The Casco | 201 Federal Street | Portland

^ Agree that the location is in a perfect spot for the skyline and I will be very disappointed if this project doesn't materialize.
 
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Excellent article in Mainebiz today concerning 200 Federal Street. If the project clears the Historic Preservation board, zoning change request and final site plan approval by the City Council, construction could begin this fall.
 
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Today's MaineBiz featured an article on the project, and a shoutout to this forum :)

From the article:

Landry French Construction, based in Scarborough, is expected to serve as construction manager, one of the firm's principals, Kevin French, and Redfern principal Jonathan Culley told Mainebiz. Landry French is currently screening subcontractors and expects to have them signed on over the next 30 to 60 days.

......

The project also requires site plan approval from the Planning Board. And Culley said Redfern still needs to obtain financing from a mix of lenders and equity investors. But if all the green lights and greenbacks come in, Landry French would break ground in September or October, and finish construction by the end of 2023..

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However, there seems to be interest in a new try. A popular online forum devoted to architecture in Boston and New England, archBoston.com, has an active thread going on the Federal Street project that has attracted over 13,000 views. And there’s even a Facebook group called “Portland Maine Needs Some Tall Buildings.”
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The full article:

www.mainebiz.biz

Proposed 18-story tower could ease Portland's housing crunch, alter skyline

Developers hope a proposed zoning change, which may be approved Monday night by the Portland City Council, will pave the way for a 190-foot-tall apartment building that would respond to pent-up housing demand. The building would rise higher than most others in Maine.
www.mainebiz.biz www.mainebiz.biz
 
Just disappointing that articles like this spend so much time on the 'which is the tallest building' discussion when they could be discussing why/how urban density is a good thing.
 
Just saw the ArchBoston plug and of course had to log on! Been busy working on brick detailing at street level, budget and still pondering the lighting. Lighting I am leaning towards having something very subtle that changes colors as one poster mentioned earlier. We've driven around at night several times and we just aren't a crazy lit city. Want to keep it in context. Still lots of moving pieces but thrilled with all the changes and feel the design continues to improve based on Historic Preservation Board feedback. - C
 
Redfern said:
Just saw the ArchBoston plug and of course had to log on! Been busy working on brick detailing at street level, budget and still pondering the lighting. Lighting I am leaning towards having something very subtle that changes colors as one poster mentioned earlier. We've driven around at night several times and we just aren't a crazy lit city. Want to keep it in context. Still lots of moving pieces but thrilled with all the changes and feel the design continues to improve based on Historic Preservation Board feedback. - C
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I'm not sure if they run it all the time or just in the summer, but the only building I know of in town that has rotating light colors at the top is the Hilton Garden Inn at the foot of Franklin St. That seems to work well, but it's much less prominent than your crown will be!
 
Ok, am I only one who doesn’t like brick color contrast compared to other building intown? It doesn’t need to match obviously but feel like there’s better color
 
nomc said:
Just disappointing that articles like this spend so much time on the 'which is the tallest building' discussion when they could be discussing why/how urban density is a good thing.
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Yeah, I understand that the height is the easy hook for the news, but the real impact of this building is going to be adding 262 rental apartments to the heart of downtown. Living at this location you'll be within a short walk of nearly everything the city has to offer. I'm really interested to see what kind of commercial tenants will be drawn to this building. A food market is obvious, but I imagine all sorts of businesses would be tempted by the prospect of having 300+ people living upstairs.
 
Does anyone know who the architect is on the project? I think they did a great job!
Is RedFern self performing the design?
 
Redfern said:
Just saw the ArchBoston plug and of course had to log on! Been busy working on brick detailing at street level, budget and still pondering the lighting. Lighting I am leaning towards having something very subtle that changes colors as one poster mentioned earlier. We've driven around at night several times and we just aren't a crazy lit city. Want to keep it in context. Still lots of moving pieces but thrilled with all the changes and feel the design continues to improve based on Historic Preservation Board feedback. - C
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What's the timeline on this project?
This is such great news!
 
PortlandLifeGuy said:
What's the timeline on this project?
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From the MainBiz article:

"The project also requires site plan approval from the Planning Board. And Culley said Redfern still needs to obtain financing from a mix of lenders and equity investors. But if all the green lights and greenbacks come in, Landry/French would break ground in September or October, and finish construction by the end of 2023."
 
Portcity75 said:
Ok, am I only one who doesn’t like brick color contrast compared to other building intown? It doesn’t need to match obviously but feel like there’s better color
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It's terrible in that rendering! Don't know why it keeps coming out that color and fixing it has clearly dropped on my priority list. I have the samples in my office. They look like the surrounding buildings.
 
Nice. The Floors and retail spots on ground look awesome . What a difference just this one building will have on bringing energy and feet to that area. Now go down to bayside and repeat that building 4 more times!

your next big and I mean big project ...... the forest ave plaza. That is a damn goldmine spot and is huge and wasted right now. I’ll chip in 20 bucks
 
Portcity75 said:
your next big and I mean big project ...... the forest ave plaza. That is a damn goldmine spot and is huge and wasted right now. I’ll chip in 20 bucks
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😂
That site is a huge opportunity. Put me down for $20 as well
 
Max said:
Yeah, I understand that the height is the easy hook for the news, but the real impact of this building is going to be adding 262 rental apartments to the heart of downtown. Living at this location you'll be within a short walk of nearly everything the city has to offer. I'm really interested to see what kind of commercial tenants will be drawn to this building. A food market is obvious, but I imagine all sorts of businesses would be tempted by the prospect of having 300+ people living upstairs.
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The Old Port and parts of Commercial Street can compete with anything in the U.S. (I know because I've been working and living in L.A. and midtown NYC the last ten years). It's all walkable. You don't know how cool that area is until you've been away from it.
 
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