Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

TC zoid, I am in total agreement with your views and having the stage positioned so that the Portland skyline/waterfront is in the background would be excellent.
 
Well, it looks like the prime office tenant fell though for the Thompson's Point project. I believe that was WEX--hope they don't move to Massachusetts with all those employees. (I've heard a rumor) This project now is sort of falling apart. It's now mostly old industrial buildings being remodeled for artists. I don't mean to be negative, but this is not "money". WEX would of been money. Now it's all hype from the developer in denial of the reverse energy.

http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20141006/CURRENTEDITION/310029992
 
Nice guy, great intentions but a difficult task and I wish him the best with future Thompson's Point endeavors. Portland should be doing a full court press in an attempt to lure WEX downtown. There is plenty of available space in the recently renovated One Monument Square which includes building name rights or maybe the soon to be vacated DHS building on Marginal Way which includes ample parking and easy access to I295. Just saying?
 
Portlander said:
Portland should be doing a full court press in an attempt to lure WEX downtown.
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Agreed, but they'd have to do so quietly. I believe there is an agreement in place between Portland, South Portland, Westbrook and possibly Scarborough that prohibts each of those communities from trying to lure businesses from each other.

I haven't heard the WEX to MA rumor yet, but it's not surprising if there is any validity to that. From what I've heard they've been struggling to find the talent necessary to keep operations viable up here as they grow. While everyone up here seems to be focusing on how to deal with all of the closing paper mills and replacing lost manufacturing jobs, nobody seems to be focusing on what I think is the biggest issue for Maine - that is, the fact that we are losing young and talented college grads and early-career professionals to out-of-state markets. Companies like WEX need that young talent with college degrees and the drive to live and grow with a company, not retrained former manufacturing workers that tend to lack the energy and/or creativity needed for a company like WEX to grow and thrive.
 
The CEO at WEX has already, on several occasions during events in Portland, hinted at the importance of having an available pool of business grads in the Portland area to draw from. The answer to that? An incompetently run USM scaling back instead of expanding. I would be surprised to see WEX stay. They need to run a profitable company first before being a fixture in a community. And who is in theory, the CEO of the University of Maine system?... the Governor.
 
TC_zoid said:
The CEO at WEX has already, on several occasions during events in Portland, hinted at the importance of having an available pool of business grads in the Portland area to draw from. The answer to that? An incompetently run USM scaling back instead of expanding. I would be surprised to see WEX stay. They need to run a profitable company first before being a fixture in a community. And who is in theory, the CEO of the University of Maine system?... the Governor.
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As a Business grad from USM (2009), I was surprised at how little the school did to connect its grads to local employers. I ended up getting work through connections of an out of state friend. Neither myself or any of my close friends from USM ended up staying in Maine. Not only did the school do very little to encourage grads to stay, but the few opportunities that existed couldn't compete with higher paying opportunities out of state. It seems like a bit of a catch 22. I think grads have to really, really want to only stay in the Portland area for it to work (often times for a lower salary). I don't know of anyone from my class who ended up with what I'd consider an outstanding opportunity in Portland.
 
TC_zoid said:
Well, it looks like the prime office tenant fell though for the Thompson's Point project. I believe that was WEX--hope they don't move to Massachusetts with all those employees. (I've heard a rumor) This project now is sort of falling apart. It's now mostly old industrial buildings being remodeled for artists. I don't mean to be negative, but this is not "money". WEX would of been money. Now it's all hype from the developer in denial of the reverse energy.

http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20141006/CURRENTEDITION/310029992
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I was at WEX a couple of weeks ago and there are plans in place to renovate/modernize the entire interior of the building. The top floor where the execs are has already been done with the lower floors to follow. Very clean, modern look on the top floor. Alot of glass used for the offices and really up to date looking furniture. It was explained to me that they need to modernize the entire place for when their big clients come in for a visit. First impressions type of thing. Also, even though the place is very clean and in great condition it has not been updated since the original building was built.
So based upon that I would say WEX isn't planning on leaving the State anytime soon.
 
Thanks for the correction--that's a relief. And perhaps now that Portland is getting such incredible press as a great city to live in, more qualified business grads from the Boston area will be willing to re-locate up here so that companies such as WEX don't have to struggle as much to fill positions.
 
TC_zoid said:
Well, it looks like the prime office tenant fell though for the Thompson's Point project. I believe that was WEX--hope they don't move to Massachusetts with all those employees. (I've heard a rumor) This project now is sort of falling apart. It's now mostly old industrial buildings being remodeled for artists. I don't mean to be negative, but this is not "money". WEX would of been money. Now it's all hype from the developer in denial of the reverse energy.

http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20141006/CURRENTEDITION/310029992
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WEX is a South Portland-based company right now. One of the original partners in the Thompson's Point venture was hired by the City of South Portland subsequent to initial approval of the site plan and subdivision. His role is Economic Development Director, which amongst other things likely requires business retention. There is a definite conflict.
 
Lrfox said:
As a Business grad from USM (2009), I was surprised at how little the school did to connect its grads to local employers. I ended up getting work through connections of an out of state friend. Neither myself or any of my close friends from USM ended up staying in Maine. Not only did the school do very little to encourage grads to stay, but the few opportunities that existed couldn't compete with higher paying opportunities out of state. It seems like a bit of a catch 22. I think grads have to really, really want to only stay in the Portland area for it to work (often times for a lower salary). I don't know of anyone from my class who ended up with what I'd consider an outstanding opportunity in Portland.
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This is pretty much accurate. There are a lot of really talented young folks in Portland, and many from much larger metropolitan areas who leave very lucrative careers behind after they've made enough to buy or put a substantial sum toward what is comparatively cheaper real estate to live in a place with a thriving cultural atmosphere and relaxed pace. It's a tradeoff.
 
PortlandArch said:
This is pretty much accurate. There are a lot of really talented young folks in Portland, and many from much larger metropolitan areas who leave very lucrative careers behind after they've made enough to buy or put a substantial sum toward what is comparatively cheaper real estate to live in a place with a thriving cultural atmosphere and relaxed pace. It's a tradeoff.
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Regarding USM not doing well at connecting students with employers, I wonder if it's a factor of their student body being so heavily non-traditional. I'd bet that the majority of their students already have jobs, and possibly the employer is paying for their classes, so placement isn't as heavily emphasized. On the flip side, regrettably, USM has never been seen as a top choice among high school students. When I was in school (in the Portland area), it was the safety-safety school in case you couldn't (whether due to academics or finances) go to Orono. While I'm sure that some students seek it out for being the urban experience in the UMaine system, it's also a fact that when a young friend of mine took a Gorham campus tour a few years ago, the guide pointed out one of the buildings and said, "that's our chem-free dorm, which just means you have to hide it when the RA's come by." Decidedly not what she was looking for.

It's also definitely true that you effectively pay a premium for staying in Maine. Really, other than real estate the cost of living here isn't any cheaper than Massachusetts (and the cost of heating for a winter may come close to evening that out), but the fewer employers, particularly in the technology fields, mean that there's less competition for your labor and fewer places to turn if you want out, so salaries are lower and there aren't many chances for a "very lucrative" career here.
 
markhb said:
It's also definitely true that you effectively pay a premium for staying in Maine. Really, other than real estate the cost of living here isn't any cheaper than Massachusetts (and the cost of heating for a winter may come close to evening that out), but the fewer employers, particularly in the technology fields, mean that there's less competition for your labor and fewer places to turn if you want out, so salaries are lower and there aren't many chances for a "very lucrative" career here.
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Yup. I took a 17% pay decrease when we moved back to Maine in 2011 after living and working in MA for three years, and it'll probably take me another three years from today just to get back to that same level of income. The flip side is that buying the same size house to that we bought in Westbrook (2,500 sq feet) on the same size property (1/2 acre) would have cost us at least three or four times as much down in MA. However, our intitial rent+utilities when we moved back here prior to buying the house was 30% than what we were paying down in MA.

I miss that MA paycheck, and if we hadn't been planning on starting a family when we decided to move, then we probably would have stayed down in MA a little longer.
 
So, in my not so humble opinion, Thompson's Point is a bust, but the new Bayside scrap yards redevelopment and the Portland Company Complex are not. Bayside is starting to become a very cool community around the Rising Tide Brewing area and the Portland Company Complex is hot because of its location on the waterfront and proximity to the Old Port. As the always accurate motif goes, "in real estate it's about location, location, location." Thompson's Point does not have that critical criterion, and those involved -- I believe -- were so excited to have a piece of relatively cheap property with mucho tax breaks that it was rationalized into something wonderful.
 
118 on Munjoy Hill
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The anti development people have won again. The midtown project will not be transformative, but bland, and uninspired, and less than half as tall as planned.
 
OK, let's start a new topic of discussion here. With the NIMBY clowns winning yet again and killing the height on midtown, what do people think about the possibility of any building taller than 15 stories being built in Portland in the next 20-30 years?

Personally, I'm beginning to think Franklin Towers will continue to stand as our tallest building for quite some time. There simply isn't a company big enough or enough commerce to fill a new office tower, especially since vacancy rates are still a little too high and lease rates a little too low to justify the expense. It appears that WEX will stay put where they are. Hannaford, IDEXX and Unum have all planted solid roots at their current locations. Unless a new home-grown company sprouts up locally and explodes, I just don't see anyone being able to fill a new office tower.

So, that leaves either residential or a combination residential/commercial/hotel tower as the only other possibility, and I have to wonder about the economics of building one taller than 15 stories.

The NIMBYs also have a charge in their ass fresh off their defeat of midtown, and they now have the track record of crushing every major tower development in Portland since Lincoln Square (aside from Back Bay Tower, which was supposed to be taller but was scaled back due to NIMBY pressure, only to ironically become the NIMBYs themselves when The Waterview was proposed next door).

I fear that the future of the Portland skyline is destined to remain more or less unchanged over the next several decades, which would be a shame.
 
You may be right Dr. S but we cannot lose hope, three things could work in the future. The first being once the current Class A office buildings that were constructed from 1970 through 1975 (1 Monument Square, 1 Canal Plaza, 511 Congress) continue to age and eventually drop to Class B, it may create a need for new construction to meet the needs of current upscale law firms, banks and corporations.

This will take time unless a new company arrives or the three you mentioned in your post decide to relocate to Portland. If either UNUM or IDEXX would move just their corporate headquarters downtown that would create a need for probably 30,000 sf each. The property to the east of City Hall is the only area that will accommodate up to 245 ft in height as long as the developer does not block the views of the seniors in Franklin Towers!

The second more cost effective option we may see which is something Portland has had experience with in the past is adding 3-5 floors on top of an existing office building. There have been casual discussions that I have been privy to which involved 2 Monument Square which would be a perfect platform due to the it's flat/square roofline. Though very modest in scope, the owner of 1 Canal Plaza was attempting to add a floor to his structure a little while ago until his plans for the plaza were denied.

In my opinion, the best building to add floors to would be One City Center due to it's central location on the skyline and it would be easy to replicate with it's simple bands of brick and glass once you temporarily remove all of the communications gear off the roof. I have always felt it should have been at least 18 floors instead of 13.

The last option is one I hope to not see during the remainder of my lifetime is demolition of the "Time & Temperature" Building (Chapman) or the "Peoples United Bank" Building (Fidelity) due to age, fire or poor maintenance. Joe Soley now owns the latter which really makes me nervous considering his previous track record. If either of those two structures are razed in the future, I am sure Portlanders and developers would unite in an effort to replace either of them with something substantial, footprint permitting.

To finish on a positive note. Portland is very fortunate to have the current inventory of 10-14 story "office" buildings in it's central core which currently sits at eight and ranging from the 1910 Peoples United Building to the 1989 One Portland Square. If you throw in the additional shorter structures like 2 and 3 Canal Plaza, 2 Portland Square and 100 Middle Street (2) we doing very well for a city of around 70,000. I did not include the Intermed Building because I consider it downtown fringe.

That is all for now.
 
Interesting thoughts Dr. S and Portlander. From an aesthetic viewpoint, I also think adding a few floors to One City Center would look pretty nice. And the "Top of the Old Port" parking lot seems like a prime spot for some sort of relatively tall building, although I'd be happy as long as something eventually gets build there to add a street wall and to better connect downtown with Munjoy Hill. I'm optimistic that there will continue to be incremental improvements/repairs to Portland's urban fabric over the years.

And here are some photos...

Maine Medical Center's current expansion:
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409 Cumberland Avenue:
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The Press Hotel, in the old Press Herald Building:
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West End Place (happy to see it confirmed that Rosemont Market will be setting up shop on the first floor):
lkFARpe.jpg


Munjoy Heights:
Y8THGfu.jpg
 
Check out this month's Portland Monthly (.com). There are architect drawing proposals on the Wharf street redesign competition. Its very cool, but would not want it to look and feel like a very touristy Quincy Market? Corey, send me a note at metrodogmedia@yahoo.com and I will send you some pictures of it so you can post.
 
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