Portland, ME - New Construction Continued

As always fabulous update Corey....I am really excited to see finished 409 Cumberland as I love Avesta and everything they do and am confident it will be another wonderful addition to southern Maine built environment landscape.
 
I must say that I'm unimpressed with the new Martins point bridge. The sight lines off the bridge when you are driving are completely obstructed by those high bulky guard rails they installed. The veterans bridge that was just built has beautiful sight lines on it and Imo has much more attractive design elements to it. I actually like the columns that go into the air, make it more interesting. The same contractor should have been used as the veterans bridge making two as they were not much off the estimate of cpm.
 
Maybe they designed it that way to keep your eyes on the road where they belong, Allagash ;)

But seriously, if you're interested in the view, try the bridge on a bike (or on foot). I used to bike across the old one all the time when I worked in Falmouth, and in my opinion the new one has a better view thanks to the fact that the Portland side is now higher in elevation by about 10 feet.
 
West End Place:
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Maine Wharf:
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Sheridan Street:
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409 Cumberland Avenue [Commentary - Not digging the blue and grey exterior so much]
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Lol, once again Avesta can get anything they feel like approved while federated is scrutinized down to the screw.
 
I think I prefer the Avesta building and its weird blue to the phone company buildings across the street. The one at the corner of Forest Ave at least has some art deco touches going on. But that big concrete and brick windowless brutalist thing is one of the most horrific buildings in the city.
 
The avesta housing is hideous IMO. I'm sick of some of the building materials architects are using, not just in Avesta housing but mostly them. Just because it's public housing, architects and builders feel like they can get away with these cheap designs while saving a few bucks on building materials. The public's desire for actual beautiful building's is put aside.
Even some of the new condo building's and other structures going up are using these ugly siding materials probably to squeeze as much profit as possible.
The phone company building across the street from avesta is intimidating and imposing, i agree. Add the fact that they just renovated the facade, I assume for maintenance purposes but that was a great chance to update the buildings exterior.

About the federated project It does set a bad precedent for other large projects in the city but every city not just liberal cities, a big project like that will face obstacles especially in an old city with historic architecture.

I never liked the original design, it was cheap looking and lacked any kind of imagination just like all the other public housing structures. I don't believe in having a building built just because it's better then what is in it's current place, which is scrape yards. The current design of the federated project is even less appealing to me and to be honest I hope it doesn't even get built now.
 
Zoning changes were approved for the $7 million, 400 seat St. Lawrence Performing Arts Center and for 89 Anderson Street in Bayside.

Performing Arts Center (courtesy of The Forecaster):




89 Anderson Street
 
I hope it doesn't look like the design in the article, because that looks like a cheap motel. I was in Bayside the other day and noticed some sections can look pretty depressing, almost like a slum. So any development proposed here might be better than none, even if it is unattractive and uninspiring. (unlike the East End, which should have higher design standards)
 
Boy....the City of Portland is really going for the cheap boxy shanty town style with everything now, huh?:confused:

Looks like the 2010s is the new 1970s..........:rolleyes:
 
Does anyone have the final renderings for Bay House Phase II? The last ones I saw were called a "monolithic block" and still needed tweaking.
 
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Thanks for the photos Corey. Imagine how much better the city would look if those utility wires were put underground!
 
Yeah, it's better than Phase 1 and light years better than the previous design for phase 2, but still not blowing my doors off. Is that going to be actual brick or brick paneling?
 
Agreed. It's much better, and the new name is now "Seaport Lofts". (not bad)
On another note, noticed Portland Square 1 & 2 buildings along with the expansive, adjacent parking lots are for sale. And according to today's PPH, the new owner will more than likely try and build a significant sized office tower on this land to maximize the profit. Well, seeing how things get built in Portland I would say, fat chance. Perhaps five or six stories, but nothing of ten or more. It looks like more time wasted with proposals and defeats for this idea. At this point, if it was me, I would just go all out in a proposal because anything significant will more than likely be defeated because, after all, a tall office building does not make the city "livable." (but it does bring jobs -- can't argue that) So, that said, I would go all out in this proposal because it WILL be defeated. I would propose a 100 story building with a gambling casino and the whole thing is nuclear powered so it doesn't tax the grid -- you know, self sustained in the event terrorists take down the grid. That would be a really good selling point...
 
The original plan for the property called for those lots to eventually become 3 and 4 Portland Square, and they were indeed intended to be lower than the first two towers.

Have the top floors of One P.S. been condos for a long time, or did that happen after the TD HQ finally moved to New Jersey?
 
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