Time & Temp Building / Brown St. Parking Garage Redevelopment | Portland

Cosakita18

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Messages
1,070
Reaction score
2,098
A detailed article from the PPH about the ongoing Time & Temp building redevelopment. Sounds like they are leaning towards a mix of hotel, residential and office.


It also sounds like the building's owners want to rebuild the ailing and ugly parking garage about a block away, with residential tower on top

In addition to restoring the shopping arcade and its skylight, Rhoades and Preston said they plan to demolish the adjacent, 340-space parking garage and build a new one with roughly the same capacity, while adding a residential tower on top of it...

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the garage on the corner of Brown and Cumberland? Yes?
 
Last edited:
^ You are correct and the "word on the street" is that they are looking at 20 plus floors including the garage levels. Should be a slender, taller version of Back Bay Tower and will now give Portland three opportunities (Canal Plaza Tower) to finally exceed Franklin Towers as Maine's tallest. The third is the potential residential tower (18 floors) on Federal and Temple Street that was previously discussed in a deleted post.
 
Last edited:
Pretty sure it is and that does not include a 35 ft mechanical/ornamental cap. I always defer to Patrick when it comes to detailed Portland height limitations, but I think the 210' overlay runs the spine up to Forest Avenue.
 
Pretty sure it is and that does not include a 35 ft mechanical/ornamental cap. I always defer to Patrick when it comes to detailed Portland height limitations, but I think the 210' overlay runs the spine up to Forest Avenue.

zoned for 190-210 feet with a 40 foot architectural cap


zoning.JPG
 
Plans have been submitted to the planning board, but there are no attachments as of today.
1581449740851.png
 
Plans have been submitted to the planning board, but there are no attachments as of today.
View attachment 3357
On the application I'm seeing 181 hotel rooms and 20,000 sq. Ft of retail / commercial.

I think this application is just for 477 Congress and not the parking garage on Brown St.
 
Interesting. Am happy that effort is going to be made to clean, repair and reappoint the limestone exterior. The brickwork on the west and south walls will be treated and painted which is visually important to the overall appearance. Also glad to see that the original cornice that was removed in 1963 for the 2 floor addition is going to be replicated. The top two floors are an improvement but definitely leave no doubt that it's a modern add on. Inside alterations are impressive with retail, ballroom, meeting spaces, restaurant and multiple bars. Appears to be an outdoor rooftop bar option that will be accessed from the indoor penthouse level bar that faces Congress Street. Also, I am curious if the mechanical space and the time/temp signage will remain as is or will there be a new digital replacement? We at least now know the actual height of the building, 146' to the roofline, 159' to the top of the mechanical level and I'm guessing another 10' to the top of the signage. This is a major undertaking which also includes 481 Congress (restaurant and hotel rooms) along with multiple structures on Preble Street. Thanks for posting this Max.
 
Last edited:
Is it me or does it seem like the 1st floor needs to be jacked up another 10-15 feet? It just seems like 477 Congress has the most squat (and bland) 1st floor for a building that was built so long ago. Look above at 481 and 465 Congress - the first floors on both of those look pretty normal.
 
Last edited:
I agree Martin, though I think that the extra height and elaborate detail of the 2nd and 3rd floors makes the street level look more diminutive than it actually is.
 
I agree Martin, though I think that the extra height and elaborate detail of the 2nd and 3rd floors makes the street level look more diminutive than it actually is.

I just looked in my wallet. I have 12 Bucks. How much do you have Portlander? I think together we can bribe this developer to make the first floor look awesome! ;-)
 
If we do a side-by-side comparison of current to proposed, I'm not sure I'm sold on the changes to the two-floor addition at the top. I've never been a fan of the design of the addition, but these changes might swing a little too modern compared to the rest of the building and Fidelity Building next door. As Portlander mentioned, I do like the cornice addition. I also like what they're planning on doing with the interior of those two floors (and the rooftop deck).

477 Congress.png
 
Last edited:
Dr. StrangeHat, I think if the black horizontal bands that separate the 13th and 14th floors matched the limestone colored vertical treatment it would look much better and not as "modern". The other change I would make is to swap the 12th floor cornice with the roofline cornice. Looks off balanced and I feel the more substantial cornice should adorn the very top of the building.
 
We are on the same page! You posted your new photo just as I hit reply and it's more attractive in my opinion. Now take your idea and add the tan bands with the ornamentation to the end window bays and see if you can swap the cornices for me?
 
Thanks, wish I had your photoshop skills. Is it possible to make the lower cornice smaller to match the top one in the architect's rendering?
 
I like this a little more (doesn't align and the color is off a little, but you get the gist)

477 Congress d.png
 

Back
Top