Initially, it was several buildings reaching 10-11 stories tall at the highest, and now it is a more modest proposal for a still relatively dense but low rise project, to be built in two phases, fully approved and waiting for the economy. That's the bayhouse project.

across from the new parking garage was supposed to be a similar size project (more upscale waterfront units) but those were derailed over a lawsuit and the recession and I believe there are not current plans at the moment to build that project (the watermark). The marriott residences was built last year, the hampton is under construction, a small office building abutting the garage (5 stories) was planned (but no longer), the Maine State Pier redevelopment was planned, caused huge controversy over two competing 100 million dollar proposals, and then the final winner backed out of the hotel, office, restaurant and market bid win. There was also a 10 story hotel and luxury condos planned for the current Fore Street construction site (westin), which was scaled up, then down, then abandoned. The Fore street project is also planning a phase two on the rest of the site, with more condos, townhouses, and a garage. Pierce Atwood considered a large office building on the same site (of up to 80,000 square feet). The casco bay lines garage was planning an addition of two stories, too. That's all I can think of at the moment.
 
Ten or Eleven stories would have been nice, especialy if there were several towers of that height. Who knows, maybe some of the current height plans will grow a little as the economy recovers.
The bayhouse has some great renderings and info on their website, the eastern waterfront will be a great neighborhood when it's complete.
 
I don't think the EW will ever see heights that tall. It tried, and caused a controversy. the plans as I understand them are that there are three peripheral growth areas to downtown--the EW, Bayside, and Gorhams Corner. Two of those neighborhoods--the EW and Bayside have had plans adopted as part of the City's comp plan. The EW seems to want to become an extension of the Old Port, while Bayside seems to want to cater more toward the market that would otherwise be captured by large scale developments out by the mall (i.e., it wants to provide ample parking, like the intermed building, and easy access, but in a more compact and urban form close to downtown). Gorham's corner, if you ask me, is where the height increases are most likely (the vast parking lots by the downtown). bayside already allows 15 story buildings (residential ones, anyway) at 165'. Gorham's corner for the most part allows 150 foot buildings, but it is close to an area where 20+ story buildings are allowed. Problem is, the area that allows 20+ is not only most developed already, but also covered by an historic district, which means that demolition is unlikely. The eastern waterfront height limits have been set at 65' for the most part, so I'm not sure how the larged proposals snuck in there, unless by some sort of special exception to the ordinance. I have heard before from someone in the architecture field that the consensus is that land prices in that neighborhood (the EW) are too high to justify development with such low height limits, and that has slowed the pace of development. However, I agree it will be nice when complete (or should be), high rise or not. It really is a nice geographic location.

An aside note - I am currently drafting a 15+ page 'policy plan' for the Gorhams Corner neighborhood for an urban planning class I am enrolled in. I'll share it when complete if there is any interest.
 
^I'd be interested in seeing your paper about Gorham's Corner. I'd love to see that neighborhood rebuilt to the scale that it previously was.


Affordable housing proposed for High Street building

By Marian McCue


PORTLAND ? A plan to create 35 units of affordable housing in a building near the corner of High and Danforth streets will be considered by the Planning Board at its workshop Nov. 23.

A partnership led by Community Housing of Maine, (CHOM), has proposed renovating 68 High Street and constructing a building next to it in what is now a vacant corner lot.

For many years, the building at 68 High Street housed offices for the University of Southern Maine, and was used for teaching and administration.
Click to expand...

The building at 68 High Street was used until 1942 as a children?s hospital, and was originally an annex to the Mussey Mansion, a building that anchored the corner of High and Danforth Street until 1962, when it was demolished. As such, the current High Street building may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by architect Frederick A. Tompson and built in 1909, and is described as an important example of Colonial Revival architecture.
Click to expand...

http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p-highstreethousing-111710
 
Thanks for posting corey. There is an initial sketch rendering on one of these threads detailing what this project might look like. I'm not sure how current the visual is. Although not a huge project, this site is not in the downtown (but is still very urban) and will benefit tremendously from the added density and residential infill. It will fit in perfectly with the neighborhood, particularly if the nearby Danforth on High project gets some wind beneath its clipped wings. Anyone know what's up with that? The project is literally across the street from this one. And both are just up the street from the 53 Danforth project. Projects like these, and Walker Terrace, are great for the added residential character of our West End. I'm surprised more haven't been built on the larger emptier lots downtown, but I suspect it may be that the cost of land there (which reflects the potential to build larger structures) may have something to do with it.
 
There's quite a bit of construction taking place in Westbrook at the moment. A while ago, I posted a rendering for some senior housing that was proposed along the water. That appears to be near completion now (4 or 5 story dense building downtown), as well as another smaller new structure under construction up the street, and a new home toward Gorham. If you are in that neck of the woods, you'll notice a difference.
 
Some of the development news in Portland....the fee in lieu of parking was passed (again). The civic center is going to be rehabed, which means Jason Snyder's proposal for the civic center to be converted is out, at least for the time being.
 
Glad to hear the FIL ordinance is back on track, and I never thought Snyder was taken seriously, though he should have been.
 
The new 'fee in lieu of parking' program looks good, they made some price adjustments that make it more attractive for developers.

And the PPH has the story about the Civic Center renovations here.

PORTLAND -- The Cumberland County Civic Center board of trustees approved a renovation plan Wednesday that's expected to cost about $28 million, assuming county voters approve a bond next fall to pay for the improvements.

The renovation plan includes new premium seating in the 35-year-old arena, an improved box office and upgraded concessions. It also calls for several "back of house" projects, such as a larger loading dock and better dressing and locker rooms.
Click to expand...

So does anyone here think this has a chance of happening, since county voters have to vote to approve the bond? There aren't any comments on the story yet, but I am aware that a large amount of people in Portland and the far reaches of Cumberland Country are extremely opposed to spending money on the Civic Center (or anything for that matter). Maybe the bond for the civic center can be included cleverly in a bond that also upgrades other public infrastructure like roads and bridges?

Also on the topic, I'd like to suggest that the arena gets some corporate sponsorship. I believe that it's named as it is because it was built with public money by taxpayers of Cumberland County. But couldn't it be updated to something like "Cumberland County Civic Center, presented by [Company Name]." It would make a few extra bucks I assume.
 
Thanks corey. I think you are right about the inclusion of the bond issue in a larger scheme. I, for one, will NOT be voting to dump any money into that structure. These upgrades are something that should have happened 10 years ago, which if that were the case would have put us back at the consideration stage of building a new structure today. This whole process is a mess.
 
also, I agree about corporate sponsorship, but the integrity of the system starts to slip at that point in some people's minds, with the city/county being a sellout (you can imagine the PPH comments that would fly if ANYTHING went wrong with a dunk'n donuts center, or a merchant's auto arena (both of which, I might add, are hideous names for a public building)). That being said, I DO agree with the general point that some creative finance techniques not only might work but actually might be necessary.
 
and where is the FILOP info coming from...any links? I'd be curious to see what adjustments were made. Thanks.
 
I see you point, Patrick. I think I will vote for a bond that would allow Civic Center improvements, but at the same time I would be even happier with a new structure. At this point, most improvements are like 'putting lipstick on a pig.'

Patrick said:
and where is the FILOP info coming from...any links? I'd be curious to see what adjustments were made. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I saw it on the Forecaster site the other day, http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p-councilparkingfees-111710

PORTLAND ? The City Council on Monday unanimously approved changes to a program designed to discourage the construction of parking lots on the peninsula in favor of more dense developments.
Changes to the program include lowering the per-space fee from $10,000 to $5,000 and allowing developers the option of leasing parking spaces for a period of five years from a local parking garage or lot instead of paying the fee.
Click to expand...
 
Corey said:
I see you point, Patrick. I think I will vote for a bond that would allow Civic Center improvements, but at the same time I would be even happier with a new structure. At this point, most improvements are like 'putting lipstick on a pig.'



I saw it on the Forecaster site the other day, http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p-councilparkingfees-111710
Click to expand...


Thanks Corey. I agree about the lipstick on a pig comment, wholeheartedly, and that's why I won't be voting for the bond. However, I understand if others do. the way I see it, voting for the bond is just voting to prolong the inevitable repalcement of the structure. I favor replacement, the trustees favor renovation. That's fine. However, I plan to make my voice heard at the ballot since, clearly, numerous editorials didn't do the trick. Do we want lipstick on a pig, or do we want a cash cow?
 
Also, the revised FILoP measure as passed should do wonders for development in downtown (as it lowers the cost of construction in financial as well as other ways, and in so doing simultaneously also opens up more land for development. Previously, the ordinance didn't do much, because 10,000 is about the same price it would cost a developer to provide surface parking, so the incentive was weak unless the planned structure had maxed out on height and still wanted more room (necessitating lateral expansion into areas otherwise reserved for parking). I hope we see some tangible benefits of this ordinance soon.
 
portlandmainefall2010ha.jpg


portlandmainefall2010ha.jpg
 
Nice work corey, thanks for sharing. I can only imagine what the city looked like in the 1980s, before the Smith-Barney building was even there, or the Fore Street office complex and hilton and other places built early 21st century. This neighborhood is going to pretty nice some day.
 
Hi Everyone,
Ditto Corey thanks for sharing pics as always. I moved to Indiana so your pics mean even more to me now.
Hampton Inn will look great and add density and vitality to the city. I hate vacant lots ! They can suck the life right out of an area.
Hope everyone is well.

Matt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top