Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

In terms of the article and interview with John Cacoulidis, i agree, it was stranfely disconnected from the topic.....he does seem committed to Portland, even despite his past struggles for approval, which is a positive. I was hoping for more info on the possible 15 to 20 story tower he once proposed, but he said nothing in terms of future plans for it.
Now, in terms of renovations on Eastland Park Hotel, it sounds like the new owners have faith and high hopes for this hotel. Given its location within the city, I cant blame them. This will most likely be a great move forward for Portland.
They may expand Top of the East and add function space....im not sure if that means more height, but as someobe with enthusiasm for mire height in Portland, that would be a good step forward in my eyes (assuming that was what they meant by "expanding")
We will have to wait and see now...
 
which 15-20 story building? In South Portland his grand proposal shrunk to 15 stories, then finally to 11 stories, and in Portland he proposed a 30 story building. Is there another or were you referring to So Po? The eastland is a nice place already, and with a little polishing and perhaps expansion would be even better.
 
The building that i was referring to was his proposal for a 30 story building across from the press herald building....at some point i heard he shrunk it from 30 to 15 or 20 stories.
 
Oh I see, I sent you a PM about this. Let's hope something great happens there. Honestly, I don't think 20 stories is too tall for downtown portland, especially Congress Street, but I do see the argument about dwarfing city hall. Sometimes I like that old/new clash of architecture and scale, though, like in Boston with the skyscrapers surrounding the old county courthouse or whatever it is....but most people HATE that and specifically cite boston as a bad example. I like it.
 
The word on the street is that the renovations to the Top Of The East will technically not add height to the structure but will enclose a majority of the roof and give the building an honest 14th level. So the roof line will appear to be more substantial especially when viewed from High Street. The boiler shaft portion of the building which is visible at the east portion of 1927 structure actually adds two more levels to the building's height making it equivalent to 16 stories.

This project if completed as advertised will be huge for that section of downtown, especially if it becomes a Westin property. There are also major changes planned for the adjacent park which needs a huge makeover to class the area up in order to attract any upscale hotel chain. 258 rooms will claim the title of Maine's second largest hotel, the Holiday Inn has 239 for comparison purposes and is currently the second largest in the state and will drop to third. Any guesses where the biggest hotel is currently located?
 
Interesting plans for the Eastland. It's certainly a prime location and I think that any improvements of the building and its property will be improvements for the city.

This is from my living room window, I like this little room on the top and the spiral staircase. I presume this is some sort of a mechanical room:

august2011portlandmaine.jpg




Portlander said:
Any guesses where the biggest hotel is currently located?
Click to expand...


Per this list from 2010 (I don't know how accurate it is), the Bar Harbor Regency Holiday Inn is 1st with 278 rooms, next is The Anchorage by the Sea (Ogunquit) with 241 rooms, and Holiday Inn by the Bay is next with 239.
 
Good job Corey, you are correct. However the Anchorage by the Sea room count of 241 is a little misleading due to a portion of their units are separate cottages that are not part of the main building and are seasonal only? I guess it is a technicality issue when it comes to hotel/motel guest room counts.

Was told many years ago (80's) by a long time Eastland employee during a private tour of the roof, that the spiral staircase in your photo actually led to a diving board located above the rooftop pool. We know that the pool was a reality and was located adjacent to that concrete room which matches the apartment addition facade from around 1963. It definitely has a mechanical function now and if you look closely at your photo it appears that the upper half may have been added on at a later time. Quite possibly after the pool was removed due to safety and upkeep issues. Think I'll dig out some old Eastland photos tonight!
 
That would be huge to have that hotel become a Westin. That would be so more impressive to see on the skyline driving by and it could really solidify that area. With that much money being spent, they'll def have to do something with the park out front which is nothing more than a homeless shelter and skate park. Complete and total waste of valueable land.

I was just thinking last night, picture if that Bayside project gets built with all those new buildings and then the Thompson's point project is completed too. Would any city under 75K in the country even look remotely as large as Portland? It already looks huge density wise from an aerial picture. It would make even less sense if all that new stuff was built and we were only 65K people. I can't think of a city under 100K that would look bigger.
 
Gritty's, very interesting question. There are only a handful of cities with populations under 75,000 that can rival Portland's downtown density and overall size and substance. Kind of a hobby of mine for the past 30 years and I have visited every major city in every state with the exception of Alaska and New Mexico. In my opinion, the following cities are at least equally impressive if not more when it comes to center city "bang for buck":

Charleston, WV
Harrisburg, PA
Asheville, NC
Wilmington, DE
Greenville, SC
Wilkes-Barre, PA

Wilmington has benefited the last two decades due to companies locating their corporate headquarters there thanks to tax incentives and don't forget it is the home of Dupont. Trenton, NJ would also make this list but it's 2010 population is now at 86,000. Wilkes-Barre is actually smaller than it's brother Scranton, but has bigger downtown. A couple of cities that have surprising downtowns/skylines for less than 35,000 are Wheeling, WV, Bartlesville, OK (Phillips Petroleum HQ) and Johnstown, PA. And for a city of only 10,000, Bluefield, WV will have you scratching your head. Huntington, WV is on the honorable mention list with a great stock of buildings but it is not up to Charleston's stature. Most West Virginia and some Pennsylvania downtowns are very impressive in relation to their populations.

With Portland being number one of course, my second favorite city would be Savannah, GA which has a wonderful historic downtown full of vitality with a medium skyline because of strict zoning. It's population is now at 136,000 which is too big for this list but I prefer it over Charleston, SC, it's primary tourism competitor to the north. Jump on Bing Maps or Google Earth and check some of these places out, I spent years of traveling to see these cities and now we take a trip in minutes via the computer!
 
You do have a point, Gritty's. Wilmington is also close to Philly and situated in teh Bos-Wash corridor, whereas Portland is kind of a center city not relying on another nearby. But, I agree with Portlander too that there are a number of (surprising) little cities out there with some big skylines or nice center cities. Savanah is always referred to as a great place in planning circles, and was built according to strict grid plan hundreds of years ago with a town square on nearly every other block...Charleston is very historic, and Asheville always makes the top 10 places to live or visit. Greeneville looks pretty cool and progressive, too. What about Watertown, NY/ Never been but that city supposedly has a decent skyline for only a few people. Anyway, let's make Portland number one on that list.
 
P.S. -- Wilimington, DE also benefits, in addition to tax incentives, from having the most liberal and business-friendly corporate laws in America. That's why so many businesses are incorporated in Deleware, even if they do businesses in other states, because that state's business laws will govern if ever there is a legal dispute.

If Portland had all of its proposed buildings built, I think we would easily skip a number of the top ten "too big to be so small" cities, but probably would not beat Wilmington and maybe not Asheville or Greenville (although I've never been to either)...Portlander? what do you think?
 
Back to the Eastland project. I made a prediction to a friend a few years back saying that if the hotel did not receive some sort of lifeline from a new owner or national chain, that it would be eventually turned into elderly/low income apartments like so many legendary historic downtown hotels across the country. This potential Westin development is huge for Portland, they do not align themselves with undesirable cities/locations and their properties are maintained with class and luxury.

Patrick, though Watertown has a respectable business district for it's size and region, there is just something lacking and not worthy of this list. Skyline is really nothing more than one 10 story building and several in the 6-8 floor range. I think it is a nice place for it's location, has an attractive public square and will always have a respectable level of stability due to nearby Fort Drum and Thousand Islands tourist draw. Would actually give the nod to Glens Falls for a New York "bang for buck" town over Watertown. It is half the size with only 15,000 people, has an attractive historic downtown with some surprising corporate influence via banking and insurance, and has a 6000 capacity arena which hosted The Who in 1989!

Greenville and Asheville's downtowns are not any larger than Portland's in my opinion, they both just happen to have taller skylines especially in Greenville's case. But they are both in the more progressive south where residents do not get alarmed over a 20 story building! Asheville has a couple of beautiful art deco 12-16 story structures that I would air lift to Portland in a minute. By the way, Augusta, Ga deserves mention and would have made the "bang for buck" list if it had not recently consolidated with Richmond County to boost it's population to almost 200,000 now.
 
Last edited:
As an amateur to the world of urban development I am thrilled to have found this site. Portland, ME is my fav. "small city" in New England. Living in Manchester, NH I have to admit there is more commerce and urban feel to Portland than Manchester...even though Manchester's population is bigger. Manchester's Elm street has some high rise buildings, but I don't see any other high rise projects on the horizon for the "financial district" of Manchvegas. I also believe the arena @ Thompson's point will help Portland on a national level when it comes to national exposure for concerts and sporting events.
 
Seanflynn78, welcome to the site. It can be fun and informative and it is a great way to interact with individuals who are knowledgable about their own city and are willing to share the latest in urban development/projects that are on the horizon. You might want to check out a previous thread that listed the Top 15 Cities in New England, it will give you a good perspective on the passion and wisdom of a cross section of members who are all on here to discuss the interest we have for all cities and their downtown areas. It can get very competitive at times due to hometown loyalty but overall everyone respects each other's opinion.

I agree with your thoughts on Portland/Manchester, these two cities have competed for the title of Northern New England's Hub city for decades and there is still no clear cut winner! Portland's proposed Thompson's Point development will be a huge asset primarily for it's convention/meeting capabilities. The arena will be first class but is designed to accommodate the Maine Red Claws with 3500 seats for basketball and mid size concerts with 4500 seats. Will not compete with the Verizon Wireless Arena on any level. The aging Cumberland County Civic Center with 8800 seats for concerts will have to make do for us which is an entirely different thread.
 
Last edited:
Having visited Asheville, I wouldn't compare it to the other cities. It is exceptionally southern feeling with wide boulevards and there is a distinct disconnect between the urban center and many of the highrises. Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely and funky/alternative city, but Portland already feels much more urban, to me at least.
 
Saw Savannah on an episode of Bang for Your Buck on HGTV the other day. Downtown or historic district looked awesome. Charming if I may dare say so.

The thing about Portland is not only density for a city this size, but having that many distinct areas. Bayside, Arts district, old port, thompson's point, east end, west end, etc.
 
Nice seeing you today Patrick, good luck with your upcoming Portland Daily Sun article!
 
Thanks man, you too. Actually, although I was asked and consented, I haven't heard back yet, but maybe I'll know more soon. Also, I drove around looking for you for maybe 10 minutes about a half hour after I saw you...I was getting sworn in to Federal Court this morning, that's why I wasn't in my regular get-up. Anyway, let's meet up sometime and shoot the breeze when something exciting is proposed for downtown.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hope there is nothing to read into this

WORKSHOP- THE WORKSHOP MEETNG IS CANCELED

i. The Forefront at Thompson’s Point, 1 Thompson’s Point, The Thompson’s Point Development Company, Applicant. The applicant has requested that this item be TABLED TO A LATER DATE.
 
grittys457 said:
Hope there is nothing to read into this

WORKSHOP- THE WORKSHOP MEETNG IS CANCELED

i. The Forefront at Thompson’s Point, 1 Thompson’s Point, The Thompson’s Point Development Company, Applicant. The applicant has requested that this item be TABLED TO A LATER DATE.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't read into that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top