Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

[Portlander]

It is always the vocal minority that gets all of the attention and press. But most of the City Councilors I have talked to recently can see through all of the negative hype and are pro development at the Congress Square site with some fine tuning.

 

[grittys457]

Good. If they deny this than the Westin should demand a police presence to keep those people out of their yard. No other business has to put up with that. Terrible for business

 

[itchy]

Site of the Newbury Street Lofts

Is that house getting knocked down? A shame if so - she's a fetching old lass.

 

[grittys457]

How many years has the IRA tag been sprayed on that apartment over where Newbury lofts is going? I laugh when I walk to the Italian bazaar each year and see its still there

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

Is that house getting knocked down? A shame if so - she's a fetching old lass.

According to the plans, the only building being saved in this stretch is the brick one next to the blue one. The other three are coming down.

It's too bad it's probably cost-prohibative to move this house to fill-in another nearby empty lot, like this one at the corner of Congress and Sheridan:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=43.664419,-70.249267&spn=0.000711,0.001132&t=h&z=20

 

[Matt68]

Thanks for all the pics PortlandArch. Wow ! Portland really has a lot of momentum. I agree with earlier posts the city will looks so much different in a few short years. The fact local as well as national developers are doing so much in Portland really speaks well for the city.

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

Big article in business section of paper today on all Portland projects. I doubt it's online

Has anyone been able to find this article on-line? The corner store by my house was out of print copies yesterday afternoon when I got out of work. I've searched the Press Herald website, to no avail.

 

[Patrick]

It's entitled Portland Development Booming and I got a copy in print last night.

It has a picture of the Canal Plaza Hotel rendering above the Opechee Phase II project, and mentions federated and the commercial street project of JB Brown. Aside from that project and a minor update with respect to the Jordan's site's potential construction timeline, the info was recycled. It was basically stuff that is on this website, but all in one article instead of spread out. I can scan it.

 

[Corey]

From this morning:

 

[Patrick]

Corey nice pics, especially the first!

Canal Plaza Hotel Proposal Updates:

 

[SHAZBAT73]

Thanks for the updates! What is going in the center of picture three next to the Federal Street Apartments (of Lofts)? Another 3 story apartment building?

 

[Nexis4jersey]

When do you think all the Parking lots in Downtown should be covered up with developments?

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

I like the updates to the Canal Plaza Hotel. Subtle, but I think it fits in a little better with the sorrounding neighborhood.

What is going in the center of picture three next to the Federal Street Apartments (of Lofts)? Another 3 story apartment building?

http://bayhouseportland.com/

 

[cneal]

^ I think Shazbat might be talking about the smaller building being built above the Bay House construction site, on Federal Street – the one in green ZIP cladding in Corey's photo. It's a 4-story building, apparently 3 units, with a 2-car garage facing the street. There was an older triple decker there that they tore down so it's not much of an addition to the neighborhood. It also appears to have stalled in its construction, I haven't seen any work done there for a few weeks now.

 

[SHAZBAT73]

^ I think Shazbat might be talking about the smaller building being built above the Bay House construction site, on Federal Street – the one in green ZIP cladding in Corey's photo. It's a 4-story building, apparently 3 units, with a 2-car garage facing the street. There was an older triple decker there that they tore down so it's not much of an addition to the neighborhood. It also appears to have stalled in its construction, I haven't seen any work done there for a few weeks now.

Yup, you nailed it! As for the Canal Plaza Hotel, I think it could use a little more brick to help ease the transition from the commercial area to the oldport. It will be a good addition to the lower part of the skyline, concealing some of 1 Canal Plaza's mass.

 

[Dr. StrangeHat]

^ I think Shazbat might be talking about the smaller building being built above the Bay House construction site, on Federal Street – the one in green ZIP cladding in Corey's photo. It's a 4-story building, apparently 3 units, with a 2-car garage facing the street. There was an older triple decker there that they tore down so it's not much of an addition to the neighborhood. It also appears to have stalled in its construction, I haven't seen any work done there for a few weeks now.

Ahhhh, I didn't even notice that. Wasn't there a fire in the previous building at that location?

 

[PortlandArch]

When do you think all the Parking lots in Downtown should be covered up with developments?

Hard to say, because there are so many of them, and plenty have probably never even seen a proposal because they are cash cows as parking. This seems to be changing with renewed interest in the "city" portion of Portland.

 

[grittys457]

And as suspected it's dead...

By Carol McCracken (Post # 1,228)

The construction of phase 2 of the Hampton Inn by the Sea has been delayed for at least a year. The second phase of the former Jordan’s Meats Co, located in Portland’s Old Port was to have begun this fall. The reason for the delay is the loss of a tenant in one of the buildings, according to sources close to the situation. Construction had been slated to begin on this $18 million dollar deal before the winter weather set in, but that won’t happen now.

This past August the city gave unanimous approval for a tax break for phase 2 of the development which was to have included street-level retail, offices and 18 high-end, ($500,000.)luxury condominiums on about an acre of land, with the entrance on India Street. Parking was to have been provided for both office workers and condominium owners.

In February of 2010, Mark Woglon and Greg Keish, principals in the Old Port Hospitality LLC, and officers in Opeeche Construction, NH., bought the former Jordan’s Meats Factory. Soon thereafter, the two submitted plans for the development of phase one of the property. But only three months later, the site was demolished by a major fire that sent smoke billowing all over Portland. The factory had been closed since 2005 and was a large employer in the area. In between 2005 and 2010, Westin Hotels purchased the property with the intent of developing the property, but never did.

Phase One of the development included a luxury Hampton Inn, whose franchise Wolgan owns, a Sebago Brewing Co. restaurant and Portside condominium units that reportedly sold quickly. All properties face on Fore Street which faces Portland Harbor.

No one at Opeeche Construction, NH, responded to a telephone call and an email from mhn.com

 

[John_French]

Is that house getting knocked down? A shame if so - she's a fetching old lass.

The site of the old "Tino's Market" many years ago.

 

[PortlandArch]

And as suspected it's dead...

By Carol McCracken (Post # 1,228)

The construction of phase 2 of the Hampton Inn by the Sea has been delayed for at least a year. The second phase of the former Jordan’s Meats Co, located in Portland’s Old Port was to have begun this fall. The reason for the delay is the loss of a tenant in one of the buildings, according to sources close to the situation. Construction had been slated to begin on this $18 million dollar deal before the winter weather set in, but that won’t happen now.

This past August the city gave unanimous approval for a tax break for phase 2 of the development which was to have included street-level retail, offices and 18 high-end, ($500,000.)luxury condominiums on about an acre of land, with the entrance on India Street. Parking was to have been provided for both office workers and condominium owners.

In February of 2010, Mark Woglon and Greg Keish, principals in the Old Port Hospitality LLC, and officers in Opeeche Construction, NH., bought the former Jordan’s Meats Factory. Soon thereafter, the two submitted plans for the development of phase one of the property. But only three months later, the site was demolished by a major fire that sent smoke billowing all over Portland. The factory had been closed since 2005 and was a large employer in the area. In between 2005 and 2010, Westin Hotels purchased the property with the intent of developing the property, but never did.

Phase One of the development included a luxury Hampton Inn, whose franchise Wolgan owns, a Sebago Brewing Co. restaurant and Portside condominium units that reportedly sold quickly. All properties face on Fore Street which faces Portland Harbor.

No one at Opeeche Construction, NH, responded to a telephone call and an email from mhn.com

For this property, it's a question of when not if. We know it won't be before snow flies, and likely won't be in spring or summer because of peak hotel season, but that's about all we can say for sure. I suspect the source close to the project is someone in the neighborhood association. The above is just my opinion, but a tenant falling through simply means the builders aren't willing to speculate another will line up--a smart choice--it doesn't mean the project won't come to fruition when another tenant is lined up. It's just a matter of timing the thing right.