Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

Portlander said:
Unfortunately, Mr Soley is height limited on that parcel of land so he will not be able to go too tall. I think 95 feet is the max without zoning changes, Patrick is the expert in this department. He needs to purchase the Top of the Old Port property in order to meet our lofty aspirations!
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Actually, if you look at the site that portion is subject to the same height restrictions as the northern portion (where Canal Plaza sits), which is 125 feet, or roughly a 10-story building. Only the Fore Street-facing portion (where the new hotel is going) is subject to the lower 85 foot limit. I know Portlander knows this, but for others who do not the idea was to slope the building heights gradually away from the spine of Congress Street (where height limits are 250 feet, or roughly a 20 story building (topmost 40 feet must "step" back and are for ornamental roof covers, mostly, with the primary structure being limited for most intents and purposes at 210 feet along Congress.
 
The top two and a half floors of the Time Temperature Building really look hideous in this shot. I think the exterior improvements that were done to the upper floors years after this photo was taken could have been better, but I am thankful the 60's era plastic look is history!
 
^Very much agreed. Also, the facade above Longfellow Books is much better than what was there in this picture (looks kind of like Miami art deco!)

Danforth Street from today, including Elm Terrace, Danforth on High, and you can see 53 Danforth Street in the distance too.

OTdxn.jpg
 
Nexis4jersey said:
Are there any plans to bury those poles?
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I was actually going to mention that in my post! Just to the left of where this photo was taken is the Victoria Mansion, which is a beautiful building, but it is hard to get a decent picture of it because of the telephone poles and wires directly in front of it. I'm not sure who makes those sorts of decisions, but I am a fan of having the wires buried for aesthetic reasons. I also assume that underground wires are less prone to being affected by the weather (except for flooding or earthquakes).
 
I think all lines in Downtown areas should be buried they just started doing it here...
 
Nexis4jersey said:
I think all lines in Downtown areas should be buried they just started doing it here...
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Amen!

I was thinking about this looking at the new Cross Insurance Center in Bangor........they've still got ugly power poles and lines down Main Street directly in front of it! To have a recently built $100+ million casino across the street and spend $65 million on this facility.......you'd think that they could have put utilities underground in that general area.
 
There are revised drawings of the proposed Marriott Hotel to be located on Commercial Street on the City of Portland Planning Department site. Emphasis is now placed on a more brick and granite exterior which is more in line with other buildings on Commercial. The prior design reminded me too much of the Hilton Garden's facade at the other end of the street. Not sure how to transfer the new drawings to this thread or I would have.
 
Portlander said:
There are revised drawings of the proposed Marriott Hotel to be located on Commercial Street on the City of Portland Planning Department site. Emphasis is now placed on a more brick and granite exterior which is more in line with other buildings on Commercial. The prior design reminded me too much of the Hilton Garden's facade at the other end of the street. Not sure how to transfer the new drawings to this thread or I would have.
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The newest drawings of the Courtyard by Marriott look A LOT better than the previous ones. Like you said......this was looking like a clone of the Hilton Garden before.
 
Did J.B. Brown table their proposed development further west on Commerical Street in favor of this hotel, or is it that still on the drawing board as well?
 
Thanks for retrieving the revised renderings Datadyne, wish I was a little more computer savvy! I do prefer the new design over the previous and I think it blends in much better with the other facades along Commercial Street. The only change I would make is to continue the granite trim up to the top of the second floor for the entire length of the structure.
 
Dr. Strangehat, word on the street is that JB Brown's project on West Commercial has not been shelved, but their efforts and resources are focused on the Marriott at the present time. Portland Yacht Services has submitted their plans to the city for an impressive boat yard on the property just west of the Casco Bay Bridge on Commercial. These renderings can be reviewed on the City of Portland's planning board site.
 
Portlander said:
Dr. Strangehat, word on the street is that JB Brown's project on West Commercial has not been shelved, but their efforts and resources are focused on the Marriott at the present time.
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Thanks...good to hear!

Portlander said:
Portland Yacht Services has submitted their plans to the city for an impressive boat yard on the property just west of the Casco Bay Bridge on Commercial. These renderings can be reviewed on the City of Portland's planning board site.
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There was an article in the paper about it this morning too.

This part made me want to pull my hair out, though:

During Tuesday's public hearing, Canal Landing drew mostly positive reviews, though a couple of West End residents said they were concerned that two large commercial buildings would hinder water views and lower property values.

"It's going to be an enormous white, glaring building with letters on top of it. I think it's going to be an eyesore," said Meghan Phillips of Brackett Street.

Seriously? Would these people would rather look at propane tanks and tall grass littered with garbage, old railroad ties, etc. I only see good coming from this project and increases property values.

Some people have the most warped sense of reality...
 
There'll be a neighborhood meeting for the "Maritime Landing" project tomorrow downtown:

Meeting Location: Avesta Housing Board Room
307 Cumberland Avenue, Portland, ME 04101 (corner of Cumberland and Elm St)
Meeting Date: Thursday, December 20, 2012
Meeting Time: 5:30-7:00 PM

I may stop by on my way home from work to see if they have any more detailed plans cooked up beyond what we've already seen.
 
I could only stay for a few minutes, and they got a late start, and a couple of local politicians were there who love to hear themselves talk. So I had to leave before I saw their Powerpoint presentation, but they did mention that they didn't have any new renderings or drawings to show us, just the massing studies we've already seen.

I did learn that they're working with this firm: http://perkinseastman.com/projects-overview.aspx. But local architects from CWS (whose portfolio is a lot less exciting) seem to be doing the heavy lifting.

They also said that they're open to building less parking in Phase 2 depending on how much the Phase 1 garage gets utilized — although the presenter, Greg Shinberg, may just have been pandering to the neighbors in the audience when he said that. I've also heard him complain bitterly about City Councilors who want developers to build less parking.

They also mentioned that they're considering raising the level of Somerset Street 3-4 feet to avoid future flooding from sea level rise. It's pretty close to sea level now and occasionally floods during storms, and that's something they want to avoid. You may have noticed how the entrances to the new Intermed building are 2-3 feet above Marginal Way, for similar reasons. Raising Somerset would be a big infrastructure expense for the city, but as it is, the developers want their entrances to be at least 12 feet above sea level (roughly where Whole Foods and Intermed are), which is a few feet above the current street.

They also mentioned another neighborhood meeting in January.
 
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