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

Here's the full side-by-side-by-side. Subtle changes, but I think it works better. Now I just need to send it to Archetype. 😎

477 Congress Compare.png
 
I agree, that looks so much better than the current proposal. You should send these to Archetype and I will show our ideas to Chris if others on this site prefer the changes. Did you also notice that the top two floors do not appear to be as wide as the 1963 effort. I always disliked the overhang above the original 12 floors and I think the new design may correct the eyesore. Appreciate your efforts!
 
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Portlander said:
Did you also notice that the top two floors do not appear to be as wide as the 1963 effort. I always disliked the overhang above the original 12 floors and I think the new design may correct the eyesore. Appreciate your efforts!
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Agreed, though I think it's due more to the projecting cornice softening the overhang than actual inward movement of the walls. I have to imagine there are structural limits to how much they can go inward there aside from going thinner with the facade. I think we accomplish the same thing by keeping that projection with the ledge in the redesign above.
 
You may be correct, but in the actual drawings there is a "demolish existing facade" on the 13th and 14th floors which gave me hope that the overhang might be eliminated to align with the rest of the structure.
 
PWMFlyer said:
Plans have been submitted to the planning board, but there are no attachments as of today.
View attachment 3357
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With the signature "Time and Temperature" sign on top, this building could be the tallest building in Maine! As I was looking at the submitted plans from above, I used the scale from pages 11-15 to figure out the height of this building. Measuring from the roof (258'8") to the top of the sign I got between 30' and 31'. Adding that number to the roof height figure I got 288-9' 8".

Now, this is all preliminary until the final plans come out, but what does everyone think about this? Franklin Towers are at 175'. I'm a little stoked and ready to do some more research into this.
 
Portlander said:
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
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Martin, I think you are adding the 100' that is the portion of the building that is below grade which also includes the actual height above sea level on page A4.03 (rear elevation). The approximate height of the signage appears to be close to that of an actual floor which I'm guessing is 10-12 feet. So my prediction to the top of the sign would be around 168'8"-171' which is just shy of Franklin Towers. I'm also not sure if the 175' height for Franklin Towers includes the rooftop mechanical level which looks like it's around 10-12 feet, have never been able to view the actual blueprints to confirm. But roofline to roofline appears to give FT a 29' advantage over the T&TB.
 
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Portlander said:
Martin, I think you are adding the 100' that is the portion of the building that is below grade which also includes the actual height above sea level. The approximate height of the signage appears to be close to that of an actual floor which I'm guessing is 10-12 feet. So my prediction to the top of the sign would be around 168'8"-171' which is just shy of Franklin Towers. I'm also not sure if the 175' height for Franklin Towers includes the rooftop mechanical level which looks like it's around 10-12 feet, have never been able to view the actual blueprints to confirm. But roofline to roofline appears to give FT a 29' advantage over the T&TB.
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Good catch Portlander! However, check out the scale on pages 11-15 and measure above 258'8" (158'8" actual). It's close to 30+ feet for the sign and it's supporting structure. As for Franklin Towers, I'm right with you, the mechanicals need to be taken into consideration. More research is definitely needed.
 
I think the scale may be off. I've taken photos from the roof of the mechanical portion of the Time & Temperature Building while being surrounded by the three sides of the signage and they are not that tall. The vertical support struts might be 3 feet with up to another 12 feet of signage on top. I'm staying with 168-171' to the very top of the signage and 158'8" to the top of the mechanical level. Still puts the building as Portland's second tallest with Back Bay Tower and The Westin (top of the boiler shaft) as a toss up for third place. I think both of those buildings are probably in the 155-160' range and Back Bay Tower may actually be taller than the T&TB (147') at the roofline. Hopefully Portland will construct a new tower in the next few years that will exceed the height of all of them!
 
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Presidium Development has submitted a TIF request for the garage at 45 Brown St..

They are proposing demolishing the existing garage and building a 7-story apartment building on top of a 2-story garage podium

"The current zoning allows for residential housing and the current parking garage that exists will be demolished and replaced with a new 2.5 level parking structure that will be in the footprint of the existing garage, plus the current surface parking lot, that can accommodate 256 vehicles. On top of the garage, a new 7 story multifamily 278 unit apartment building will be erected"

To me, this seems like an under-build of that parcel seeing as it is zoned for 190 feet...which could be a 15+ story building...

Link to the TIF request:
 
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Another nice find Cosakita. While I agree it would be nice to have a few extra floors, it will still make an impact on the skyline and will replace a decaying garage leftover from the 50's. With it's planned ceiling heights it should still exceed the 100' mark and will be a little taller than the Allen's Storage Building next door. In addition, Presidium has the resources to complete the project and this will add some new investment in an area that could use some new life and vitality.
 
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The fact that this is being planned at all makes me excited. Hell, I wish that it was more stories too. But at this point I'll take what we can get.
 
Yeah, disappointing it's not taller, but at 7 stories on top of a 2.5 story garage and built to modern standards, you're probably looking at something like this in terms of massing if it fills the whole lot (this might be a tad taller than actual expected):

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Something tells me the residential tower will fill most of the parcel. 278 units is quite a hefty number... For a sense of comparison, than the 8 story Hiawatha in Longfellow Square is about140 units.
 
If I read the TIF right, they are going to still covert 477 into a hotel. So is the garage going to be big enough to handle the residential aspect and 477 ?
 
Interesting article in the PPH today. This must be the project Redfern was talking about the TIF the other developer is looking for. Looks like the hotel part is off the table for now. So this begs the question? Refern is asking for no TIF and the rents look more affordable for a 18 story building. 477 is asking for a TIF and the rents seem higher with only a 7 story building on top a 2.5 story garage on Cumberland ave. Am I missing something here?
 
Portlander said:
Another nice find Cosakita. While I agree it would be nice to have a few extra floors, it will still make an impact on the skyline and will replace a decaying garage leftover from the 50's. With it's planned ceiling heights it should still exceed the 100' mark and will be a little taller than the Allen's Storage Building next door. In addition, Presidium has the resources to complete the project and this will add some new investment in an area that could use some new life and vitality.
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Great thoughts Portlander and everyone else. This garage has been an eyesore for a long time. It'll be nice to see it replaced with something more attractive and with housing units above. I agree - we'll take what we can get, but it'd be nice for developers to start going to the maximum height too. There are so many empty lots in the Bayside area that need to be filled in as well (entire blocks with one building on them? What a waste). I'd really like to see Portland raise the ceiling on building heights.
 
It would be great to see that garage replaced with a mixed use structure primarily consisting of housing (though I think the garage will be missed by skateboarders!). Because the developers are seeking a tax subsidy, I hope the city does not adopt an attitude of "we'll take what we can get". If they're seeking a subsidy, Portland needs to use that as leverage to push for a better proposal. cneal has some good thoughts in his Twitter thread about what that might look like. If they're going to include a garage, I hope the city pushes for ground level retail space and fewer parking spots than planned. And yes, maxing out the height would be welcome.
 
I see in the city's weekly update that Preble Street between Congress and Cumberland is going to be closed for a few weeks for "repair work" on 477's roof. I don't know if this indicates any progress with the redevelopment of this building, but I hope it does.

Preble Street will be closed between Congress Street and Cumberland Avenue beginning March 1 through March 22 for the roof repair of the Time & Temp Building. Pedestrian access will still be permitted, and People’s United bank turnaround and drive-up area will remain accessible. The Metro bus will detour bus routes during the closure. Please seek an alternative route during this time.
 
It may be the beginning of the building's transformation seeing that the repair work is going to take three weeks. I'm guessing that if it was only a 2 or 3 day event it would fall under a "quick fix" scenario for stability or leak issues.
 
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