Eastern Waterfront [Archive]

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grittys457

06-22-2006, 07:35 PM

Crap, dammit, piss. Better extend my lease now.

From www.thebollard.com

What's up with the Westin?
Condo/hotel project delayed; developers keep mum

The $110 million Westin hotel, condo and retail complex planned for the former Jordan's Meats plant on Franklin Arterial appears to be in trouble. Work on the project was expected to begin late last winter and be completed next summer, but the developers have yet to take the first step toward actual construction ? getting a demolition permit ? and are not responding to press inquiries about the project's status.

City officials are at a loss to explain why work has not begun, though several theories are circulating through the rumor mill.

The project ? which includes 229 hotel rooms, 95 condo units, a restaurant, retail and underground parking ? is a joint effort by the Rhode Island-based Procaccianti Group, a real estate investment company with a nationwide portfolio of properties, and the Liberty Group, the South Portland-based group of companies headed by local developer Michael Liberty.

In March, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Liberty, claiming he improperly diverted millions of dollars from a Philadelphia-based investment fund for his own use and for third parties associated with his business interests. Liberty's attorney has denied the charges in the ongoing lawsuit, and the SEC suit did not allege any misconduct related to the Westin partnership.

Procaccianti spokesperson Ralph Izzi and Bob Herron, an executive with the mortgage banking firm working on the Westin project, told the Portland Press Herald in March that Liberty's legal woes will not affect the project, but observers inside and outside City Hall aren't so sure that isn't a factor.

Izzi did not respond to a request for comment. Herron referred questions to Izzi, and noted, "I don't even know some of the intimate details" about the development. A secretary at The Liberty Group said Liberty was unavailable for comment. Told this reporter was inquiring about the Westin project, she referred the question to Andrew Bedard, the Liberty Group's senior vice president for investments, asset management and new development. Bedard did not return that call seeking comment.

One city councilor privately shared a rumor that Liberty angered his Procaccianti partners by trumpeting the Westin condos' multimillion-dollar price tags, when in fact the group intended to sell the units for prices in the $500,000 range.

In a Dec. 20, 2005, article on the front page of the Press Herald's business section, staff writer Tux Turkel highlighted the possibility condos in The Residences at the Westin Portland could sell for as much as $5 million. However, Turkel noted that such a high price would result only if a buyer purchased more than one unit and combined them, particularly if the units occupied the upper floors of the nearly 100-foot-tall building. And Turkel attributed those figures to the "developers," not Liberty specifically.

Still, the councilor noted, a $500,000 price tag is within the range of upper-middle-class homebuyers, who could conceivably sell their current homes to finance a Westin condo. By contrast, multimillion-dollar condos are available to a much smaller group of super-rich individuals, and to the extent the condos are considered out of most buyers' price range, it becomes harder to market them or secure funding to build them in the first place.

City Inspections Division head Mike Nugent confirmed that no demolition or building permits had been requested for the Westin project, and said his last local contact regarding the project was with its architect, Winton Scott. Nugent said Scott was doing some redesign work "a couple months ago" on the levels of underground parking planned for the site. Scott did not return a call seeking comment.

Some city officials have also speculated that the prospect a luxury hotel could be built nearby on the site of the Portland Ocean Terminal has spooked the Westin developers. That possibility, however, remains just that, as councilors and city staff are just beginning to work on zoning changes which may or may not allow such a development on the waterfront. [See "Ex-mayor, Gov's brother, push waterfront hotel project."]

Harborview Properties, a real estate brokerage firm owned by Shipyard Brewing Company president Fred Forsley, had an exclusive arrangement to sell condos at the Westin this spring. That arrangement has since lapsed, Forsley said, as the Westin partners have decided to take that work "in house," though he added that his firm could still co-broker the sales of some units. [See "Tangled web of interests on the Eastern Waterfront."]

Forsley said he doesn't know what the status of the project is now. "I hope it happens," he said.

grittys457

06-22-2006, 07:37 PM

Other important article way too long to copy.
Go to www.thebollard.com and click on
Tangled web of interests on the eastern waterfront

Patrick

06-22-2006, 09:28 PM

Crap, dammit, piss. Better extend my lease now.

From www.thebollard.com

What's up with the Westin?
Condo/hotel project delayed; developers keep mum

This is embarassing for our city.

1. lincoln center.

2. Waterview.

3. Village at Oceangate

4. Westin.

5. Civic center expansion instead of new arena

6. i bet the ocean terminal hotel wont happen, thereby killing both itself AND westin

7. bayside office building scaled down to 8 floors

8. hey but at least we have a new 4-story box!

grittys457

06-27-2006, 12:18 AM

http://www.wcsh6.com/video/article.aspx?storyid=37535

Ocean gateway video stuff.

grittys457

07-18-2006, 11:12 AM

From www.thebollard.com

Cruisin' at the Maine State Pier
The Bollard recently had an opportunity to view plans for the Portland Ocean Terminal being developed by Ocean Properties, the New Hampshire-based hotel and resort development company eying the publicly owned terminal for a luxury hotel project. It turns out Ocean Properties' plans include an element city officials never mentioned when pressed to discuss the company's proposal: a cruise ship terminal. [See "Ex-Mayor, Gov's brother push waterfront hotel project."]

About six months ago, Ocean Properties executive Bob Baldacci (brother of Gov. John Baldacci) and former Portland City Councilor and Mayor Peter O'Donnell (now an employee of the state Department of Economic and Community Development) held private meetings with individual councilors to discuss Ocean Properties' proposal. Councilors told The Bollard a hotel, a museum and retail space were among the elements of Ocean Properties' plan, and Baldacci has said the company would preserve part of the deep-water site for marine industrial work.

Those elements are all in the plans The Bollard viewed (courtesy of a private source unaffiliated with Ocean Properties or city government), but so is a big cruise ship and passenger terminal ? a detail city officials seemingly failed to recall. The fairly detailed sketch of Ocean Properties' preliminary plans ? drawn up by TMS Architects, of Portsmouth ? shows a hotel rising about eight stories from the middle of the terminal site. Building heights are reduced as the complex extends toward the water, with structures designated for a ?market? and a museum of some sort.

Construction of the public Ocean Gateway passenger-ship terminal began last fall. The facility is expected to open in the fall of 2007.

City officials are in the process of considering zoning changes for the POT site (part of the Maine State Pier) that would allow a hotel to be built there. A draft of the new zoning would also allow ?accessory passenger support services? at the POT. This detail confused some observers at a rezoning meeting last month, who wondered why such services would be needed at the POT, given that the Ocean Gateway project will provide them.

Capt. Jeff Monroe, the city's Director of Ports and Transportation, said there's room for another ferry terminal at the POT, in addition to Ocean Gateway, both physically and in terms of the cruise ship tourism market.

Smuttynose

07-18-2006, 09:20 PM

The Westin Portland still has a website up and running, which is at least a somewhat hopeful sign.

www.livingatthewestin.com

grittys457

07-25-2006, 11:16 AM

By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright ? 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
E-mail this story to a friend

Construction of the Ocean Gateway cruise-ship terminal on Portland's eastern waterfront has unearthed the history of how the area was filled and developed as a railroad and shipping hub in the late 1840s.

Workers for Reed & Reed Inc. of Woolwich, the firm hired to build the $21 million terminal, have excavated several massive brick arches while laying drainage pipes for the extension of Commercial and Hancock streets.

City officials say the arches formed the foundation of the first terminal building in Portland for the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, which started construction in 1846 and began operating in 1853.

By that time, the line was part of the Grand Trunk Railway System. It connected Portland to Montreal over 292 miles of track and gave Canada a year-round port for grain and other products.

The city built an estimated half-acre field of brick arches on mudflats at Fore and India streets to support the railroad's first buildings and tracks. It's unclear whether the early railroad buildings had basements, but the area around the arches was eventually filled, said Jeffrey Monroe, Portland's director of ports and transportation.

Fore Street used to be the city's waterfront, before it was filled in the 1850s to create Commercial Street. Tracks eventually ran down the center of Commercial to connect the Grand Trunk line to the former Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad, later the Boston and Maine, which had a terminal at the base of State Street.

The tops of the brick arches are about 4 feet below ground, Monroe said. The arches are about 6 feet wide, about 10 feet tall and spaced about 20 feet apart. An exact count of arches and their precise measurements is unavailable.

"Unless you dig up the whole area, you're not going to be able to know exactly what's down there," Monroe said Monday.

Large chunks of the brick arches will be displayed at Ocean Gateway when it's completed in November 2007, he said.

The city and the Maine Department of Transportation started building Ocean Gateway last fall. Until recently, most of the work focused on demolition, utility installation and pier construction. Steel beams for the terminal's passenger-receiving station started going up last week, Monroe said.

Because the project includes federal transportation money, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission conducted an archaeological survey of the area in 2001. The survey found no properties that should be protected by the National Historic Preservation Act, said Earle Shettleworth Jr., the commission's director.

Fort Loyal and other early buildings were built nearby in the 1600s and 1700s, but they were long gone by the 1840s, according to the survey report.

Still, finding the brick arches provides an opportunity to understand how the city's waterfront and economy changed through the years.

The first terminal building was a modest structure that likely served as a passenger and freight depot, Monroe said. It was replaced, and likely torn down, soon after larger passenger and freight depots were built nearby, as well as an engine house and grain elevators.

A Victorian-style, pink granite passenger depot was built at India and Fore streets in 1903 and was torn down in 1966.

The Grand Trunk office building still stands at India and Commercial streets and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Reed & Reed workers also have dug up various concrete footings that were built below ground for later passenger depots, grain elevators and freight depots. They show the evolution of waterfront construction techniques, ranging from concrete fortified with large chunks of granite to modern steel rebar.

"It's been very intriguing," said Daniel Reed, a state engineer. "I already knew the history of the site, so I knew there'd be all kinds of stuff down there."

grittys457

08-05-2006, 02:14 PM

http://www.theforecaster.net/story.php?storyid=7037

Patrick

10-13-2006, 06:38 PM

Property for Westin hotel, condos back on the market
By Kate Bucklin
Developers considering their options

PORTLAND ? Developers of a proposed Westin hotel and condominium complex planned for the former Jordan?s Meats plant on India Street have put the project on hold and the property up for sale.

For now, they will turn the property into a parking lot while they reconsider the development.

Ralph Izzi, a spokesman for Rhode Island-based Procaccianti Group, said this week that the company?s mission is still to redevelop the property, which is now listed by the CB Richard Ellis real estate organization.

?If a great opportunity presents itself we certainly would entertain it,? Izzi said.

The 1.75-acre property was listed Wednesday, Oct. 4, as a redevelopment opportunity by CB Richard Ellis commercial real estate. A marketing flier for the property explains it is approved for a hotel and condominium project. But it also says the residential project does not have to be built and a new buyer could propose a different development.

The listing touts the proximity of the property to the new Ocean Gateway cruise ship terminal and to the Old Port. The asking price for the property is not listed and broker Tony McDonald of CB Richard Ellis could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

According to the city assessor?s Web site, Procaccianti paid $6 million for the property a year ago. Its assessed value is $3.1 million.

Izzi said Procaccianti would consider selling the property as it is now, but pointed out that the former hot dog factory would soon be demolished. The land will be used for parking until Procaccianti works out new plans.

He said the firm is considering adding office space to the project, which was approved last December for a hotel, condominiums, retail space and underground parking.

Last week Procaccianti received a one-year extension on the site plan approval it received from the Planning Board. Izzi said the extension will give his company time to research the market and work out the best plans for the property.

District 1 City Councilor William Gorham said Tuesday that he was not surprised the property was for sale. Gorham, a real estate broker, predicted a new developer may come in and build an office building on the site.

?The market has changed so much since they proposed (the hotel),? Gorham said. ?Plus, ever since the Maine State Pier discussion started they?ve really backed off of (the project).?

The city recently rezoned the Maine State Pier to allow nonmarine development. Although a hotel would not be allowed on the pier, a waterfront hotel could be built on land abutting the pier along Commercial Street.

The Westin project was one of three major residential and/or hotel projects slated for the eastern waterfront, all of which have fallen victim to a rapidly changing market and, perhaps, overly optimistic assessments of the market.

Closer to the water along India Street, Drew Swenson is getting ready to start construction of Riverwalk. The project includes a 700-space parking garage and a 115-unit condominium complex called the Longfellow at Oceangate. The project is likely to cost $100 million to construct. The project originally included a boutique hotel, but that feature was eliminated.

North of the former hot dog factory at 38 India St., a Boston developer is proposing to build 175 condominium units on either side of Newbury Street. The Village at Ocean Gate would replace the Village Cafe. GFI Residential had originally proposed 250 units, but scaled back because of what a project manager referred to as market limitations and financing.

Procaccianti has approval to build a 223-room hotel, 97 units of luxury condominiums, underground parking and retail space on the 1.74-acre parcel. The $110 million development would have filled almost an entire city block between Middle, India, Fore and Franklin streets.

The Procaccianti Group, working with several partners including local developer Michael Liberty, formed PME Limited Partnership and announced plans for the hotel and condos in April 2005.

Shortly after the project was approved, an invitation-only reception was held for potential condominium buyers at the University of Southern Maine. Prices for condos were said to start at $550,000 and top out at $5 million.

The firm had originally planned to demolish the hot dog factory last January and begin construction. But as winter turned to spring, the grass and weeds became overgrown and local graffiti writers marked the building. In August the company announced it would scale back the project.

According to Izzi, Procaccianti is still interested in developing the property, but first must find a plan that will fit in with the market.

?Our mission is to get the right mix,? he said.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

City prepares to solicit pier proposals
By Kate Bucklin
Committee will also discuss moratorium inspired by Hooters

PORTLAND ? The city is moving ahead with plans to redevelop the Maine State Pier and is expected tonight to finalize a Request for Proposals for the property.

The Community Development Committee will also consider proposed amendments to a city ordinance on ?formula? or chain restaurants.

The pier and surrounding property have been rezoned to allow a wider variety of uses. The pier is currently used by Portland Tugboat and the city Ports Department. Several small businesses and nonprofits also have offices on the pier.

The new zoning will allow nonmarine development. Hotels would have been allowed on the pier in early drafts of the proposal, but the City Council voted to allow that sort of development only on land next to the pier along Commercial Street.

City Councilor James Cloutier, chairman of the CDC, said he wanted the RFP to go out as soon as possible.

?I?d guess we?ll put out a public notice letting people know the RFP is going out,? he said. The proposal request will ask developers to follow the Comprehensive Plan for the pier, which prioritizes marine- related development, public access and preserving views, Cloutier said.

Developers should also expect to put several million dollars into repairs. About a third of the pilings holding up the 84-year-old structure are failing. The need for repairs, combined with the city?s failure to find a major marine tenant for the pier, led to the rezoning.

Cloutier said he is ?pretty certain? two proposals will be submitted to the city and has heard there are a couple more in the works.

The discussion on chain restaurants comes after the City Council in September established a moratorium prohibiting any restaurants with more than 30 locations nationwide to open on Congress Street or in the Old Port.

The temporary ban came shortly after a local businessman announced his plans to bring a Hooters restaurant to Congress Street.

The 10-week moratorium was approved 6-3 by the council, with Councilors Cheryl Leeman, Will Gorham and Ed Suslovic opposed.

The Community Development Committee must determine how the city should proceed with the temporary ban. The committee is supposed to submit a recommendation to the full council before Nov. 20 ? the date the ban runs out.

Michael Harris, owner of The Stadium on Congress Street, said in a letter to the city Aug. 23 that he had been in negotiations with Hooters to bring the restaurant ? known for buxom waitresses in skimpy uniforms ? to Portland. Several members of the arts community balked at the idea of having a Hooters in the Arts District and Councilor Karen Geraghty spearheaded the effort to impose a temporary ban.

The CDC meets tonight at 5 p.m. in Room 209 of City Hall.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

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grittys457

10-16-2006, 05:44 PM

The Village condos go for a final vote tonight. Somebody wrote an editorial in the paper today urging the council to vote it down. It was obviously one of the owners of the townhouses built behind it. It said that they were monolithic 6 story towers. haha. Had to add in the "we don't want to be like Boston" bit, as always.

Patrick

10-16-2006, 06:24 PM

right, cause boston is just full of six story sky scrapers!

that has to be that dude from fed street cause he always uses that line. the city wants to revitalize that area, yet shows no real enthusiasm for anything that falls in line with that plan. it is baffling.

Patrick

10-17-2006, 12:56 AM

Portland hotel project delay shouldn't last too long
E-mail this page Reader Comments (below)
Portland Press Herald Monday, October 9, 2006

Developers of a planned Westin hotel/condominium complex at the site of the former Jordan Meats plant in Portland are well within their rights to ask the city for a one-year extension of the site plan approval for the project.
City ordinances allow for an automatic year-long extension upon request, according to Lee Urban, the city's planning and development director.
However, re-use of the site -- which is bounded by Franklin, Fore, India and Middle streets -- is a key component of the city's plans for redeveloping its eastern waterfront.
The new development is expected to complement Ocean Gateway, the city's new cruise ship and ferry terminal being constructed nearby off Commercial Street. The planned new project should not stay on the back burner too long.
A spokesman for the Rhode Island company leading the development, The Procaccianti Group, said last week that the company is seeking the delay so developers can reconsider the size of the project and its tenant mix in a real estate market that's cooling. That seems sensible.
Initial plans called for a $110 million project that included a 223-room hotel with 97 luxury condominiums, 20,000 square feet of retail space and parking built underground. However, Procaccianti now may add office space as well, and also make the development smaller. The company has stopped marketing the condominiums and is refunding deposits to some would-be residents.
It obviously would not be good for a developer to build a project for which there isn't a rental market. Also, having empty buildings is not a good way to revitalize the eastern waterfront.
Procaccianti says it is not having trouble getting lenders to back the project. The company also made a clear statement to the city that it wants to move forward after this pause.
That is good news. This site can't wait too long for development.

Patrick

10-17-2006, 12:59 AM

Don`t pave way for high-rises
Tonight, the Portland City Council will vote whether to grant a "contract zone" to Boston-based development company GFI Residential for its proposed construction of monolithic condo buildings on the current Village Caf? site.
If approved, the contract zone would allow the developers to exceed publicly established height requirements by 66 percent for the project.
We should expect nothing less than a unanimous "no" vote from our councilors.
Based on extensive public planning efforts, which produced the Eastern Waterfront Master Plan, the East End is characterized by pedestrian-friendly, open-view, human-scaled architecture.
If the City Council does not protect this quality, the neighborhood will be transformed, overshadowed by monolithic towers that will rise over 70 feet.
Let's ask our city councilors to honor the public's desire to keep Portland like Portland, not like Boston.
Ian Skelly
Portland

Patrick

10-17-2006, 01:06 AM

Portland chamber thanks council for collaboration
The Portland Community Chamber wants to publicly thank members of the Portland City Council who recently voted to support rezoning of the Maine State Pier, the first of several steps to allow mixed-use development, restore the Maine State Pier as an effective economic site and effectively reduce Portland property taxes while also creating jobs.
This collaboration between the chamber and the city of Portland is another example of the City Council listening to and collaborating with the business community.
Over many years, a number of projects have materialized through this valuable relationship, including the Lincoln Square project, East End housing, support for the iconic Gulf of Maine Research Institute and the arrival of the Downeaster.
Less recently, but equally importantly, the city and the chamber worked hand in hand to bring the Scotia Prince, and later the "Cat," to keep the U.S. Postal Service's distribution center in Greater Portland, to support the Bayside Redevelopment Plan, the Ocean Gateway project, bringing the Portland Pirates to town and building the Portland Expo Center.
The chamber thanks the Portland City Council for its enthusiastic collaboration on matters of importance for residents, employees and businesses in Portland.
Chip Harris
President
Godfrey Wood
CEO
Portland Community Chamber

portlandneedsnewarena

10-17-2006, 11:19 AM

Patrick

10-17-2006, 02:40 PM

Lincoln Square refers to a different project than lincoln center. It was from the 1980s and had full final approval but the investors developing the project pulled out last minute as the market crashed. But i was a full "go" before that happened....same with franklin towers...anything of height is sponsored by the business comm. it seems. lincolnc square would have been a 275 goot modest skyscraper that would have dominated portlands skyline, from what i hear and the renderings i have seen.

Patrick

10-19-2006, 07:46 AM

When buildings change, so do cities

When the character and composition of the buildings in a neighborhood is altered, that also changes the dynamics and the culture of that community -- for good or ill.
Research shows communities are rooted in the strengths of their neighborhood connections. Most of the neighborhoods in Portland have long, proud histories of support, advocacy and commitment.
Block parties, community festivals and neighborhood forums are all part of the way that Portlanders celebrate and profile their neighborhood cultures.
Neighborhoods around the city seem blind to issues of social class and work together to solve neighborhood problems, help a neighbor shovel a walkway, check in on the elderly.
But there are many changes in the works that challenge this sense of neighborhood culture.
LANDMARKS SOLD
Like any other American city, Portland has seen a change in ownership of some of its landmark institutions. The defunct Jordan's Meats will become a parking lot while its condo conversion is put on hold.
The nearby Village Caf?, the site of many neighborhood meetings and community conversations and general meetings with friends, will also be destroyed. The plan is to make it into luxury condominiums catering to wealthy residents and visitors from away who are looking for a vacation home.
These second homes often serve dual functions for their owners. They are places of relaxation for private life, a realm of personal control. But they are also an important and sizable form of investment. These buildings are forecast to tower above the existing buildings in the community. They will stand as achievements to investment, population density and as prosperity or rebirth to the area.
But as we stand on the precipice of change in this area, it will also change the nature of the neighborhood culture by infusing a collective of residents who not only have no connection to the community, but also live in structures that are specifically designed to shelter their occupants from the neighborhoods where they are built.
Security cameras, locked doors and gated or pass-controlled parking are all standards mantras of density. It is this change that ripples through neighborhoods in two ways.
First, neighborhoods will lose their connection to residents.
With little emotional investment or connection to the neighborhood culture or history, these new residents will see no reason to participate in cultural events or neighborhood gatherings.
While they may attend as spectators, their active involvement in planning, organizing and volunteering will be limited.
Second, the economic structure of the neighborhood will be compromised.
With millions invested in changes in the property, there is little doubt that it will also change community status. In other communities where condominiums such as these have been constructed, changes to neighborhoods soon followed.
Gone were the local breakfast places were people congregated for coffee and the gossip of the community. They were replaced by small candlelit restaurants and specialty stores that cater to people with higher incomes, places where a nod or an affirming wave sufficed as community connection.
OPPORTUNITY IN DECAY
Within all of this is a dangerous dichotomy. City planners and councilors are presented with the dilemma of how to address urban decay.
Neighbors mourn the loss of businesses in their communities, and the city is presented with the problem of what to do with these buildings. Developers move in with the promise of rejuvenated tax revenues and rehabilitation.
Haphazard zoning changes are the vehicle not only for the acceleration of neighborhood decay but also the conduit for increased revenues.
Changes in zoning with the promise of newly created communities can serve as Trojan horses for city planners and the neighborhoods where these projects are located.
As Portland stands on this precipice of change and the promises of new buildings that will change the skyscape of our community, let us consider the toll on the neighborhoods where they will be located.
Let us continue not only to celebrate the diversity and rich history of our Portland neighborhoods, but also their delicate connection to what makes Portland so special -- its people.
- Special to the Press Herald

Reader comments

patrick venne of portland, me
Oct 18, 2006 3:09 PM
Jordan's meats factory does not compose a neighborhood--far from. It is located at the fringe of the downtown and old port districts (commerce areas, primarily) and it is far removed from the heart of the nearest neighborhood (munjoy hill). The facts are as follows: Jordan's has closed down and been sold to a private developer. The Village Cafe' owner put his property on the market but plans to keep the restaurant alive in whatever becomes of his now dirt parking lot and run down building. and the city of portland has followed an intense process of ensuring whatever private development comes about in their place is something that involves "public space" around each building, and something that does not cast unwanted shadows on whatever few residents inhabit the surrounding area. That doesn't seem all that bad to me given the alternative: Jordan's and the Village remaining largely non descript rundown buildings abutting a dense and rundown neighborhood full of graffitti and broken beer bottles. I think your ideas are well intentioned, but put forth in the wrong direction and applied toward the wrong cause. These projects will do nothing but improve an otherwise desolate area of the city.

Kevin of Dayton, ME
Oct 18, 2006 12:32 PM
One - The Village Cafe will be rebuilt in the building.
Two - I find your class war offensive. Just because people have the means to purchase a $500,000 condo does not mean that they do not strive for a community connection and more then a person who doesn't have the means is a drug addicted, social welfare parent. Social graces and community involvement has more to do with personal character then with bank balances.
Three - Well planned projects can bring much needed out of state resources into the ecomony. I know several retired transplants that donate many hours to civic causes. They find Portland to be a place where they can in fact connect with the community. Something that they didn't have the time or the desire to do in the working lives.

PETE of Gorham, Me
Oct 18, 2006 12:17 PM
Mr McLaughlin's commentary on the "neighborhood" around surrounding the Village Cafe area of downtown Portland is once again a nostalgic look into an area of the city that may have been the case 40 or 50 years ago but is FAR from what reality is regarding that area of the city.
FIRST, When actually taking the time to walk that section of town (Make sure to lock your car first) you see several umkempt storefronts or people milling about during a time when most would be working.
It seems to me that anyone who chooses to live in this "neighborhood" would understand that this is basicly located in DOWNTOWN PORTLAND! To read this commentary without visiting you would think that we were talking about Gray, Pownal, or some other subburban/rural area of southern Maine. When you live in the middle of the most urban aea of our state, the idea that commerce might be going on is something that should be understood and accepted. This is where buildings of modest height (6-15 stories) should be located!
Instead of providing construction jobs, permanent jobs, and an opportunity to lower the tax burdon by offering a nice place for someone to live who pays substantial property taxes but is not a heavy burdon on the city's infrastructor, these residents fight a respectable project that will help make the city a better place to live and be a part of. Far fetched ideas such as 40 story buildings with gondolas notwithstanding, Land in this area is not cheap but the continues legal fights of these types of groups make it unnapealing to those looking to make a go of it.
Time to move to Mayberry if you want obstruct progress and live where time stands still.

Pete (Former resident of Portland)

Mary of Portland, ME
Oct 18, 2006 7:42 AM
Thank you very much, wish you had been at the meetgins held about five years ago when a group of Munjoy Hill residents were opposing the monsterous housing complex built on the cities reservoir (North and Walnut). You've hit the nail on the head, question is when will the city council/planner wake up, Portland's busting at the seams, I can't breath!

Corey

10-19-2006, 08:14 AM

Well said, Patrick.

I don't think there's much to preserve in that neighborhood. Development to connect downtown with munjoy hill would be good for most everyone.

grittys457

10-19-2006, 12:37 PM

From thebollard.com

Suspicion and concern grow over State Pier development
Potential developers get until Feb. 22 to craft proposals

By Chris Busby

Portland officials hope the Maine State Pier will be the site of a world-class development project by the end of this decade, but developers of the world will have less than four months to craft proposals for such a project.

That short timeframe has raised concerns the publicly owned pier will not attract a wide range of plans from private developers, who will need to do extensive (and expensive) work to put a viable proposal together for the complex waterfront property.

It?s also raised suspicions that city officials are tailoring the proposal process to fit the needs of Ocean Properties, a national hotel and resort development and management company with personal and political ties to city and state officials.

As The Bollard reported last spring, Ocean Properties executive Bob Baldacci (brother of Gov. John Baldacci) and former Portland City Councilor and Mayor Peter O?Donnell (an employee of the state Department of Economic and Community Development) were pitching Ocean Properties? plans for the pier in private, one-on-one meetings with city councilors nearly a year ago. [See ?Ex-mayor, Gov?s brother push waterfront hotel project.?]

As late as last month, O?Donnell was bending the ear of City Council candidates, trying to gain support for the latest incarnation of Ocean Properties? plans.

Last spring, city councilors who agreed to meet with O?Donnell and Baldacci said plans called for a luxury hotel on the pier. The Bollard subsequently viewed an architectural sketch drawn up for the company that showed a seven or eight?story hotel, a cruise ship terminal, and space for retail shops and a museum on the pier.

When city councilors and planning staff drafted new zoning for the area this past summer, they initially proposed allowing a hotel to be built on the pier, a suggestion that provoked the threat of a citizen-initiated ?people?s veto.? A citizen-initiated referendum in the late ?80s banned hotel and condominium development on the water-side of Commercial Street.

Councilors subsequently amended the zoning to allow hotel and office development on land at the foot of the pier, rather than on the pier itself.

Ocean Properties? plans seem to have changed accordingly, and now call for a hotel and parking on land at the foot of the pier, said Kirk Goodhue, a real estate broker running for the City Council seat representing District 1, which includes the pier. According to Goodhue, O?Donnell told him last month that Ocean Properties has been in discussions with prominent Portland restaurateur Dana Street and owners of the Rosemont Market and Bakery to occupy retail space on the pier.

O?Donnell refuses to speak to The Bollard, and requested last spring that this publication never attempt to reach him for comment again. Neither Street nor bakery owner John Naylor returned calls seeking comment.

Bob Baldacci said Ocean Properties is still reviewing the draft RFP. ?We haven?t made a decision on our proposal, to be quite frank,? he said. ?We?re still assessing it.?

Timing is everything

Having changed the zoning at the Maine State Pier, the City Council directed its three-member Community Development Committee (CDC) to work with city staff to craft a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop the property. Last week, the CDC held a meeting to finalize the RFP and get public input on it before it's advertised.

Committee members Jim Cloutier, Nick Mavodones and Jill Duson spent a considerable amount of time discussing whether Compass Park, the public park next to the pier, should be included in the request for development plans. The committee ultimately decided to add language in the RFP suggesting the park can be developed for private use ? though developers would be encouraged to provide an equal or greater amount of public space elsewhere in the pier?s vicinity should they propose to do that.

Aside from a few other technical changes, the main issue was the length of time developers will have to submit their proposals.

Former Portland City Councilor and Mayor Anne Pringle said she kept a tally of those who spoke at the CDC meeting, and noted that of 14 speakers, eight urged the committee to allow more than three or four months for proposals, and two supported a shorter timeframe.

Those two were Ron Ward, an attorney representing Ocean Properties, and Chris O?Neil, a former state legislator working as the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce?s ?liason? to city officials on this issue. Both Ward and O?Neil work for the Portland law firm Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon; Ward is also an active member of the Portland Community Chamber.

Among those urging a more protracted process was Nicholas ?Nico? Walsh, an attorney representing The Olympia Companies, local developers of several area hotels and commercial properties ? including the Hilton Garden Inn, located diagonally across the street from the pier. Olympia President and CEO Kevin Mahaney also spoke in favor of a longer bid window, as did former Portland Planning Board member John Anton, who initially led calls for the ?people?s veto,? but is now, like Olympia, considering crafting a proposal to develop the pier.

Walsh gave the committee a timeline that suggested developers be given at least nine months to put a proposal together. He said the complexity of the site and the multitude of regulatory hurdles a developer would have to negotiate to build on the waterfront necessitate the longer timeframe.

?It can take 30 days for developers to even know about [the RFP],? Walsh told the committee.

Duson was inclined to support a six-month bid process. Mavodones said he supported giving developers no more than four months, and ?could live with 90 days.? Cloutier noted that some councilors expected a 30-day process, and personally advocated for 90 days.

Cloutier said it could take a full year after bids are in before construction begins, and cited the possibility an economic recession could hit the nation in 2008, negatively impacting a project in the planning or construction phase. Echoing comments made by Ward and O?Neil, Cloutier said in a subsequent interview that longer timeframes increase the risk a project will fall apart due to changing financial conditions.

A ?wired deal??

Several people at the CDC?s Oct. 11 meeting mentioned the fact Ocean Properties has already been working on plans for the site, and suggested the shorter bid process gives them an advantage over competing developers.

?They?ve already got a leg up,? Pringle said that evening. There will be ?a fairness issue,? she added, if the bid process is not longer than three or four months.

In a subsequent interview, Pringle said she was ?very surprised? the CDC set the Feb. 22 deadline after hearing a majority of those present at the meeting advocate for more time. ?If, in the end, Ocean Properties is selected because they are better prepared to respond to a short RFP, it raises issues,? Pringle said. ?Is it really a level playing field for other developers who may have an interest? The city needs to be sensitive to that.?

Anton was more blunt. ?I went into [the Oct. 11 CDC meeting] a lot less suspicious this is a wired deal for Ocean Properties than when I left,? he said. ?The whole thing smells.?

City officials are hoping lease revenue will help pay for repairs to the pier, which could cost upwards of $15 million or more. Anton said a longer bid process would generate more proposals, and thereby put the city in a better position to get a good financial deal.

City Councilor Cheryl Leeman agreed, saying a longer process is necessary to attract more bids and ultimately get a deal ?in the best interest [of]? the taxpayers in Portland.?

Councilor Will Gorham, a real estate broker whose council district includes the pier, said he feels the bid process should be four-to-six months long. The two candidates challenging him for his council seat this fall agree that a three-and-a-half-month process is not long enough.

Challenger Kevin Donoghue, a close observer of city planning matters, supports a nine-month bidding window, given that Ocean Properties ?has already been working on it for a year.?

?Three or four months is way too short for anybody to realistically come up with a plan ? unless, of course, somebody already had nine months to work on it,? said Goodhue, Gorham?s other challenger.

Former Planning Board member Cyrus Hagge, a building contractor running for the District 2 Council seat this fall, also said the bidding process should be longer. ?It?s a very complicated project [the city is] proposing, and in order to have a good, national competition, you need to have more time,? Hagge said. With a Feb. 22 deadline, ?your proposals are going to be very sketchy,? he added.

Developer Drew Swenson, part of the team selected through an RFP process to develop land near the pier, agreed, saying more time would be necessary to put together a ?quality? proposal that meets the city?s expectations for the pier, which he called ?the linchpin? of development on the eastern waterfront.

Swenson?s development team is busy preparing to build a parking garage, office tower, condominiums and townhouses in the area, but has considered submitting a proposal for the pier, he said.

In an interview after the meeting, Cloutier defended the CDC?s Feb. 22 deadline. He said he got a call after the meeting from ?one of the biggest developers in the United States,? whom he declined to name, and said that developer was satisfied the Feb. 22 deadline provides a ?reasonable? amount of time to submit a proposal.

Of the differing views expressed at the CDC?s Oct. 11 meeting, Cloutier said, ?What we witnessed was some pushing and shoving between Olympia, which wanted to put Ocean Properties at a distinct disadvantage, and Ocean Properties, which wanted to put Olympia at a distinct disadvantage.?

Cloutier?s committee left open the possibility the deadline could be extended if developers call the city and request more time. He also said the committee expects developers to submit ?concept? plans, rather than highly detailed proposals.

City Finance Department staffer Ellen Sanborn said small ads announcing the RFP will run in a few newspapers beginning late this month and in early November. Those publications will likely include the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. An ad may also be placed in The Journal of Commerce, a marine trade publication that covers the shipping industry. Sanborn said she hopes ?word of mouth? among developers will also help spread news of this development opportunity.

Patrick

10-19-2006, 02:53 PM

1. successful developments are ALWAYS, private public partnerships....as in one-on-one private meeting staking place between city officials and developers etc....nothing gets done through a totally democratic process....not even government.

2. the Bollard has got to be kiding if they mean to imply that the city of portland would not choose a better proposal than ocean properties ltd (should one come in) just because these "private meetings: have been taking place.

3. a seven story hotel is not "world-class" by any definition.....well, at least not in my mind. Maybe something 10 stories at the very least would be considered world class if done right.

4. has anyone seen, on the opposite side of town, walker terrace lately? man those side accent lights they installed look great!

Patrick

10-19-2006, 03:07 PM

Patrick

10-19-2006, 03:08 PM

Village Cafe condos hits wall in council
By Kate Bucklin
PORTLAND ? Redevelopment of the Village Cafe property is in limbo while city councilors consider the size and scope of the proposed $45 million condominium project.

The council was scheduled to vote on conditional zoning Monday night that would allow GFI Residential of Boston to go beyond the allowed height and density for the Eastern Waterfront property. The project includes four buildings, 176 condominium units, 190 indoor parking spots and about 7,000 square feet of retail space.

GFI has been working for a year on the Village at Ocean Gate proposal. The developer first proposed 250 units, 330 parking spots and one building as high as 11 stories.

The current proposal would be built in two phases and buildings would be five to six stories. The Newbury Street location, however, is zoned to allow maximum heights of 35 feet. GFI wants to have the site rezoned from B-2b to B-5b, which allows a maximum height of 65 feet. They are also asking for an additional height relaxation, so they could build to 74 feet.

Councilors debated the rezoning until after midnight Tuesday morning before finally deciding to table the issue until they can meet with GFI in a workshop.

?It was clear there were not the votes for it last night,? Mayor Jim Cohen said Tuesday. ?There was interest on the part of some councilors to explore other configurations.?

After some debate over whether the proposal should be sent to the Planning Board or to a City Council workshop, the council narrowly voted to send it to workshop. Councilors Donna Carr, Cheryl Leeman, Karen Geraghty and Jill Duson were opposed.

The Planning Board spent several months working with GFI on the Village proposal and saw it go through several changes before arriving at the current plan. In September, the board split 3-3 on a recommendation to the council.

Planning Board Chairman Kevin Beal said Monday that members of the board supported the project because of its aggressive density and good materials, but others opposed it because of the second phase.

That phase includes two buildings on a parcel on Newbury Street across from the current Village Cafe.

Several people spoke for and against the project. Village Cafe owner John Reali, accompanied by his father, Amedeo, told the council that the days of 500-seat restaurants are over and the Village needs to downsize.

?It is clear to both of us that Newbury Street is in need of a change,? he said. The Village Cafe has been on Newbury Street for 75 years.

Developers of seven luxury townhouses on Federal Street, behind the proposed Village at Ocean Gate, told councilors that GFI should have to follow the Eastern Waterfront Master Plan, which calls for smaller buildings and view preservation.

?It says to avoid ?monolithic massing along street fronts,?? Steven Boulet said.

Ron Gan, Boulet?s partner in 44 Federal St., told councilors he does not oppose conditional rezoning for the Newbury Street project, but does not support the current proposal. He questioned why the project could not be further downsized.

?I can?t believe there?s not a middle-of-the-road plan,? he said.

A workshop date was not scheduled as of Tuesday.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

Pier proposal timeline questioned
By Kate Bucklin
PORTLAND ? The city?s Feb. 22, 2007, deadline for proposals to develop the Maine State Pier drew criticism last week for being too short, including concern from one potential developer of the property.

But a competing, New Hampshire-based development company said the timeline is too long.

The 120-day request for proposals was decided upon Oct. 11 at a Community Development Committee meeting. Several members of the public, including The Olympia Cos. boss Kevin Mahaney, warned the committee that four months is not long enough for potential developers to create a proposal for the city-owned property.

Mahaney?s attorney, Nicholas Walsh, handed a timeline to the committee that laid out the different steps he said a developer would need to go through in order to submit a proposal for the pier. The list included hiring an architect and structural engineer, consulting local and federal regulatory boards and running proposals past the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Homeland Security.

?If you don?t have time for all that you can?t participate,? Mahaney said. He suggested the committee set a six-month RFP period.

Critics of the city?s decision to rezone the pier in the first place echoed Mahaney?s concerns. Steve DiMillo of DiMillo?s Restaurant, who previously criticized the plan as unfair to other waterfront property owners because it would have allowed nonmarine uses, said the revised plan is more suitable. But he said he, too, is concerned about the time allowed for collecting proposals.

?Time is needed,? he said. ?This is a very important project for our neighborhood.?

The City Council voted in September to rezone the 84-year-old pier. The city-owned property was losing money because of the city?s inability to attract industrial marine projects to the pier. In his budget proposal last spring, City Manager Joseph Gray advised the council to rezone the pier to allow for nonmarine uses. In addition to being under-used, about a third of the pilings holding up the pier are failing and could cost several million dollars to repair.

The city confirmed in May that it had been contacted by developer Ocean Properties LLC concerning a proposal to redevelop the pier, including building a hotel.

Attorney Ron Ward, representing Ocean Properties, told the committee last week that the proposal period should be only 60 days.

?Let?s do this as efficiently as we can,? he said, adding that Ocean Properties was ready to meet the timeline. Ocean Properties is based in New Hampshire and run by developer Tom Walsh. Robert Baldacci, Gov. John Baldacci?s brother, is vice president of development for the company.

Walsh said that there is ?turmoil in the market,? and a quick process would be best for redeveloping the pier. He suggested that even with a 60-day RFP period, the project would not get final approvals for construction until 2008.

John Anton, a former member of the city Planning Board, said a longer proposal period would create an opportunity for several competing proposals.

?It does not surprise me that Ocean Properties wants a shorter term,? Anton said. ?They?ve been working on this for a year.?

Councilor James Cloutier said the decision by the CDC to make the process 120 days was based on experience. He said many of the steps outlined by Olympia were not necessary for a concept plan.

?Mahaney knows the time frame works,? he said. Cloutier also pointed out that the city has in the past been willing to give developers more time if needed.

Walsh said Monday that Olympia is working on a proposal for the pier, and said a meeting that morning had produced several good ideas for the property. Olympia has developed several buildings in downtown Portland, including the Hilton Garden Inn on Commercial Street and Custom House Square, which is currently under construction.

The city plans to advertise the pier opportunity nationally in trade publications, The Wall Street Journal and possibly The New York Times. Interested parties should contact the city Purchasing Department for more information.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

grittys457

10-19-2006, 07:47 PM

Yeah, Walker Terrace looks great. It's hard to get a great look at it driving by without killing someone in the road. What a shitty area to live in though. You gotta walk through some nonsense to get intown.

Company C looks ready to open. That's the place going in where Angie's was. Very nice lighting. Also The Black Dog is opening soon next to Mim's on Commercial st. I saw all the tshirts and stuff inside. Doesn't look like it will have food like the original Black Dog on Cape Cod.

Patrick

10-23-2006, 10:44 AM

Council delays vote on East End condos
E-mail this page Reader Comments (below)
By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald Tuesday, October 17, 2006

The Portland City Council postponed action early today on a 176-unit condominium complex proposed for the site of the Village Cafe because of concerns about the project's size and height.
The council decided unanimously to hold a workshop on the East End project, which has been scaled back twice since it first was proposed in May 2005. No date for the workshop was set.
The council postponed voting on the proposal after the developer expressed willingness to scale back the $45 million project yet again.
"I would love to see a project here. I have concerns with the height. It's too big. It's too massed," said Councilor Jill Duson.
The proposal by GFI Residential of Boston calls for 176 one- and two-bedroom condominiums in four buildings on two acres at Newbury, Hancock and Middle streets.
Building heights would range from five to seven stories, and 190 parking spaces would be on the first and second floors.
GFI is seeking conditional rezoning from the council because the project would exceed the maximum front-yard setback of 10 feet, the maximum density of 60 units per acre and the maximum building height of 65 feet.
People who spoke during a public hearing on the project said it's either too large or too tall.
"A project of this magnitude is uncalled for," said David Filipos of Federal Street, one of about 10 people who spoke against the project.
A dozen other speakers praised the project, including several members of the Reali family, which owns the Village Cafe property.
"I can't think of a better spot in Portland for this project to go," said Ali Malone of India Street.
The project would be built in two phases and include street-level commercial space for the restaurant and other enterprises, according to the developer. Condo prices would range from $200,000 to $400,000.
In September, the Planning Board split 3-3 on its recommendation to the council. On Monday night, the council initially considered sending the project back to the Planning Board for further review.
Councilor Edward Suslovic said that the Planning Board had done its work and that the responsibility of working out kinks in the GFI project rests with the council.
"Ultimately, the buck stops with us," Suslovic said.
GFI originally proposed five buildings, ranging from six to 11 stories with 250 condominiums and 330 parking spaces.
In scaling back the project, GFI decided to use wood-frame construction instead of more expensive concrete and steel. GFI also dropped its original architect, Winton Scott Architects of Portland, and hired David M. White Architects of Goffstown, N.H., said Robert LaRochelle, spokesman for the developer.
With the changes, GFI still planned to pay $6 million for the restaurant property, LaRochelle said.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be reached at 791-6328 or
kbouchard@pressherald.com

Reader comments
1-5 of 5 comments:

Carl B. of Portland, ME
Oct 17, 2006 10:31 PM
By the way, if you have not noticed, we have plenty of houses on the market for the same price as the units offered in this proposed project. How about spending time and energy on recruiting real, long term employers into our area instead of seeking revenues from real estate taxes. Our bright young adults are leaving the state to work the industries of tomorrow because those jobs are scarse here in Maine. Establish the employment base and housing demands will follow.

e. wenstrom of portland, me
Oct 17, 2006 3:49 PM
Jay, As a long term portland resident I often wonder why everyone is dead set on ruining it by making it a "real city". It's a nice small city and I don't understand the need to convert it into another Lowell or Hartford. I applaud the city council for considering the ramifications of this project.

Jay of Auburn, ME
Oct 17, 2006 11:25 AM
What Portland needs is MORE density, not less. Portland can either become a real city, or a musuem for the NIMBY's on Munjoy Hill and the City Council.

By continually shrinking the project, demand for housing moves out into sprawlville. If the project gets too small, costs for the endless amount of structured parking the City requires results in a dead project. Do we want to see 176 McMansions over 350 acres in Buxton, causing no end to traffic and school problems? People say they want transit and more downtown businesses, but these things can NEVER happen without more people, and therefore, more housing. I agree with Sally G. that this creates more opportunity, not less.

I say build it taller - 20 stories! Then maybe Portland will have more than a Tinkertoy skyline.

Sally G of Portland, ME
Oct 17, 2006 10:11 AM
Kit, the answer is 'no'; this development does not continue to push Maine people of lower income out of their state. Developments such as this one increase the supply of housing on the penisula, thereby opening up housing opportunities for households of all income levels. This development will also generate substantial tax revenues from parcels that currently contribute very little to the city's general fund, thereby incrementally reducing the tax burden for all property owners (rich and poor)and providing more funds for public services that we can all enjoy. Any other questions? S.G.

kit of tampa, fl
Oct 17, 2006 9:23 AM
Be carefull Portland or you will end up just like Florida with ugly oversided condos on every inch of the city..Who has the money to buy these places and does this continue to push Maine people of lower income out of their state? Portland is a charming old city.Try to keep the integrity of your city in tact...Once it is gone there is no getting it back..Kit

Patrick

10-30-2006, 09:37 PM

Conditional Rezoning Narrative
The Village at Ocean Gate
112 Newbury Street, Portland
Revised August 29,2006

Background
Proiect Site History
The Village at Ocean Gate, LLC is proposing a mixed use development on the site of the
Village Cafi restaurant and associated parking lots - two hundred feet northeast from India
Street. The India Street Neighborhood has a rich history, being attributed to the location of
some of the earliest settlements in Portland. The neighborhood, like other parts of Portland,
had been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times due to early Indian conflicts and catastrophic
fires. The India Street Neighborhood has also been home to a variety of people. A large
African-American community settled here in the early nineteenth century which gave rise to
the Abyssinian Church on Newbury Street. Records indicate that these same
African-Americans were active as stevedores on Portland's busy waterfront. In subsequent
years into the early 20"century, the neighborhood was home to many Italian-Americans and
later became known as Portland's "Little Italy".
Throughout its history, the India Street Neighborhood accommodated a variety of high density
nousing, some of significant architectural merit, churches, smoke stack industry and, at the
end of India, the Grand Trunk Railway. For decades, the India Street Neighborhood was
characterized by homes and families tightly clustered with churches, as well as commercial
and industrial uses. In spite of the recent gains in businesses along India Street, today it seems
that paved parking lots outnumber homes. The closely woven residential fabric of the
19"'century neighborhood has heen transformed. In 1936, the Village Cafk was constructed at
Newbury and Hancock Streets, and this distinguished Portland restaurant has maintained a
loyal following, with incremental growth of the cafe and its associated parking over the past
70 years.
The Village at Ocean Gate is primarily about homes and a plan to replace the expansive paved
lots with below grade parking garages, restoring high residential density to the site, while
relegating the automobile to the underground. The proposal will provide a welcomed influx of
vitality that is reminiscent of the revitalization that has repeatedly occurred in the
neighborhood since the devastating fire of 1866.
Proiect Description
The development site comprises 1.8 1 acres fronting on Middle, Newbury and Hancock
Streets. The project site straddles Newbury Street and is less than 200 feet from India Streeta
mixed-use commercial spine for the neighborhood. The development program consists
primarily of residential condominiums with the space for a 150-200 seat restaurant for the
possible relocation of the Village Caf6, and space for sidewalk level commercial use along
Middle Street.
Parking required by the residences will be provided on site with below grade parking
structures. A two-level garage is planned for under the buildings proposed between Newbury
and Middle Streets (Phase I) and a single level garage under the development planned for the
opposite side of Newbury Street (Phase 11). The three levels of below-grade parking provide
190 spaces, supporting approximately 176 units of residential condominiums and associated
commercial uses. The roofs of the garage areas are proposed as landscaped terraces which
provide private garden space for the occupants at the center of each of the two development
blocks. The buildings have been designed with materials and detailing to be compatible with
the structures of the Eastern Waterfront and the Old Port and, at the same time, to reflect
today's use of contemporary materials.
Requested Amendments
The development site is located in the B2b Zone, where residential uses are required to meet
the dimensional standards for the abutting or nearest residential zone (which for this project
site appears to be the R-6 Zone). While the proposed development is primarily residential, it
also includes the space for non-residential components at the sidewalk level and is really
intended to create a dense, mixed-use urban fabric. Immediately adjacent to the project site is
a zoning district which is designed to accommodate denser, urban mixed-use development -
the B-5 and B-5b Urban Commercial Mixed Use Zone. The purpose of that zoning district is
described in Section 14-230, as follows:
The purpose of the B-5 and B-5b zones is to provide zones in areas of the
peninsula near the central business district where a mixture of uses, including
marine, industrial, commercial, and residential, is encouraged. The B-5 and
B-5b zones are characterized by larger underdeveloped [ots with great potential
for denser, clustered, urban mixed use development and more eflcient reuse of
existing land and buildings. (Portland's Zoning Ordinance, Sec. 14-230)
With this in mind, we are requesting that the requirements of the B-5b Urban Commercial
Mixed Use Zone be applied to both the residential and commercial components of the
proposed development, rather than attempting to apply the R-6 dimensional requirements to
the residential components. With the requirements for the B-5b zone applied through
conditional zoning, the project's development plan would require just three additional changes:
1. Residential Density: 176 Residential units
2. Maximum Building Height: 74 feet (Phase I) and 67 feet Phase 11)
3. Maximum front yard setback: Modified to accommodate entrances to parking
structures
Basis for the Conditional Rezoning
The City of Portland Zoning Ordinance permits conditional rezoning of development sites
where, for reasons such as the unusual nature or unique location of the development, the City
Council finds it necessary or appropriate to impose, by agreement with the property owner or
applicant, certain conditions or restrictions to ensure that the rezoning is in compliance with
the Comprehensive Plan.
The following identjfies the unique fearures of the development site, the project's compliance
with the general goals of the Comprehensive Plan, and the individual zoning amendments'
compliance with specific guidelines adopted by the Comprehensive Plan.
Context of the Neighborhood
The neighborhood surrounding the project site consists of mixed uses and is inherently a
transitional area between the residential core of the East End on Munjoy Hill and the most
northeasterly side of the downtown district. The neighborhood is bounded by India Street to
the west, Federal Street to the north, Mountfort Street to the east, and Fore Street to the south.
The character of the immediate and abutting area around the project site consists mostly of
older brick buildings that are set within an expanse of paved parking lots. They vary in use
with predominantly business and some residential uses on the second stories fronting along
india Sueet. A number of the existing structures abutting the project site are in fair to poor
condition.
Uses are predominately commercial and industrial with a limited number of residences, with
the greatest number forming a small enclave on the block bounded by Newbury, Hancock,
Federal and Mountfort Streets.
The neighborhood lies within the B-2b Community Business Zone. While residential uses are
permitted, the regulations applicable to residential uses are borrowed from the nearest
residential zone, which in this case happens to be R-6. But to apply the R-6 zoning
requirements in this location would ignore the existing and historical character of the site
The neighborhood is urban and compact in character and resembles the downtown more than
the East End which predominantly lies within the R-6 Zone. The area directly opposite the
project site, across Middle Street, is zoned B-5b Urban Commercial Mixed Use Zone. Less
than 200 feet away, the area across from India Street is zoned B-3 Downtown Business Zone.
In addition, the Federal Street Town Homes being built along Federal Street abutting the
project site is zoned R-7 Compact Urban Residential Overlay Zone. The project site is a
confluence of mixed uses and different zoning and, as such, is a unique condition.
How is the development site unique?
In general, proposed development that spans a city street typically will require special
anention. The project site is further complicated by the close proximity of rhree distinct land
use zones. In addition, the area has been considered and referenced in previous srudies that
have been incorporated in the Comprehensive Plan (East Bayside-India Street Plan. Downtown
Vision, and the Eastern Waterfront Redevelopment) making it a candidate to receive an
individual inquiry.
... through direct partnership ivith abutting landonvwrs, the City will work to
realize the vision of the Master Plan. The Committee recognizes the advantages
of the priinte sector to bring resources and vision to the redevelopment effort.
Where mutually advantageous relationships can be forged, the City should
engage with private property owners to si?nuitaneously provide public amenities,
private development, and tax revenue to the City of Porrland (Portland's
Comprehensive Plan, Volume 2; Page 22)
The following are other unique site and location considerations:
Phvsical nature of the develo~ments ite
The project site is bisected by a public road, Newbury Street, making it prudent that
future plans are considered comprehensively. The development site encompasses 213 of
one block (Newbury, Hancock, Middle, India Streets), continues frontage on rhree public
streets with two intersections and 114 of another block (Newbury, Hancock, Federal, and
India Streets) that includes frontage on a public intersection. This development will
have, though positive, a large change on a relatively small neighborhood, warranting the
special consideration of conditional zoning.
The existing topography of the project site consists of a grade change of more than
25 feet.
Mixed-use nature of the immediate area
The neighborhood surrounding the development site, by its proximity and existing uses,
transitions between the R-6 Zone and the residential core of the East End, and the B-3
Zone and the most northeastern edge of the downtown.
There exist many abutting development changes, Westin Hotel, River Walk and Ocean
Gate, which are significant in-scale improvements that will have an overall impact on the
surrounding neighborhood. Such development is indicative of a neighborhood in
transformation. The Village at Ocean Gate presents an opportunity to complement and
realize the fullest potential of the other changes already approved in this area.
A small enclave of residences exists among a great deal of businesses in this mixed use
neighborhood. By bringing new residents into the area, this development will have a
positive impact on the overall vitality of the neighborhood and support the existing
residential component.
How the Villaee at Ocean Gate will benefit the neighborhood and the City of Portland
how it meets the City's expectations identified in the Comprehensive Plan
Housing
The Village at Ocean Gate is first and foremost a housing development, with a limited
commercial component included. It is clear from the goals and policies identified in the City's
comprehensive plan that new housing is of a paramount importance in sustaining Portland as a
healthy urban center and realizing the economic and quality-of-life benefits it brings to the
City.
More specifically, the proposed 176 housing units will be in a part of the City where the
population has been in decline. The East End lost ten percent of its residents between the
years 1990 and 2000. The proposed housing takes advantage of existing public infrastructure
and amenities, a specific City policy objective and anti-sprawl measure, and the project sire
lies within a targeted neighborhood identified for such redevelopment:
-4-
Goal: Preserve and enhance the qualiry and vitaliry of neighborhoods within
and adjacent to the Downtown (Portland's Comprehensive Plan, Volume 1;
Page 47
Downtown Vision: Neighborhood Policies ... Initiate long-term development
programs for the Bayside, Gorham 's Corner and India Street perimeler areas
with an objective of eslablishing and re-establishing residential components with
a mix of income levels and types of housing within a context of mixed
commercial and residential uses. (Portland's Comprehensive Plan, Volume 1;
Page 47)
An influx of homes of this scale will increase property values in the neighborhood and achieve
a much needed critical mass of dwellings which would shore up the small enclave of
residences that exist today in th~sm ixed-use community. In addition, the future residents of
the Village at Ocean Gate will play an important role in supporting the proposed large-scale
commercial/retail ventures that are planned only a two to five minute walk away.
While the Village at Ocean Gate proposal will include possible commercial uses, the proposal
is primarily about homes.. It is the addition of new residences and families that will offer the
existing residents the best solution for a healthier neighborhood.
Comprehensive Plan Policies for Housing
The City's population has remained constant, but the percentage in comparison to Cumberland
County's population has declined over the years. Portland is seeking to increase its residential
population to 252 of Cumberland County's total population. The City requires significant
new housing development to meet this goal. The plan identifies a number of housing
initiatives including:
Encourage and Support Private Market Rate Development: In addition to the
need for affordable housing, there is also a critical need for market rate housing
that serves middle and higher income households. Eliminating barriers to
housing development and supporting market rare projects through the approval
process will assisi in expanding the market rate housing stock (Portland's
Comprehensive Plan, Volume 2; Page 4)
The proposed project meets this objective and a wide range of additional housing goals:
More housing is needed, but vacant land is scarce. The project places 176 residential
units in service on an infill development site at a location where existing infrastructure is
available and mixed use development is encouraged.
The proposed development will support and sustain commercial and waterfront
developments without occupying significant land space. The project will help sustain the
Eastern Waterfront and Portland as a healthy urban center in which to live and work.
The project provides a variety of new housing designed and created to support the City's
socially and economically diverse population.
The project aides the stabilization of residential neighborhoods from excessive
encroachment of inappropriately scaled and obtrusive commercial uses.
The Comprehensive Plan identifies the need to support projects that maintain and
upgrade housing in neighborhoods within and adjacent to Downtown. The India Street
area is identified as a perimeter growth area where residential and commercial
development is encouraged.
The Village at Ocean Gate offers housing within walking distance of existing services which
maintains the livability of the City and establishes and re-establishes historic residential
components in the neighborhood. In addition, it provides a net gain of housing units and
consists of an attractive and innovative building design that respects its surroundings with a
fa~adeth at compliments the local waterfront architecture. All of these aspects are sought by
Portland's Comprehensive Plan.
Capita! Improvement and Econonzic Well Being
The project's mixed-use design is intended to achieve a number of the stated economic goals
and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan. The project's ability to achieve the City's
economic goals is dependent on a successful development model that includes taller buildings
than is allowed by current zoning.
The project will provide economic growth and development adjacent to the downtown
area. The project site is identified as an important economic as well as physical
transition from downtown to the Waterfront and the East End.
The project provides a significant amount of new households providing a reducrion of tax
burden on existing residential property owners.
The project offers a population density that will aid in sustaining the already plamed area
developments that are tied to the City's tourism and hospitality industry.
Resource Protection
The proposed project maximizes the development potential of the sire while protecting a wide
range of resources.
The infilllre-development of the project site will have no adverse affect on the State's
water resources. No wetlands or other natural resources are adversely affected. In fact,
such development is an anti-sprawl measure that considerably reduces the impact on the
natural resources in the more suburban areas of the City by providing housing in the
urban center.
It is anticipated that the projec~'p~ro posed streetscape will incorporate the City's design
guidelines for street planrings that are important to the City's urban development.
How the Buildinp and Site Design Complies with Comprehensive Plan
The Eastern Waterfront Master Plan offers the most recent guide adopted by the
Comprehensive Plan that is applicable to this part of the City. The criteria included in the
Design Guidelines for Portland's Eastern Waterfront target the integration of the waterfront,
commercial businesses, and the Munjoy Hill!East End neighborhdods through the appropriate
design of streets, buildings, open space, parking and the water's edge.
In this section the Design Guidelines supports three goals: ( I ) connect the Eastern
Waterfront Redevelopment Area with the city fabric of Portland, (2) provide
appropriately scaled streets for the expected vehicle and pedestrian traflc, and
(3) encourage pedestrian-oriented, mired-use development in the Eastern Waterfront.
In this section, the Design Guidelines support three goals: (1) connect the Eastern
Waterfront Redevelopment Area with the city fabric of Portland, (2) provide
appropriately scaled streets for the expected vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and
(5) encourage pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development in the Eastern Waterfront.
The Proposed Development offers the catalyst-residents and visitors-to the
surrounding streets, a traditional, walkable, small-block network of streets to perform
as outlined in the Guidelines. The Project will also improve and enhance the
pedestrian experience along Middle, Hancock and Newbury Streets through the
perpetuation of brick sidewalks, appropriate lighting, trees, and other street amenities,
as well as energizing activities such as a possible cafe!restaurant and other proposed
commercial and active uses along Middle Street.
View corridors are also an important aspect in the guidelines referring to Street design.
The 2004 Height Study identified Hancock Street as an important View Corridor.
Since the Shipyard Brewery Building is largely set back from the Hancock Street
right-of-way line, Building 1 and Building 3 are pulled right up to the right-of-way line
so as to clearly define the view corridor and to allow the residences facing Hancock
Street to have clear views down Hancock toward the waterfront.
"Purpose: Design guidelines for buildings in the Eastern Waterfront Redevelopntent
Area encourage architecrure that enhances the development of a mixed-use and mal-ine
intermodal transportation center, and is compatible with the surrounding
neighborltoods. New construction should respect the historic character of Portland's
waterfront, while representing the best elemertts of contemporary design. "
"New buildings should be designed in response to their context and should be
compatible with surrounding neighborltoods. Broadly stated, compatibiliry
refers to the recognition of existing developme~tt patterns and characteristics,
and a responsiveness in new building design that respects these established
palterns. The placement, height, massing, proportion, articulation, and
materials of new structures should encourage a vision that supports rhe idea that
the Eastern Waterfront develop into an extension of the surrounding areas,
while establishing its own identity as a new urban neighborhood."
The existing residential neighborhood .surrounding the project site can be
perceived as somewhat disconnected as a result of the interspersed surface
parking and large scale commercial and industrial uses. With some of these
gaps filled, however, the existing residential scale can be restored along
Newbury Street from Hampshire to Mountfort Streets and along Middle Street
from Hampshire to Hancock Streets, re-establishing important east-west urban
connectivity along Newbury and Middle Streets.
The Proposed Development establishes a street wall scale of 5-6 stories along
Newbury and Middle Streets which is compatible to the existing residential
scale along, not only these two streets, but the Eastern Waterfront District in
general. The height of the proposed buildings is consistent with the Eastern
Waterfront Height Study. Furthermore, the quality of materials and intricate
articulation of the buildings is a direct complement to the texture and materials
of the 19Ih and early 20" century structures of the Portland's waterfront,
cementing a sense of integration between old and new.
2. Buildin: Composition
"7he combination of design elements will determine the character of new
buildings and neighborhoods. While specific solutions for any given setting
cannot be anticipated in a single set of guidelines, the follo\ving building
characteristics can be used to guide visual compatibility of new development. "
a. Placement
"In general, buildings should be placed at the sidewalk with their
primary entrances oriented to tlze street. "
All street wall buildings will be built to the right-of-way line, except for
the Middle Street section of Building 2 and the parking structure
adjacent to it. In this instance, the buildin: line starts at the westerly
comer of the right-of-way and slants inward parallel to the residential
building face. The proposed restaurant is located along this line and, by
increasing the sidewalk in this area; it provides potential outdoor seating
for dining in the summer.
"Building heights should be compatible with surrounding development
and neighborhoods. The attached Building Height Key Map proi~ides a
general direction for building heights in the Eastern Waterfront district.
These guidelines recommend that any future rezoning process for the
Eastern Waterfront should be preceded by a building height analysis
comparable to tlze Downtou~n Height Study for the B-3 Zone. "
The 2004 Height Study contained in the Comprehensive Plan
recommends a maximum height of six stories, or 66 feet for the site.
Each structure is five stories in height above structured parking. The
Phase I buildings (1 and 2) measure approximately 73 feet in height
which is due largely to the change in grade of the site of 15 feet from
Middle Street to Newbury Street. The Phase I1 buildings (3 and 4)
measure approximately 66 feet in height.
It is interesting to note also that, in the 1989 Height Study commissioned
by the City of Portland, the site of the proposed development was zoned
for 65 feet. (See Page 17)
c. Massing
" B e massing of new developmenr should be compatible wirh the exisring
developmenr found in rhe surrounding neighborhoods. Portland is
characrerized by human scaled archirectlrre thar complements a pleasant
pedesrrian environmenr. New developmenr along rhe Eastern Waretfront
should avoid large monolithic massing along all srreef fronmges. Where
new srructures are larger rhan buildings characrerisrically found in
Portland's waterfront, horizonral and vertical variarion should be wed
to break large expanses of building into componenrs char are in scale
with rhe context to which they most closelv relare."
The proposed development incorporates horizontal and vertical variation
to create a faqade with components in scale with the neighborhood. The
proposed project's massing is organized in two manners. The first is the
use a stone-faced base to separate commercial uses (the two lower floors
of Buildings 1 and 2 along Middle Street) from the residential uses
above. The horizontal mass for these uses is penetrated by large
fenestrated areas that open the commercial spaces on the first level and
residential community spaces on an intermediate floor level of
Building 1 to the public view. The rest of the lower level, or garage
level spaces, are a continuation of the brick from the residential floors
separated by a precast concrete belt course and penetrated by windows
which line up with the above-residential windows. The existing
topography in relation to the garage level along Hancock and Newbury
Streets plays a major role in determining the change in the size of the
windows on this level.
The second manner of organization is in the residential portion of the
structure. Although horizontal in their overall massing, the residential
portion of the buildings has been articulated with vertical elements to
break up the face of the massing. The metal clad protruding balconies
create a vertical component within the faqade, thereby breaking up the
brick horizontal portion of the faqade. This variation in the faqade is
further enhanced by the metal clad 5'h floor. A cornice separating the 4'"
residential floor from the 5Ih residential floor helps to reduce the overall
-9-
visual height of the buildings and allows the building to have different
materials for the 5" floor. The ends of each building have units turned
90 degrees to the unics in the center of each building to create a different
building mass. One end of each building has only four floors, which
creates further variety in the overall massing.
The top of the building is distinguished by a second cornice and a
parapet which caps off the building in addition to screening the
mechanical equipment and appurtances.
This vertical variety provided by the balconies creates a scale that
compliments the traditional neighborhood, similar to the use of bay
windows in older buildings in this area. This massing of the balconies
provides vertical movement in juxtaposition to the horizontal brick
massing. This combination creates an interesting architectural sryle
appropriate within an urban environment.

Patrick

11-01-2006, 09:50 AM

A new proposal for the eastern waterfront. we have (had) the westin (9 stories) village at ocean gate (11 stories) federal street town houses, riverwalk, ocean gateway terminal, and now this 5-story hotel. lookin good.

Peninsula would see first extended-stay lodging

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Reader Comments (below)
By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Hotel developers say they hope to start building a Residence Inn by Marriott on Portland's eastern waterfront by spring.
The 180-room extended-stay hotel would be built at Fore Street and the planned extension of Hancock Street on land that's next to and owned by the Shipyard Brewing Co.
The hotel would be across from a parking garage that Shipyard Brewing owner Fred Forsley plans to build with city help.
The Residence Inn is among several new hotels recently built or proposed on the eastern waterfront, where the state is building the Ocean Gateway cruise-ship terminal and the city is seeking proposals to redevelop the Maine State Pier.
The proposal is a joint venture by Summit Hotel Properties of Topsfield, Mass., and Norwich Partners of Lebanon, N.H., which operates several Marriott and Hilton hotels.
It would be the first extended-stay hotel on the peninsula, targeting both business travelers and tourists who seek accommodations with kitchenettes.
"Extended-stay hotels traditionally have been built in suburban settings, but lately we've seen greater demand for them in urban areas," said Ara Aftandilian of Summit Hotel Properties.
The five-story hotel would be designed to meet city zoning requirements, simplifying the approval process, Aftandilian said. It would have an indoor pool, street-level retail space and meeting rooms, but no restaurant or conference facilities.
The developers hope to submit a site plan to city officials within the next few weeks and schedule a Planning Board workshop in December, Aftandilian said.
The hotel would be built on nearly an acre of brewery land that the developers plan to buy from Forsley if the project wins approval. Part of a brewery warehouse and an unoccupied building would be razed, Forsley said.
Forsley is a partner in Riverwalk LLC, a development company that plans to start building a 719-space parking garage at Fore and Hancock streets in December. The Residence Inn project would lease parking spaces in the parking garage.
The garage is part of the $100 million Riverwalk LLC project that includes The Longfellow at Ocean Gateway, a 116-unit luxury condominium complex with 100 underground parking spaces. The 3-acre, two-block project includes an acre of former city land at the planned extensions of Commercial and Hancock streets.
The city solicited proposals from developers to build a parking garage that would serve the new cruise-ship terminal and other development on the eastern waterfront.
The City Council agreed to sell the city lot to Riverwalk for $850,000. The deal included a special zoning contract and a $5 million property tax break over 13 years, said Jack Lufkin, Portland's economic development director.
Riverwalk's proposal initially included a boutique hotel, but Forsley and his partners eventually dropped those plans. A Westin Hotel and condominium complex proposed for the former Jordan Meats site on India Street has been put on hold for a few years, the developers of that project have said.
A 120-room Hilton Garden Inn opened at Commercial Street and Franklin Arterial in July 2003.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be reached at 791-6328 or at:
kbouchard@pressherald.com

Reader comments

Carl of Portland, ME
Nov 1, 2006 9:25 AM
Great, Just what we need, More low paying jobs for Maine and summertime profits for another out of state "limited liability company". When I first heard about the "Riverwalk" project, I had envisioned something like Navy Pier in Chicago or Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco where local public market type niche shops could set up and sell their wares. The project was sold to us as "boutique" hotels with retail space and we get stuck with a low end business traveler hotel with a parking garage and a Starbucks. If Jack Lufkin cared about the future of Portland, he would stop giving tax breaks to out of state corporations and start thinking about more useful projects. Maritime Museum? Aquarium? Imax? Music Venue?Theater Venue? Public Market? Convention Center? Street Performers? I'd be happy with just about anything besides the current solution!

Corey

11-01-2006, 10:21 AM

Yay for hotels!

I do think we need to start building some more attractions if we are getting all these tourists. Sure, the old port is nice, but it's mighty small. And we don't have the fancy public market anymore. (I assume they have moved into the new building by now, or are close to doing so.)

I've said it before and I will say it again, I want to see a state-of-the-art Aquarium / Marine Research center! Perhaps the University of Maine could help develop it. It would be a big draw for locals and tourists alike.

What else could we use?

Patrick

11-01-2006, 11:08 AM

corey, there is already a marine research institute of some sort down on commercial street, but it doesnt seem like it is the kind that would draw in tourists, more for the science side of things i think. An Aquarium would be great! it is just what a city like portland needs. however, I think some sort of law prohibits it on the waterside of commercial, and if it were built elsewhere people might not even care to check it out. I think one should be built right by the ocean gateway area. talk about an anchor attraction!

We could also use...brace yourself for this novel idea...a new civic arena!!!!! I think with both an aquarium and arena located nearby the old port wil lcontinue to thrive forever. it may seem small, but covering 6 city blocks with more stores than the maine mall, it is defintely way more than any other city of portlands size could generally support.

Smuttynose

11-01-2006, 11:46 AM

Sounds good to me. When I think Residence Inn, I think of the suburban ones, but this one - 5 stories w/ street level retail - seems like its embracing good planning practices and will really enhance the city, and you can't go wrong being next to a brewery.

Patrick

11-03-2006, 09:59 AM

Village at Ocean Gate developers bow to neighbors
By Kate Bucklin (published: November 02, 2006)
PORTLAND ? A development company hoping to build 176 residential condominiums on the Village Cafe property has been asked by city councilors to work with neighbors and a nearby developer to find the right design for the project.

GFI Residential of Boston went before the City Council two weeks ago for approval of a contract zone that would allow them to go beyond the allowed density and height for the development on both sides of Newbury Street between India and Hancock. The project included four buildings, 176 condominium units, 190 parking spots and 7,000 square feet of retail space.

After much debate, the council tabled the request.

Demitrios Dasco, the managing partner of GFI, told councilors at a workshop Monday that he was willing to work with the city and other interested parties to come up with a plan that satisfies a majority of those interested.

On Monday, GFI proposed combining two buildings planned for Newbury Street and reducing the resulting building by a story, or about 12 feet.

?We heard the community and council ask if there was a way to reduce phase 2,? Dasco said, referring to the change.

Developers and future residents of 44 Federal St., situated behind the proposed phase 2 of the Village at Ocean Gate, have been opponents of the size of the project. That development consists of seven units of luxury townhouses and is nearing completion.

?We met with (44 Federal St.) developer Ron Gan and reviewed his recommended development plan,? Dasco said. He also said that during a brief discussion in the hallway prior to the workshop, Gan had suggested an alternative design for the building closest to his project.

?We need to hear what is going to be acceptable for the council,? Dasco said. He said his team thought the major concern was height, so that component was changed.

?Then earlier tonight we were led to believe removing a section of the building near 44 Federal and maintaining five stories on Newbury would also work (for the abutter),? Dasco said. He said that modification would allow residents of the Federal Street townhouses to maintain views from their decks in both directions.

A majority of councilors told Dasco they would support the contract zone as long as the design worked for neighbors.

?I know you are frustrated,? Councilor Cheryl Leeman said. GFI has been working with the city for more than a year on the project and changed it several times to accommodate a changing market and requests from abutters and the Planning Department.

Councilor Jill Duson told GFI she didn?t think it was fair for them to be in ?a popularity contest with the neighbors.?

?I think this should be done at the Planning Board,? she said. ?You?re in a no-win situation and I?m sorry.?

Monday?s meeting got off to a rocky start, with the city manager scolding GFI for not being prepared.

?This really annoys me we didn?t get the clear information as your attorney said we would,? Joseph Gray said.

?We originally presented the plan with more information and were told it was too confusing,? Dasco replied.

The council is scheduled to consider a contract zone for Village at Ocean Gate Nov. 20. Mayor James Cohen told GFI to prepare before-and-after graphics of the project, along with views of what the project would look like from Federal Street.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

Patrick

11-10-2006, 12:17 AM

Residence Inn proposed for eastern waterfront
By Kate Bucklin (published: November 09, 2006)
PORTLAND ? A New Hampshire-based hotel developer wants to build a hotel next to Shipyard Brewing Co. on Fore Street.

The news comes a month after a proposed Westin Hotel was put on hold indefinitely and a few months before the city expects to get a hotel proposal for the Maine State Pier property.

Ara Aftandilian of Summit Hotel Properties in Topsfield, Mass., said this week his company has teamed up with Norwich Partners of Lebanon, N.H., to develop a Residence Inn by Marriott. Residence Inns are designed for extended stays, Aftandilian said, with larger rooms than typical hotels, usually with limited kitchen appliances.

?We believe there is demand for this in downtown,? Aftandilian said. ?I see projects for the Eastern Waterfront and see good solid growth there.?

Norwich Partners, lead by David Leatherwood, recently developed a similar project in New Hampshire.

Extended-stay hotels typically are found in suburban settings, Aftandilian said, but recent market research has shown demand for such accommodations in cities. People who stay at a Residence Inn have often just been relocated for work or are on temporary work assignments, he said. There is also a tourist market for rooms with kitchen capabilities, too.

The Portland Residence Inn would not be a full-service hotel, but would have a pool and breakfast room. The hotel would be built at the site of an abandoned building and lot on Fore Street, behind Shipyard Brewing. The hotel partners would buy the land from Shipyard owner Fred Forsley, Aftandilian said.

Parking for the five-story, 180-room hotel would be available at the planned Riverwalk parking garage. That garage, expected to be under construction soon, is part of a $100 million condominium, shop and parking project being developed by Forsley and others.

A Rhode Island development firm won approval a year ago to build a Westin Hotel and Residences at the site of the former Jordan Meat Factory on India Street. But the Procaccianti Group announced last month it was putting that project on hold indefinitely and has put the property up for sale.

Aftandilian said the Residence Inn by Marriott will be a good fit with the Riverwalk project and with the Ocean Gateway cruise ship terminal set to open next year.

A spring 2008 opening is planned for the hotel, Aftandilian said. A proposal is expected to be submitted to the city Planning Department this month.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

grittys457

11-20-2006, 08:25 PM

http://www.thelongfellow.com/images/renderings.gif

grittys457

11-20-2006, 08:26 PM

Just thought I'd add the only hope we have, Riverwalk. Watching the city council meeting and I'm getting angry.

Patrick

11-21-2006, 06:37 AM

Just think, gritty's, this 65 foot structure will be replacing a dirt parking lot. that is a good thing. and it wont look like a shame because nothing around it is tall...it will just look like the old port is growing out, which is better than not growing at all. and, with the riverwalk, ocean gateway, new street-scapes, added traffic, new 5-story hotel, and if anything goes in where the westin was planned look for this to become quite a bustling part of town. also, there is a lot of left over land east of these parcels that can be developed in the future, like where that planet dog store is or whatever it is called heading up the hill on wrap-around street that follows the eastern prom eventually. lets not forget that when the city said they would be redeveloping the eastern waterfront they had no intention of touching either the village or jordan's meats. both of those plots of land came on the market afterward. so we still end up with a better scenario than what was there before regardless of what gets built. you know? but, what i still cant understand is why the federal street townhouse guys have had so much leverage. i mean, their project is essentially a glorified tripple decker from vesper street or south boston. it sits in the ghetto.

PORTLAND: Council OKs rezoning for Village Cafe site
The City Council voted 6-3 Monday to approve conditional rezoning for a condominium complex proposed for the Village Cafe site at Newbury, Hancock and Middle streets.
The rezoning limits the three- to four-building complex to five stories, or a maximum 65 feet tall along Newbury Street. It also requires that certain buildings be at least 25 feet from properties along Federal Street.
The developer, GFI Residential of Boston, sought conditional rezoning because the project would exceed the maximum front-yard setback, density and building height allowed for the East End property.
First proposed in May 2005, the project has been scaled back and retooled several times. A spokesman for the developer said GFI will submit plans for the first phase of the project to the Planning Board as soon as possible.
Village Cafe owners say the restaurant will remain open through construction and occupy commercial space within the condo complex.

grittys457

11-21-2006, 12:22 PM

They didn't air that part of the meeting on tv so that's good news. I was so aggrevated watching the rest of it, I wanted to walk up to city hall and slap some people around. And these MECA women acting like they are going to get raped walking by Hooters. Give me a break.

The garage part alone of Riverwalk is pretty sick when you look at it. They should be starting that next month. I have a feeling that's where the chains will head. Maybe a Banana Republic or something. Need somewhere to buy a pair of jeans and a shirt intown. Oh wait, I have Chantal and their 200 dollar pairs of jeans.

Go to www.thebollard.com today to read up on the chain thing.

Patrick

11-21-2006, 02:08 PM

Patrick

11-21-2006, 02:10 PM

Patrick of Portland, ME

Those poor village cafe developers. I mean it. For once, can Portland do something with vision for the city-wide and regional good, rather than local wants always winning out? I am referring to the developers of the Federal Street town houses and how they have successfully turned a decent ten story proposal into a 5 story worthless hunk of brick, all because the people in their glorified three-deckers at the base of Munjoy hill wouldn't have otherwise been able to see "the ocean." except for the fact that its really just the end of the Fore river, and the only real sights to see from that location are the oil tanks across the harbor. I would personally rather look at a tall upscale building in my back yard than those ugly white tanks. Portland is CRAZY in capital letters for taking the stance it has on the eastern waterfront zoning. Good luck accomplishing anything worthwhile there, you'll need it. I am in my 20's and running for council next time around. If you want neighborhood concerns winning out over projects for the regional and city-wide good, then don't vote for me. If you want a business friendly atmosphere that will become home to 10-20 story buildings (and, no, 20 stories is not too tall), then vote for me. It is time to change directions and replace the small town scope of Mainers' thoughts with big time initiatives and plans for future growth. Of course Portland should not, nor could it ever, become Boston. But we need to step up to the plate and stop pretending we are Gorham or Windham. We are the premier Hub city for northern new england, and a 5 story building on the peninsula does not reflect this fact well.

grittys457

11-21-2006, 08:26 PM

Good stuff Patrick. Did you see my rant on the chain section? Seriously, if those two boobs can make the council, then certainly you can.

I was also thinking that maybe we should start some type of blog or group called Grow Portland. A group designed to grow Portland while keeping it's charm, or some shit like that. Maybe as a group we can start to get out the voices that other Portlanders think but aren't in the mood to drive to city hall and yell about.

Patrick

11-21-2006, 08:34 PM

good idea, but how in the shit do you start a friggin blog, i am surprised i even know how to forum, let along post pictures. Do we have to pay for something or what? and how would we attract people? i bet there are tons of people out there who would want taller buildings, they just dont feel great enough about it to vote on it, unlike the people who are opposed to them, who can be a VERY vocal minority at times. and yeah i did see your rant. good stuff indeed.

grittys457

11-21-2006, 09:03 PM

Did you hear about this yet?

"A man is being treated for stab wounds after he found three men allegedly stealing liquor from a storage room at a Portland nightclub.

The incident happened around 3 p.m. today at the Stadium nightclub.

The employee chased the men down Free Street, catching one of them in front of the Asylum nightclub. He was then stabbed several times in the torso, police said.

Police arrested Derek Foss, 19, and have charged him with aggravated assault and robbery. Police were still looking for two other suspects Tuesday evening.

The employee?s injuries are not believed to be life threatening and he was being treated at Maine Medical Center."

I was on spring street when the kid and worker came running at me. I didn't know what the hell was happening. He grabs him five feet in front of me and yells "You're coming with me mother fucker" while the kid said "i'm sorry, I'm sorry". I laughed to myself wondering what the hell was that? Little did I know the kid he caught would stab him a minute later. Fucked up. Had it been a Hooters then they would have been renovating it and it wouldn't have been open and the kid wouldn't have been stabbed. Screw you city council!!!

Patrick

11-21-2006, 09:11 PM

i always find it comical when people at school used to say to me "where are you from" and i would say "maine" and they would laugh it off as if being from the suburbs of chicago or philly makes you a "city person" while us poor mainers dont know nothin bout nothin and still live in igloos and tents with outhouses and canoes. When i tell people i am from a city, they say which one. when i answer portland they say they always have wanted to go to oregon. when i say maine they think im nuts. and yet i read and see stuff like this all the time. i just dont get it. oh, its so safe up in maine. yeah, sure, if youre from falmouth or north deering. i wouldnt even wanna be walking along on the hill at night and im jacked 8)

Patrick

11-21-2006, 09:14 PM

there was a violent robber of a south portland gas station by the mall two or three days back. the dudes pressed handguns into the backs of the necks of the people in the store while they robbed it. and dunks by woodfords was robbed, again, for the millionth time this year. they should hire an undercover there. and jet video by deering hs was robbed with crow bars and knives. last week. nuts.

grittys457

11-21-2006, 09:42 PM

Oh, and watch channel 8 news tonight at 11. They are doing a special on the effects of renting now that the chain thing is in effect. I really want to know if it kills The Keg Steakhouse.

grittys457

11-25-2006, 12:37 PM

They've started smashing up the building on the Shipyard lot where the Marriot will be going. The side connector road for The Longfellow is almost complete as well as the whole Commercial street extension. I doubt they will ever open that up to the public for a few years since it will be all construction anyway. There will be something digging or building in that area for the next 3-5 years.

Patrick

11-25-2006, 02:45 PM

They've started smashing up the building on the Shipyard lot where the Marriot will be going.

That was fast. maybe the westin developers wouldnt be suffering from the market drop if they acted the same way.

Patrick

11-25-2006, 02:48 PM

one thing I don't get is, even if the market is cooling, so what? They should just lower prices for the units and still build the Westin.

Some people would say that their profits would be lower, but they wouldn't. Because if the market cools, then demand for construction products like steel and concrete should decrease too right? And when demand for something decreases, the price charged for that good also drops. So, the same net profit should exist, in theory, if enough time for adjustment is allowed for (usually a year or so I think, but definitely not longer than it would take to build this project).

grittys457

11-29-2006, 10:02 PM

Marriott plan includes 180 rooms, retail
By Kate Bucklin (published: November 29, 2006)
PORTLAND ? Developers of a proposed extended-stay hotel next in the Eastern Waterfront have submitted sketches of the proposal to the Planning Department and are expected before the Planning Board in January.

The Residence Inn by Marriott would run along much of a block of Fore Street, replacing a derelict brick warehouse and metal shed. Preliminary designs show a 133,000-square-foot, five-story building filling much of the block between a planned extension of Hancock Street and Mountfort Street. The land is currently owned by the Shipyard Brewing Co., but Ara Aftandilian of Summit Hotel Properties, whose company has teamed up with Norwich Partners on the project, said they would purchase the land from the brewery if the project is approved.

The hotel does not include on-site parking, but would lease spaces from the soon-to-be-constructed Riverwalk parking garage next door, according to the developer. Fred Forsley, an owner of Shipyard, is part of the development team behind the $100 million Riverwalk project. That project originally included a boutique hotel.

Bill Needelman, a planner for the city, said the design for the project is preliminary and he expects the Planning Board will need at least two workshops with Norwich Partners.

Among factors the Marriott developers will have to deal a memorial recognizing the birthplace of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The marker is at the corner of the property and is protected by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. According to Needelman, the marker has to stay somewhere on the former site of Longfellow?s home. The house was razed more than 50 years ago.

Some design components in the sketches include an entrance at the corner of Hancock and Fore streets. A 3,000-square-foot retail space would be located on Hancock Street Extension and a pool and library are included in drawings of the hotel. A valet port on Fore Street is shown to curve inside the hotel and Needelman said that component would have to be discussed, too.

The building would be constructed of brick, metal and glass and is ?definitely big,? Needelman said.

Getting new guest accommodations in the Eastern Waterfront is part of the master plan for that neighborhood, he pointed out. Norwich Partners, of Lebanon N.H, does not need a variance to build its hotel as proposed.

An extended-stay hotel is often used by people who have been relocated for work or are temporarily working away from home. Tourists also use the hotels, which are equipped with suites and limited kitchenettes. Aftandilian said market research shows a demand for such accommodations.

The Eastern Waterfront is primed for redevelopment, with construction of the cruise ship terminal Ocean Gateway leading the way. The Riverwalk project is expected to begin in December with construction of a 700-space garage, followed by 116 units of luxury condominiums, retail space and underground parking for 100 cars.

Developers proposing to build 176 condominium units on land owned by the Village Cafe cleared another hurdle last week when the City Council approved a contract zone for the site. That project will now go back to the Planning Board for site plan review.

Although approved almost a year ago, a Westin Hotel and Residences planned for the former Jordan Meats factory at Fore and India streets is not expected to be built soon, if ever. The Procaccianti Group of Providence, R.I., said in October that it is holding off on the project and has put the property up for sale.

Needelman said Norwich Partners is tentatively scheduled for a workshop with the Planning Board in January.

Patrick

11-29-2006, 11:02 PM

It is made out of brick, metal, and glass? doesn't that describe 99% of all buildings in the country? thanks for the attention to detail!

and since it is "definitely big" we know it won't happen. So, dont get your hopes up. Portland likes to talk big, but when push comes to shove, they run.

grittys457

11-29-2006, 11:32 PM

But as it says it fits in the guidelines unlike the Village cafe site at first. Should be easy.

That whole shipyard lot building is down now. Looks weird.

Patrick

11-30-2006, 10:48 AM

But as it says it fits in the guidelines unlike the Village cafe site at first. Should be easy.
.

you and i both know that 'should be' doesn't equal 'will be.'

the problem with Portland government is that it is not unified. everyone represents their own individual districts, with no one mayor stepping ahead for the common good. this end up with everyone being afraid of change because they don't want to risk upsetting their voters. Portland is afraid of changing the eastern waterfront. if you ask me, i say we don't build anything there. just upgrade the streetlights and call it a night. because anything else will just remain on the drawing board forever.

\
\
p.s. maine med coming along well. will take pics soon, today probably.

grittys457

11-30-2006, 12:45 PM

The Hilton Garden Inn on commercial street is a floor taller and has 60 less rooms, so I would imagine the marriot would be as they said "huge". Especially where they would have bigger rooms too.

Patrick, have you seen the brick on Ocean Gateway? Man I really hate the look of it. Why not metal and glass for the whole thing.

Max

11-30-2006, 02:06 PM

I hope that Forecaster article wasn't a cut & paste job as there were a couple major grammar mistakes in it...

Do you guys know if people are moved into Walker Terrace yet? How are the lofts behind city hall coming? For that matter how's city hall coming?

I'm looking forward to checking out the town when I'm up for Christmas, but if you've got any pics before then they'd be appreciated!

Patrick

11-30-2006, 03:05 PM

Gritty's, I havent seen it yet, but I dont have to, to know that it is ugly. anything the city does is wrong.

Max - The lofts behind city hall are just a steel fram right now, but you can tell that it has topped out at 8 floors and that they are busy working on electricity and plumbing etc in doors.

havent seen city hall in a while, not up close anyway, but i think they are wrapping things up there now.

walker terrace has been occupied since october. looks very nice.

i got caught up today doing something, so i will post some pics tomorrow of the new construction...probably....but i may take some night shots tonight. i find that in the winter time it is ideal to take night shots of the city because it gets dark out when all the lights are still on in the towers. well see how it turns out i guess. keep an eye out.

grittys457

01-04-2007, 12:58 PM

Attention Patrick or any other Mainers who might see this. Watch the channel 13 news tonight. If they use the same footage, it talks about the chain ban in Portland and how it was postponed last night on the vote to put a sunset clause on it.

Well, they do interview Drew Swenson of Riverwalk and he talks about how that will really hurt the project since they are looking at a major player chain restaurant to anchor the store. They also show some nice pics of Riverwalk while they are talking to him. He said he's looking for something like Morton's, Ruth's Chris or a Legal Seafood.

I need to find where the petition people are who are gathering signatures to overturn the ban all together.

Corey

01-05-2007, 07:19 PM

Might cause some uproar (actually, it definitely would) but Legal Seafoods seems like a really classy choice.

grittys457

02-28-2007, 10:54 PM

Not sure if these pics of Riverwalk have ever been on here. Look like nice paintings. Since I can't buy one of the real ones, these pics will have to do.

http://www.architecturalteam.com/whatsnew/pdf/Riverwalk.pdf

Patrick

03-01-2007, 07:36 AM

no I dont think they have been on --thanks for sharing. riverwalk looks like such a classy development. If you gotta go brick, it might as well be done right...those buildings look real nice. I wonder how they will blend in with the all glass olympia building on the pier if that proposal gets picked. but come to think of it the back side of that building looked like it was designed in brick...

Patrick

03-02-2007, 11:05 AM

Design Guidelines for Portland?s
Eastern Waterfront
Adopted by the Waterfront Development and Master Planning Committee on January 23, 2002

Introduction

The redevelopment of the Eastern Waterfront provides a unique opportunity for the City of Portland. The construction of a world-class marine passenger terminal in one of the East Coast's premiere deepwater ports will spur interest and vitality in a neglected and underutilized portion of Portland's urban waterfront. Development will serve to integrate the working waterfront, commercial business areas and the Munjoy Hill neighborhood. For integration to be successful, thoughtful, high quality design for all aspects of construction is imperative. With care and attention paid to details and quality, the design of streets, buildings, open space, parking, and changes to the water's edge will contribute to the value of public and private property and the quality of life for Portland residents.

These Design Guidelines have three intended applications: (1) As an evaluative framework for City sponsored projects or projects located on City controlled land, (2) As a handbook for private developers to comply with the City's vision for the Eastern Waterfront, and (3) As a policy basis for future zoning and land use ordinance changes for the Eastern Waterfront.

The public process for the Waterfront Development and Master Planning Committee demonstrated a clear desire by Portland citizens that the Eastern Waterfront become a benefit to City residents. The Master Plan, along with these Guidelines, promotes development that will be an asset, not a liability, to the surrounding neighborhoods and community at large. By adhering to the following criteria, public and private development can respect the concerns, hard work and wisdom of the Citizens of Portland, and create the greatest possible public benefit.

A. Streets

Purpose

Design guidelines for streets in the Eastern Waterfront encourage the retention and expansion of a pedestrian-scaled street grid. The surrounding neighborhoods of the Old Port, India Street and Munjoy Hill generally have a walkable, small block street system that provides a comfortable, safe and enjoyable pedestrian environment. This traditional street block system allows for efficient and flexible vehicular circulation for residents, visitors and the working waterfront, while retaining options for traffic management to reduce negative impacts on existing neighborhoods. The street guidelines outlined below provide for an expanded street network that will (1) connect the Eastern Waterfront Redevelopment Area with the city fabric of Portland, (2) provide appropriately scaled streets for the expected vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and (3) encourage pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development in the Eastern Waterfront.

Guidelines

1. Public Streets

Public Streets should provide the primary vehicle and pedestrian circulation infrastructure for the Eastern Waterfront. Public and private development should use the existing street grid as a framework and should expand the public street network as necessary to provide circulation for new development. Development of new and extended streets should generally be kept in scale with the existing street network found along Portland?s waterfront and Munjoy Hill neighborhoods.

Note: The design and construction of public streets need to comply with the City Public Works Technical Standards.

2. Appropriate Street Design

New streets should be designed to accommodate expected vehicles and pedestrians safely and efficiently while encouraging appropriate speeds. Streets should provide on-street parking along curb lines wherever possible to provide a buffer between pedestrians and moving traffic and to serve the retail, residential and commercial uses in the area.

a. Suggested Street Hierarchy

For the purpose of these guidelines, Primary Streets include: Commercial Street and its extension; Fore Street, India Street, Hancock Street and its extension; and Middle Street between India and Franklin Arterial. Secondary Streets include: Mountfort Street; Middle Street between India Street and Hancock Street; and other new streets within the Central Redevelopment Area that are not extensions of existing streets.

b. Street Sections

Please refer to the attached street section drawings and associated Street Hierarchy key map for the application of suggested street sections within the eastern waterfront. These drawings illustrate a hierarchy of primary and secondary streets that reflect their intended character and uses. Additionally, there are two section drawings showing a proposed Commercial Street design adjacent to the vehicle queuing area and adjacent to the small vessel support area.

3. Sidewalks

Sidewalks are key to defining streets as civic places. Sidewalks should be provided along both sides of all streets and should be wide enough to accommodate visiting and residential pedestrians comfortably and safely. The pedestrian environment should be further enhanced through the use of fixed street furniture, compatible and consistent lighting, and street trees. Sidewalk cafes, temporary art installations, and seasonal lighting are encouraged along public sidewalks as a means to encourage the year round activity.

4. View Corridors

Street corridor placement and design should provide for views to and from the water, as well as for permanent installations of public art in key focal point locations. See attached map for key view corridor and focal point locations.

5. Railroad Right of Way

The Commercial Street section drawing includes the Narrow Gauge Railroad adjacent to the Commercial Street corridor. The railroad could add a dynamic intermodal element to Portland?s transportation system if integrated with the surrounding streets, sidewalks, trails and private development. In designing an integrated Narrow Gauge Rail corridor, the train should share as much of its width as possible with adjacent compatible uses. The Narrow Gauge right-of-way should be used as both a transportation corridor and a buffer for transportation facilities and the Eastern Prom Trail.

Note: Designers need to recognize State and Federal regulations regarding design changes within the rail right-of-way.

6. Underground Utilities

Overhead utilities should be avoided within the Eastern Waterfront.

7. Marine Passenger Terminal Circulation

Streets serving the proposed marine passenger terminal should be a seamless extension of existing streets and should be constructed in compliance with these guidelines. Circulation infrastructure constructed solely for the use of the terminal facility should be integrated with the public street and pedestrian network and designed to meet the transportation-related needs of the facility.

8. Bicycle Safety

Bicycles are a key mode of transportation in Portland?s transportation system as well as providing important recreation and fitness opportunities. Accommodations for bicycle traffic and safety should be designed into new and reconfigured streets and intersections. Bicycle racks should be installed along public sidewalks where appropriate.

B. Buildings/Architecture

Purpose

Design guidelines for buildings in the Eastern Waterfront Redevelopment Area encourage architecture that enhances the development of a mixed-use and marine intermodal transportation center, and is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods. New construction should respect the historic character of Portland?s waterfront, while representing the best elements of contemporary design.

Guidelines

1. Contextual Design

New buildings should be designed in response to their context and should be compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. Broadly stated, compatibility refers to the recognition of existing development patterns and characteristics, and a responsiveness in new building design that respects these established patterns. The placement, height, massing, proportion, articulation, and materials of new structures should encourage a vision that supports the idea that the Eastern Waterfront develop into an extension of the surrounding areas while establishing its own identity as a new urban neighborhood.

2. Building Composition

The combination of design elements will determine the character of new buildings and neighborhoods. While specific solutions for any given setting cannot be anticipated in a single set of guidelines, the following building characteristics can be used to guide visual compatibility of new development.

a. Placement

In general, buildings should be placed at the sidewalk with their primary entrances oriented to the street.

b. Height

Building heights should be compatible with surrounding development and neighborhoods. The attached Building Height Key Map provides a general direction for building heights in the Eastern Waterfront district. These Guidelines recommend that any future rezoning process for the Eastern Waterfront should be preceded by a building height analysis comparable to the Downtown Height Study for the B-3 Zone.

c. Massing

The massing of new development should be compatible with the existing development found in the surrounding neighborhoods. Portland is characterized by human scaled architecture that complements a pleasant pedestrian environment. New development along the Eastern Waterfront should avoid large monolithic massing along all street frontages. Where new structures are larger than buildings characteristically found in Portland?s waterfront, horizontal and vertical variation should be used to break large expanses of building into components that are in scale with the context to which they most closely relate.

d. Proportion

The fa?ade proportions used in new development should be compatible with the existing development found in Portland?s waterfront. While some buildings on Portland?s Waterfront project a predominantly vertical or horizontal orientation, most use architectural details, storefront design, window openings, and roof shapes to balance the proportions of facades into pleasant and cohesive compositions. In smaller in-fill development, proportions of features such as windows, entryways, and storefronts should be designed to achieve compatibility with abutting structures and surrounding development.

e. Articulation

Traditional arrangement of fa?ade components into base, middle, and top composition can be used to achieve compatibility and continuity within the surrounding architectural context. Additionally, projecting bays, recessed balconies, and roof shape variation can be judiciously utilized to provide interest, individuality, and appropriate scale to new development.

f. Materials

Materials used in new development should reflect the historic character of Portland?s waterfront. A straightforward use of natural and traditional building materials is encouraged. Brick, stone, high quality metals, cast concrete, wood, and glass will achieve the greatest level of compatibility with the surrounding area and will best stand the test of time: in terms of both changing community tastes and withstanding the maritime climate of the Eastern Waterfront.

3. Pedestrian Environment

Development along new or existing public streets should foster a walkable and enjoyable pedestrian environment. New development should avoid large expanses of blank walls, should provide frequent street level entries, and should provide sidewalk amenities such as street furniture and lighting that encourage year-round pedestrian use. Buildings sited along Primary Streets should utilize traditional storefront design principles along the ground floor, and provide engaging displays and clear glazing to enhance the pedestrian experience.

4. Primary Entrances and Service Entrances

Primary entrances should open onto public sidewalks along the primary street frontage. Service entrances and loading facilities should be located at the rear or side of structures. Where buildings face more than one public street, service and loading circulation may be located along secondary streets where appropriate. Where no off-street options are available, loading and service entrances located along public streets should occupy the minimum space necessary and be compatible with the other uses of the street, including pedestrian activities, retail development, and traffic flow. The sharing of service circulation and loading facilities between buildings is encouraged.

5. Parking Structures

Parking structures should be compatible with adjacent uses and architecture in form, bulk, massing, articulation, and materials. The design of parking structures should create a visually attractive and active pedestrian environment by incorporating retail, commercial, and residential uses along all public streets.

a. Mixed-use Architecture

Parking uses and the appearance of parking structures should not dominate public streetscapes. All above-grade parking structures should include usable retail, commercial, and /or residential uses along street frontages to create a high quality urban environment. Parking structures on Primary Streets should have at least two stories of mixed uses integrated along the street frontage. On Secondary Streets at least one story of mixed uses should buffer the street.

b. Vertical and Horizontal Articulation

Visible diagonal ramps and non-horizontal parking plates should be screened from all visible angles whenever possible and not allowed on primary facades.

c. Lighting

Light fixtures installed in the interiors of parking garages should be fully screened from the exterior or utilize full cut-off shielding as defined in the City?s Technical Standards.

6. Infill and Small Scale Development

Infill development should fill open space along existing streets to reestablish street wall continuity. Likewise, small-scale development without a directly abutting neighbor should be guided by adjacent development patterns as a means to incrementally fill empty portions of the streetscape and achieve compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods.

7. Historic Structures

Historically and architecturally significant structures and sites should be inventoried and protected from demolition and carefully rehabilitated in a way that is consistent with their original architectural intent. The challenge and opportunity is to adaptively reuse significant structures while retaining their historic character. New additions to historically significant buildings should be designed for compatibility with the original structure in size, composition and material and should result in the minimum necessary loss of original architectural material.

Note: Portions of the westerly section of the Eastern Waterfront are located in the Waterfront Historic District and are subject to the City?s Historic Preservation Ordinance.

8. Civic Structures

Civic structures represent the public commitment to creating a high quality urban environment. Civic buildings should be easily distinguished by their quality, placement, and use of materials. Traditionally, civic structures in Portland (City Hall, Union Station, Customs House, Federal and County Court Buildings, among others) have used the highest quality materials and design to assign a sense of permanence and importance to their role in the community. Additionally, these structures relate strongly to the streets and open spaces where they are located, sharing their importance with their surroundings. The Eastern Waterfront will hold a new transportation center in one of the most visible sites on Portland?s waterfront. The proposed marine passenger terminal should meet the same high standard for design and construction as Portland?s other great public buildings.

9. Marine Development

There are locations, specifically in the marine support areas, where development may have difficulty adhering to the building guidelines section above. Marine-dependent structures should be allowed to reflect their intended uses through the use of practical materials and straightforward design. Outbuildings, sheds and temporary marine-use structures should be sited and designed to minimize negative visual impacts. Through use of building placement, incorporation of design details, and use of landscaping and screening, designers should look for economical solutions to provide utilitarian marine structures with visual interest and character befitting their use.

C. Open Space and the Public Realm

Purpose

The character of public streets and sidewalks is the primary determinant of the quality of the public realm. The public realm is further defined and enhanced by the incorporation of quality open spaces. These guidelines aim to create comfortable, safe, accessible, and appropriately located open spaces to provide pedestrian interest and convenience. Open spaces can range in scale from building forecourts, to public trails, to public plazas and public parks. All open spaces should be accessible and barrier-free wherever possible. Landscaping, pedestrian amenities, outdoor furniture and lighting should be incorporated where appropriate. Opportunities for public art and historical references are encouraged.

Guidelines

1. Public Open Space and Plazas

The Eastern Waterfront will contain publicly owned and constructed open space. Generally associated with the water?s edge east of the Atlantic Pier (Pier 2,) City-owned open space should provide opportunities for public enjoyment and use of the water and add value to public and private development.

a. Visual Accessibility

To ensure that open space is well used, it is essential that the space should be visible and easily accessible from public areas (building entrances, sidewalks, and trail). Open spaces should be oriented to maximize exposure to the harbor, views and sun.

b. Physical Accessibility

Open spaces should have direct access from the adjacent streets, sidewalks, and trail, should allow for multiple points of entry, and should provide for universal accessibility. They should also be visually permeable from the sidewalk and trail, allowing passersby to see directly into the space.

c. Buffering

Open space should be well buffered from moving cars so that users can enjoy and relax in the space. The space may be visible from streets or internal drives but should not be wholly exposed to them. "Outdoor rooms" that are partially enclosed with building walls, freestanding walls, landscaping, raised planters, or on-street parking buffers are encouraged.

d. Perimeters

The perimeter of public spaces should consist of active uses that encourage pedestrian traffic. Public use of the waterfront, such as the passenger terminal and small marinas, retail activities, cafes and restaurants, and high-density residential uses all provide context for open space.

e. Trees and Plantings

Plants used in landscaped areas should be of the highest quality and of sufficient quantity and scale to make a visual impact. Plantings should be selected and located so that their functional and aesthetic qualities can be maximized. Trees of reasonable caliper should be installed at a density adequate to provide shade, habitat, and visual interest to public open space and care should be taken that appropriate species are selected for the soil conditions. Adequate space should be given to each planting and adequate irrigation and drainage should be provided.

f. Amenities

Public open space should be provided with adequate amenities, such as trash receptacles, seating, drinking fountains, and public restrooms for use by the general public.

g. Materials

Public open spaces and plazas should be built with high quality, durable materials that reflect thoughtful detailing consistent and compatible with the architectural character and historic maritime heritage of the Eastern Waterfront. Quality detailing implies attention to jointing, building and street edges, and technically correct construction techniques. Paving materials should be selected according to the intended use of the space. Designers are encouraged to utilize permeable paving materials wherever possible to reduce stormwater runoff.

2. Private Open Space and Plazas

Privately developed open space should contribute to the public realm through enhancement of the pedestrian environment and increased recreation opportunities.

a. Internal Open Space

Internal public space must be designed properly to be safe and usable, providing wide pathways, seating, and amenities.

b. Internal/External Interplay

Take the "indoors" outdoors by spilling interior space (e.g. dining areas, merchandise displays) onto walkways and plazas and bring the "outdoors" into the building by opening interior spaces (e.g. atriums and skylights) to views and sunshine.

c. Passageways

Open-air pedestrian passageways (with or without overhead cover) are generally more visible and inviting than interior hallways. Passageways can be attractive, successful locations for store entries, window displays, and/or restaurant/caf? seating, and should be integrated with the public sidewalk system.

3. Historic Sites

Sites of historic interest should be appropriately commemorated and marked with signage and public art. Specific emphasis should be paid to the maritime and transportation heritage of the Eastern Waterfront.

4. Public Art

Public art adds to the vitality and beauty of the city while giving a sense of identity to a place. Development in the Eastern Waterfront should integrate artwork into a variety of public and private settings and display art to the public as they engage in the activities of the city.

a. Public Spaces

Public art within open space is encouraged. Artwork may consist of freestanding pieces (e.g. a sculpture or water fountain) or may be integrated with its surroundings (e.g. relief sculpture imbedded in pavement or a wall, a mosaic or mural on a wall, lighting or sound effects, or decorative railing or lighting).

Note: Designers should be aware that public art placed on public property is subject to review under the City Public Art Ordinance and/or Maine Art Commission.

Additionally, public spaces should be designed to accommodate live performing arts and public assembly. The Maine State Pier traditionally provides a location for festivals, regattas, performances, and dances. Future development within the Eastern Waterfront, on the Maine State Pier and/or elsewhere, should provide safe and attractive performance space for a variety of public functions.

b. Private Spaces

Property owners are encouraged to provide outdoor public art on their property to enrich the pedestrian experience and create a stronger sense of place. Developers are strongly encouraged to incorporate artists into the design team in order to integrate works of art into their projects.

c. Contextual Siting

Artwork should be appropriate, and ideally, custom-made for its site. The artwork should complement and reinforce the character of the site in terms of its subject, scale, style, and materials. For example, art may be used to reveal historical facts about the site, or draw attention to a unique physical quality of the site. Care should be taken that the siting of public art does not diminish street wall development, but should emphasize the importance of key focal points.

5. View Protection

Portland?s relationship to the water is an important part of its unique character and identity. Key views of the harbor are a community resource to be preserved and protected.

Note: Please refer to Street Design Guidelines and Water?s Edge Guidelines for more on view protection.

D. Surface Parking and Vehicle Queuing

Purpose

Development in the Eastern Waterfront will require construction of areas dedicated to vehicle queuing (for the international ferry operations, and for bus and taxi drop-offs / pick-ups), as well as surface parking lots. The most critical elements to consider in evaluating the design of vehicle queuing and surface parking areas are the impacts on adjacent streets and sidewalks, security, landscaping and buffering, and lighting. The areas devoted to surface parking and vehicle queuing should be minimized as much as possible and visual impact of such areas should be mitigated through buffering and landscaping. Land devoted to surface parking lots should be reduced over time through redevelopment and construction of structured parking facilities. Parking should not develop incrementally on a project-by-project basis but should develop according to a planned build-out of shared parking structures to provide the most efficient utilization of valuable land.

Guidelines

1. Limit Impact

Parking lots and vehicle queuing areas should not dominate the frontage of pedestrian-oriented streets, interrupt pedestrian routes, or negatively impact the environment or surrounding developments.

a. Location

Parking lots should be located behind buildings or in the interior of a block whenever possible. Parking lots should not occupy more than 1/3 of the frontage of the adjacent building or no more than 64 feet, whichever is less.

b. Screening

Parking lots and vehicle queuing areas should be screened from streets, pedestrian ways, and significant views through the use of attractive landscaping, fencing and/or walls.

c. Internal Buffering

Wide expanses of surface pavement should be broken up visually by planted medians with shade trees. Shade tree location should buffer pedestrian circulation routes and should respect view corridors to the water. All parking lots should be planted with sufficient trees so that within ten years a significant majority of the surface area of the lot is shaded.

d. Storm Water Management

New and reused surface paving utilized for parking and vehicle queuing will shed polluted stormwater into Portland Harbor. Stormwater management should be provided to control and treat stormwater reasonably and effectively. Permeable paving materials, vegetated buffers and infiltration systems should be used wherever possible and practical to reduce the volume and improve the quality of stormwater.

e. Lighting

Lighting for parking and queuing areas should provide adequate illumination for vehicle and pedestrian safety and security while shielding surrounding areas from excessive light trespass and glare.

Note: All exterior lighting will need to adhere to the Site Lighting section of the City?s Technical and Design Standards and Guidelines.

2. Shared Use and Partnerships

These guidelines encourage public and private parking and vehicle queuing partnerships. Marine related transportation development and nearby mixed-use development plans should be integrated to minimize surface asphalt, to provide shared use of facilities, and to take advantage of offsetting times of peak use wherever possible. Shared parking is also strongly encouraged between private adjacent or vertically mixed uses with offsetting peak demand (e.g. offices and residential).

E. Water?s Edge

Purpose

The interaction of land activities with harbor activities creates the essential value and character of the Eastern Waterfront district. Portland has a long tradition of port development. Waterfront trade and industry have made the city prosperous throughout its history. The challenge for planning the Eastern Waterfront is to preserve the value and marine utility of the water?s edge, while stimulating appropriate development throughout the area for the benefit of the general population.

The relationship between the water?s edge and the adjacent upland is complex and intense. The convergence of transportation systems, downtown commercial activity, residential neighborhood, marine industry, and community recreation

resources creates a vital mix of complementary activity concentrated into a compact urban space. The intensive concentration of these uses creates value exceeding the individual parts. The successful accommodation of a diverse mixture of people and activity through quality design will best maximize the value of the water?s edge.

Guidelines

1. Intermodal Transportation

The Eastern Waterfront forms a crucial hub for a wide range of transportation modes, including passenger vessels, private boats, emergency vessels, cars, buses, excursion craft (rail, boat, and amphibious vehicle), bicycles, pedestrians, roller-bladers, trucks, etc. The function of this area as an intermodal transportation center must be designed into every building and infrastructure element, to facilitate integration and coordination of the various current and potential future modes of transportation.

2. Berthing and Upland Development

Berthing opportunities for both large and small vessels exist along Portland?s Eastern Waterfront. The available water depth creates a functional transition in the scale of vessels that can be berthed, which translates to a variation in the scale of upland support facilities, the nature of use and access, and the associated intensity of use impacts.

a. Deep Water Berthing

The deepest water is available between the Atlantic Pier (Pier 2) and Maine State Pier and will serve the proposed marine passenger terminal facility. Development within this berthing area, and the upland adjacent to the water?s edge, should promote and foster the utilization of the deep-water resource.

b. Shallow Water Berthing

The shore and submerged lands east of Pier 2 have shallower water depths, and are appropriate for smaller vessel berthing and activities oriented to small and medium sized boats. In the future, the east side of Pier 2 could be dredged to accommodate deep water berthing. Development that unreasonably limits the expansion of berthing at Pier 2 should be avoided.

3. Public Access To Water

The extent and nature of public access to the water?s edge will depend upon the scale and character of the marine use on the water; but access should be provided in the most generous and integrated way that is compatible with the function of the maritime activity.

Interest in water access for active and passive purposes is widespread and should be accommodated to the maximum extent possible. Large facilities should present visitation and viewing opportunities for residents, visitors, and the traveling public as allowed by security requirements. Small facilities should be developed to give visitors, island residents, and community residents access to the water?s edge for boating opportunities, tie-up for private boats, boating education, and fishing opportunities to maintain the connection of Portland?s population with its maritime heritage.

a. Security

Security for the marine passenger terminal should be accomplished by careful, subtle, and sensitive design, the use of clever separation, and avoidance of obvious or harsh features such as chain-link fencing, guardhouses, or razor wire. The best security will be imperceptible to users or the general public unless trespassed upon.

b. Marine Passenger Terminal

The marine passenger terminal should allow for safe observation of the facility and visiting vessels when in operation and should provide for reasonable casual visitation when the facility is not engaged in active loading/offloading functions. Convenient and attractive alternative routes through or around the facility should be provided for the general public and passersby when security and safety dictate that certain areas be cordoned off from the public. Whenever and wherever reasonable, the facility should accommodate safe pier-side pedestrian access and recreational fishing opportunities.

4. Non-Automotive Travel Opportunities

The Ocean Gateway facility should be a model of multi-modal transportation. Pedestrians, bicyclists, car-free vacationers, transit users, and other non-car travelers should be provided with first quality access to the facility and accommodation for their transportation needs.

5. Recreation and Excursion Integration

Recreation and excursion access to the Eastern Waterfront area should be fully integrated into the buildings and infrastructure. Facilities should be oriented toward intermodal activities and carefully executed so that they do not develop a carnival-like atmosphere that could detract from the quality of life of residents.

6. Amenity Design

Design details for such features as lighting, paving, bollards, benches, pavilions, or other amenities should be carefully selected to reflect the maritime heritage and current maritime use of the area. Such features should be coordinated as much as possible between public and private improvements. The quality and durability of these amenities should be of the highest standards, and of timeless aesthetic character to withstand many years of use.

7. Lighting

Lighting at the water?s edge is highly visible and sensitive to reflective glare off the water. Lighting for all areas, including the marine passenger terminal facility and private security lighting, should be as unobtrusive as possible, and meet all City Technical Standards for intensity, glare, and spillover. Special attention should be paid to avoid navigational hazards created by excessive glare in the harbor.

8. Visual Access

Shallow water marine uses east of Pier 2 should provide visual interest to passersby. Fencing for security and safety should be coated chain-link where more ornamental materials would be inappropriate for use. Such fencing should be no higher or more extensive than needed to provide general safety or security needs.

9. View Protection

Views to the water should be preserved from critical public vantage points. Private views to the water should be respected where possible. Massing and placement of buildings should be designed to minimize impacts on water views and retain value for upland development potential.

10. Parking

Parking that is not directly marine-related should not be located along the water?s edge.

Attached Plans:

Key Map
Building Height Overlay
Street Hierarchy
View Corridors and Focal Points

grittys457

03-09-2007, 08:19 AM

Hope they are planning on messing with the look of it too much. Interesting that they are adding more units. Wonder if they have had a lot of contacts already.

The Portland Planning Board will hold a public hearing to consider a proposal by Riverwalk, LLC. for amendments to the previously approved Longfellow Residence and Retail project located within the block formed by India St., Fore St., Hancock St. extension and Commercial St. extension. The proposed amendments include adding 14 residential units (totaling 130), divide retail adding 30 sub surface parking spaces (totaling 90 on-site), and changes to the exterior design.

Patrick

03-09-2007, 10:05 AM

uh, why would we change the exterior design????? Thats probably the classiest building I've ever seen north of Boston! I hope its for the better!

Patrick

03-09-2007, 10:13 AM

On the city's website, they still have this rendering up for the village at oceangate. I cant believe some people thought 9 stories was too tall for the heart of the most urban area in the state. says a lot about our mentalilty here. there wasnt even much of an existing residential stock for there to be problems in a neighborhood about....just industrial space, mostly anyway. and the people that do live in that area strike me as temporary residents, in between places where they would rather live anyway.
maybe im wrong.
http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/images/villageatoceangate.jpg

here si the very basic rendering they have for the longfellow:
http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/images/longfellowatoceangateway.jpg

the city even still has the westin's (old) rendering up:
http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/images/westindevelopment.jpg

There are currently millions of dollars in projects under review or construction on the City?s eastern waterfront. Ocean Gateway, which provided the initial incentive for much of the private development, is a 17,000 square foot passenger terminal that will welcome ferries and cruise ships from all over the world. Along with a transfer bridge to ferry vehicles from ship to shore and a refurbished 800-foot pier for ship docking, the project includes the extension of Commercial Street (the main thoroughfare adjacent to the wharves), and the construction of a new public street linking Fore Street to the new terminal. Ocean Gateway also incorporates open space and public access along the City?s waterfront. Construction is underway and completion is expected by the winter of 2008.

Phase two of Ocean Gateway will see the construction of a 1,000 foot long mega-ship birth, large enough to dock the Queen Mary II. The project design was led by Woodard & Curran of Portland, with architecture by the local firm of Winton Scott Architects along with BEA International, a nationally renowned design team. Reed and Reed of Woolwich, Maine is constructing the facility.

The Longfellow at Ocean Gateway is a $75 million development with 115 residential condominiums, 25,000 square feet of offices, close to 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail and a 750-car parking garage. The project has received its approvals and construction begins in the spring of 2007.

The Village at Ocean Gate is a proposed four building development that incorporates 176 residential condominiums above structured parking for 190 parking spaces as well as ground floor retail space for a 150-200 seat restaurant. The project, which fronts on Middle, Hancock and Newbury Streets, is going through the approval process. The architect is David White.

The Westin is a $100 million project that has been approved for a 250 room Westin Hotel, 750 seat conference facility, close to 100 residential condominiums, 370 parking spaces under the building, a restaurant and spa. The developer has placed the project up for sale.

grittys457

03-09-2007, 08:50 PM

I agree Patrick, this whole area is nuts.

I was at Starbucks near Target today and I saw the sketchiest dude ever. Was in there reading a book, stroking his chin, drinking a venti sized coffee. Looked like a terrorist if you ask me.

Patrick

03-10-2007, 06:38 AM

followers are sketchier than the followed my friend, why didnt you say hello? I was on my lunch break. I was having a rough day, kind of on a caffeine binge, too. Starbucks is the closest place to go.

seriously, why didnt you say something.

grittys457

03-10-2007, 07:12 PM

Probably because last time I did I thought you were going to throw me through the window for knowing who you were. You looked pretty into that book, didn't want to bother you.

Patrick

03-10-2007, 07:48 PM

nah, I would always rather talk to a live person than read something someone wrote about other people. I have a very stressful life at times, and reading is how I cope with it. its the only way i know how to sort things through. but please, feel free to say whats up whenever you see me. when you introduced yourself as dominic the first time i met you, i had to think for a minute. jeesh man you should have said you were gritty's. ha

Corey

03-11-2007, 10:41 PM

From March 11th

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3089/hh2sl3.jpg

Patrick

03-12-2007, 08:03 PM

excellent perspective, corey.

M. Brown

03-13-2007, 09:12 AM

Wait so this project went down the drain?
http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/images/villageatoceangate.jpg

Patrick

03-13-2007, 10:53 AM

No. It was challeneged by another developer who said it would block his project's views and so now it is only like 5-6 floors at the tallest, and maybe even shorter than that by the time it gets built. It is also offering fewer units now (something like 175 instead of 250 like was originally planned). Too bad, too, because this was a really massive project.

M. Brown

03-14-2007, 09:39 PM

So what does it look like now?

Patrick

03-14-2007, 09:42 PM

Im not sure. a couple of months ago on the portland new construction thread I posted smoe new pics of it (or someone did) but they were very crappy looking and I think the project has changed again since then. Who knows, but its nothing special, and a waste of land. WHats up in NH these days development-wise?

M. Brown

03-15-2007, 03:45 AM

those condos are still going up near the ballpark. the granite street bridge is being reconstructed and the highway pass over it. Also they are completing the highway exit at this location. This is all in the middle of downtown. Its like Boston's big dig except this one is in Manchester. The traffic is aweful but it will look nice when its finished because they are supposed to be adding a new park over there. NHCTC-M is getting an extension and there are talks of UNH-M expanding as well. Also I heard that they are supposed to be opening up a new MPD precinct on the west side of Manch. These prolly more things but I've been out of the whole urban thang for a bit.

Patrick

03-15-2007, 09:25 AM

Yeah I saw the granite street widening project when I was there a month or so ago...looks intense. West manchester could use a pd precinct, from the sounds of it. I cant imagine if downtown portland had all that road work being done, because how it is so old looking with narrow streets etc...and its practically an island....so it is a totally different feeling frommanchester. i dont think that many people go downtown portland...imean a lot do, but i think there are just as many at, say, the mall....its more spread out. downtown manchester seems to have a lot of potential.

On a portland note, there is a story in todays forecaster abotu the new 180 room hotel marriot, which will be triangular, five stories, and have valet parking that sweeps inside the building....and a glass tower on one corner. guess which parts the planning board didnt like? the valet inlet and the glass tower. the two coolest parts. also, the longfellow, which looked so perfect the way it was designed, is being criticized by the planning board and historic preservation board as being too ornate. What the heck does that mean, they dont like it because ti looks too "good"? that makes no sense. it was such a cool design. now the developer is saying they are changing the exterior design to make it elegant but more simple looking. that is stupid. i thought the city really had a vision for this part of town, and now they are wasting time and space and valuable opportunity and ruining the city's look. Ill post the story if i find it online.

Patrick

03-15-2007, 01:07 PM

Development plans advance, evolve on Eastern Waterfront
By Kate Bucklin (published: March 15, 2007)
PORTLAND ? Plans to build a 180-room hotel next to Shipyard Brewing Co. are advancing and could win approval next month.

Meanwhile, developers of the already approved Riverwalk condominium and retail project want to add more units and change the exterior design of the building, along with adding a few dozen below-ground parking spots.

The Planning Board met with representatives of Summit Hotel Properties and Norwich Partners in a workshop Tuesday to discuss the proposed extended-stay hotel the two development companies want to build on the corner of Fore Street and the planned extension of Hancock Street. The developer would contract with Riverwalk developers for 145 parking spaces at the soon-to-be-built Longfellow parking garage.

The hotel proposal calls for a five-story, 130,000-square-foot triangular building with a center courtyard. Retail space is planned for the ground floor, along with hotel amenities including a gym, pool and meeting rooms.

The main entrance to the Residence Inn by Marriott would be at the corner of Fore and Hancock, although an entrance at the proposed valet drive would also act as a primary entrance.

Board members were most concerned with the valet parking service entrance designed to circle cars in and out of the hotel lobby entrance. The U-shaped drive would be built into the building, and some planners were concerned the design could impede pedestrian flow on the Fore Street side of the building.

Planning Board member Kevin Beal questioned the need for valet parking and specifically asked why the valet entrance was situated inside the building.

Ara Aftandilian of Summit Hotel Properties said the hotel needs to provide valet parking for guests, and pointed out that other hotels downtown had similar services. He also said guests have the option of parking in the nearby Longfellow garage themselves rather than using valet.

Aftandilian said architects designed the valet drop-off inside the building for safety reasons.

?Part of the need is to avoid having people U-turn on Fore Street,? he said, because most guests will enter Fore Street from Franklin Arterial, putting them on the opposite side of the road from the hotel.

Carry Marsh, an urban planner for the city, said she was concerned with some of the exterior design elements of the building, including a glass tower on one corner. Eastern Waterfront design guidelines could also come in to play, although whether to apply those guidelines was left unresolved.

The Planning Board asked developers to meet with city staff to discuss the valet entrance and design issues. Chairman Michael Patterson suggested if the developers were able to resolve those issues with staff in the next week or two, and provide further information on landscaping and location of retail space, the project could come back for a public hearing April 10. If issues remain, an additional workshop will be scheduled.

There is a neighborhood meeting scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. at the St. Lawrence Church to discuss plans for the hotel.

Riverwalk changes

Riverwalk was up for a public hearing and vote Tuesday night on some amendments to its Eastern Waterfront complex.

Longfellow garage, part of the $100 million project, recently received a foundation-only building permit and developer Drew Swenson said work is expected to begin in April. The garage plan also changed slightly, to allow retail space in the garage to be developed immediately. The city approved a marginal height increase to the garage so ramping inside the building can be adjusted.

The requested changes to the condominium building, to be constructed on the future Commercial Street extension, follow an enthusiastic endorsement by the Historic Preservation Board to alter some of the facade design. The board had been concerned some design elements were too ornate.

?We?ll keep it elegant but simplify it,? Swenson said.

The amendments also included increasing the number of condo units from 116 to 130 and adding 30 parking spaces underground, for a total of 105. The reconfiguration of some storage space made room for the additional parking, Swenson said.

Construction of Riverwalk could begin as soon as September.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

Patrick

03-15-2007, 01:20 PM

Maine State Pier talks coming up
(published: March 15, 2007)
PORTLAND ? The public has three chances next week to learn about and weigh in on proposals to redevelop the Maine State Pier.

Monday at noon the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce hosts a forum at the Merrill Auditorium to discuss the $90 million proposals from Olympia Companies and Ocean Properties. The event is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required. Contact the chamber at 772- 2811 for more information.

Later that day, Ocean Properties presents its proposal at the University of Southern Maine?s Abromson Center. The forum starts at 5:30 p.m. and will feature developer Tom Walsh and his partner in the project, former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell.

Finally, the Community Development Committee will discuss redevelopment of the Maine State Pier Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Room 209 at City Hall.

Corey

03-15-2007, 09:35 PM

"Being too ornate." That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Talk about picky. :P

I would love to check out those meetings on Monday but I will be going back to Orono on Sunday. I really want to check some out this summer for sure.

Patrick

03-28-2007, 10:01 AM

March 27th planning board meeting

iii. Longfellow/ Riverwalk Amended Site Plan/ Subdivision; Vicinity of India and Fore Streets; Riverwalk, LLC., Applicant.
The Board voted 6-0 (Beal absent) to approve the subdivision subject to 2 conditions of approval and voted 6-0 (Beal absent) to approve the site plan subject to 1 condition of approval.

grittys457

04-01-2007, 08:05 PM

There is a big wrecking machine behind where the Riverwalk garage is being built and it has already taken out some buildings. Just noticed it today. Looks like they might be taking down the apartment building with the Breakaway in it any day now. That will look strange when that is gone. Show you how big that area is, where Riverwalk and the Village condos will be.

grittys457

04-01-2007, 09:14 PM

From www.thebollard.com

Pier proposal changes cause angst
Parking already a major issue

By Chris Busby

Mud isn't the only thing shifting around the pilings of the Maine State Pier. As a City Council committee gets to work evaluating the two mega-projects proposed for the public facility, one team's plan is changing while the other team cries foul and faces other changes that could challenge its plan's success.

Since the proposals were formally submitted on Feb. 22 [see "Mega-project proposals for State Pier unveiled"], Ocean Properties has adjusted its plan. Most significantly, the 300-car parking garage originally placed at the foot of the pier, west of a proposed hotel and restaurant, has been moved to the east of the hotel.

The relocation of this garage means views of the bay from the Hilton Garden Inn across the street would not be blocked by a four-story parking structure. But though the Hilton is owned and operated by the competing team, The Olympia Companies, Olympia is far from pleased with the move.

The extent to which the proposals can be changed while the Council's Community Development Committee (CDC) is evaluating them has become a matter of debate inside and outside the committee. Olympia believes the CDC should weigh the plans submitted in February, and has questioned the fairness and legality of allowing one team to make big adjustments at this stage.

Committee member Kevin Donoghue, whose district includes the pier, shares their concern. In fact, he's vowed not to consider amended versions of either team's plans. The new site plan showing the relocated garage "is not [Ocean Properties'] proposal; it's part of the sale of their proposal," he said. "Their proposal was handed in on February 22nd."

The CDC may vote to recommend one of the proposals to the City Council in the next few months. But if the plans keep changing in the meantime, the timing of that vote becomes "an extremely political decision to make," said Donoghue. Ocean Properties' changes are "borderline abusive to the sense of fair play," he said.

City Councilor Jim Cloutier, chairman of the three-member committee, is less concerned. He maintains that the formal Request for Proposals (or RFP) the city issued for the site last fall is what's known as a "concept RFP" ? a request for general redevelopment ideas, rather than concrete, immutable plans.

The Olympia team says it doesn't intend to alter its proposal during the CDC process, but its plan to provide parking is already in flux.

Both teams are proposing huge office buildings and hotels, restaurants and retail on the marine industrial site. But unlike Ocean Properties, Olympia isn't planning to build a parking garage on the waterfront property to serve this new development.

Instead, Olympia hopes to lease parking spaces in the Casco Bay Island Transit District (CBITD) Garage adjacent to the Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal, and in the Ocean Gateway Garage expected to be under construction soon two blocks away, at India and Fore streets. The company has earmarked $13 million of its project's $90 million-plus budget to acquire 440 parking spaces in the area.

The CBITD garage is half public, half private, and the private half just changed hands.

Mugar Enterprises, a Boston-based real estate development and management company, is buying the 215 spaces previously held by Maine real estate mogul Peter Quesada. The city has 204 spaces, but the public and privately held spaces are not delineated. "We run it as one garage," said city parking division manager John Peverada.

A spokesman for Olympia said the company had not yet discussed parking arrangements with Mugar, which also owns the Custom House Garage several blocks away.

The CBITD garage is routinely filled to capacity, especially during the summer, when islanders and seasonal visitors compete with Old Port shoppers for the spaces. If Olympia was able to reserve a significant number of spaces there specifically for its project, the parking needs of those displaced by this arrangement would have to be satisfied elsewhere.

Ground hasn't yet been broken to build the Ocean Gateway Garage, but its 720 spaces are filling up quickly with hypothetical vehicles.

This garage is part of the $100 million-plus Riverwalk project expected to rise just east of the Maine State Pier property. The garage is intended to serve users of the public Ocean Gateway cruise ship and ferry terminal now under construction, and to meet the needs of neighborhood residents, office workers and shoppers drawn to the area by Riverwalk's waterfront condominiums, office building and retail shops.

As part of the property-tax deal given to Riverwalk to build the garage, the city has rights to lease over 300 spaces, said Peverada.

The development team planning a 180-room, extended-stay hotel next to Shipyard Brewing Company is also hoping to lease spaces in this garage ? about 150, said Riverwalk developer Drew Swenson.

Swenson thinks both teams bidding to redevelop the Maine State Pier are low-balling their estimated parking needs. For example, Ocean Properties is proposing a 300-car garage, but Swenson believes it would take a 700-car garage to meet the demand.

Not that Swenson's hoping they'll make the one they've proposed even bigger. Swenson said he's "disappointed" Ocean Properties has moved its garage to the east of the proposed hotel. "We're building luxury condos," he said. "Nobody wants to look at a parking garage."

Indeed, as Swenson and others involved in planning the eastern waterfront point out, using waterfront land for parking is "the citizens' number one nightmare."

Perhaps the only thing more distasteful to the public than parking along the water's edge is parking over the water, on the pier itself.

Ocean Properties is catching heat for its plan to pave an 80-car surface parking lot on the pier. Olympia officials have been dishing out this same criticism, even though their plan would pave 50 spaces on the pier, next to the six-story hotel they hope to build on it.

Olympia contends the hotel and surface parking area would technically be on "land," because they intend to fill under the part of the pier beneath the hotel.

Ocean Properties principal Bob Baldacci maintains that his company's proposed parking lot "is not a parking lot."

"There's limited parking" there for businesses Ocean Properties plans to put on the pier's southern end, Baldacci conceded during the CDC's March 20 meeting. But he stressed that the lot will also be used for festivals and other public events.

The company's plans cite other possible uses for the pier-top parking lot. "Proposed parking could become future marine component (currently unanticipated) but vital to the city of Portland in the coming years," reads a note on page 114 of Ocean Properties' original proposal. Page 115 cites the same parcel as a "future opportunity for development."

In recent presentations, Olympia's representatives have raised the possibility of securing parking on the site of the shuttered Jordan's Meats plant a block north of the waterfront. Plans to build a towering hotel, condo and retail project on the site fell apart last fall, just as city officials were relaxing zoning at the public pier to allow similar types of private development.

A spokesman for one of the site's owners, the Rhode Island-based Procaccianti Group, told The Portland Forecaster last fall that the factory would be demolished to create additional surface parking while other development options, including the sale of the property, are explored.

A source on the Olympia team said Olympia has expressed interest in buying the Jordan's property, which the Procaccianti partnership picked up for $6 million in the fall of 2005. Olympia spokesperson Sasha Cook said the company is also interested in other sites, but declined to elaborate.

Chris Busby is editor and publisher of The Bollard. He can be reached at editor@thebollard.com.

Patrick

04-02-2007, 11:28 AM

Thank you for posting that article, very interesting changes on the horizon for that part of the city.

I think changes should be allowed. Just like competition between two supermarkets keeps prices low, competition between developers keeps designs good and amenities the plentiful.

What about underground parking? Is it so close to the water that it would be precluded by sealevel? I wonder. There is a lot fo vacant land in that neck of the woods; I would think someone would design a giant parking garage and make it look like a building somehow, with retail and shielded parking levels to look like a hotel or something. That could work.

I was at the Hilton on Friday night, and they charged $179/night for a room with a harbor view. I said forget it, I can look at the oil tanks in South portland for free anytime I want. I ended up staying at the Portland Harbor hotel instead, which I thought would have been more expensive, but it was only $129/night, plus $15 for parking. It has valet parking on the first level, and an outdoor garden and breakfast cafe area on the outside that makes you feel like youre not in the middle of a city. The hotel is for older people, I felt. nice though, very nice.

I spent all weekend trking across new england cities, from portland to boston to providence and through connecticut. Believe me when I say this, Maine has it made. traveling gives new meaning to the phrase "big city amenities, small town charm."

grittys457

04-11-2007, 09:27 PM

Looks like they are finally getting down to business now. There is a fence surrounding the whole area of the Eastern Waterfront Garage. Drove by tonight and half of the building where the Breakaway was has been torn down. Pretty cool looking since you can look into half of it. You should take a pic tomorrow Patrick if you are down there. They are also doing something at the bottom of Commercial/India and the road is one way only now.

Patrick

04-12-2007, 07:37 AM

My sister lives up on the hill right above the eastern waterfront area. from her top floor you can see ocean gateway, the planned site for the new pier proposals, the jordan's meats site, and the longfellow site. now, if only there was actually something going on to see.

grittys457

04-12-2007, 12:49 PM

Well, building is total demolished today. Weird to be able to drive down India St and see the Oceangate terminal. Hopefully that view will be gone again in a few months. Now if they could smash the building two up from there with the obnoxious drunk people, we'd be cooking.

Corey

04-12-2007, 02:48 PM

A little more progress on Ocean Gateway

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/6487/dsc0085me5.jpg

grittys457

04-20-2007, 09:38 PM

Just when I thought I was out.....they pulled me back in.

From thebollard.com

Hotel and condos on Jordan?s Meats site reborn?
In an April 18 e-mail bulletin, Mainebiz reported that plans to build a hotel and condominiums at the former Jordan?s Meats site are being reworked by Rhode Island-based development company the Procaccianti Group. The business publication said Procaccianti intends to submit revised plans to the city in coming weeks.

?We?re going to deliver the right product for that area,? Procaccianti spokesman Ralph Izzi told Mainebiz. ?We haven?t arrived at it yet.?

Izzi did not return calls from The Bollard seeking comment.

Procaccianti?s original project included a Westin hotel with over 200 rooms, 95 condo units, a restaurant, retail space and underground parking. The project stalled after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges in March of last year against local developer Michael Liberty, of The Liberty Group, which had partnered with Procaccianti to build it. It?s unclear if those charges were a factor in the project?s problems.

There?s also been wide speculation that the city?s willingness to allow hotel development on public land at the foot of the Maine State Pier negatively affected the viability of the hotel project Procaccianti envisioned a block up the street. Procaccianti had not asked for a tax break to build its $100 million-plus hotel/condo complex, but both teams bidding to build a hotel at the pier site are requesting financial assistance from the city, including property tax breaks.

Patrick

04-21-2007, 07:34 AM

maybe they could just rennovate jordan's meats and call it "The condos at Jordan's."

grittys457

04-21-2007, 08:54 AM

The Meatvillage at Jordangate

grittys457

04-23-2007, 12:27 PM

The demolished Breakaway building. This is where the Eastern Waterfront garage will be built.

http://bp2.blogger.com/_whZWNilxIz8/RieoJ1Euk0I/AAAAAAAAAEY/UPqWO-JqDsw/s1600-h/braek.jpg

grittys457

04-25-2007, 08:58 PM

New Forecaster has article on how the Westin is officially dead. They are looking to build offices and hope for someone to take the other part of the land to build a modest hotel, like Embassy Suites.

There is a sign up now if front of the Riverwalk garage, like there is in front of Intermed. Didn't see it until tonight but it still looked good. Looked like they might have changed the style a bit. That area is in full mode right now. Everything is getting busted down. Said there will be an official groundbreaking for the garage, I think, tomorrow.

Patrick

04-26-2007, 07:35 AM

PORTLAND ? The Rhode Island-based development group that six months ago axed a plan to build a 250-room high-end hotel and 97 luxury condominiums is back with a new, dramatically scaled-back proposal for the former Jordan?s Meats plant property.

The Procaccianti Group, through a Virginia branch of commercial real estate broker CB Richard Ellis, is marketing a portion of the property at 38 India St. as a ?hotel development opportunity.?

According to promotional material, the developer plans to subdivide the property and build an office building on slightly more than half an acre at the corner of Franklin Arterial and Fore Street. The remaining 1.75 acres is suggested for development as a mid-range hotel along the lines of an Embassy Suites, with 180 rooms and surface or underground parking for 80 cars.

Procaccianti won approval in November 2005 to build a Westin Hotel and Residences, with condominiums priced from $550,000 to $5 million. But nearly a year later, the former Jordan?s Meat plant remained standing, while the surrounding parking lot turned into a lease lot for downtown workers.

In October 2006, after months of dodging inquiries about the delayed start of construction, Procaccianti applied for a one-year extension for its project and put the site and the project up for sale. The developer paid $6 million for the meat factory, which was closed by Tyson Foods in 2005. The property is valued at $3.1 million by the city.

The developer is already in preliminary discussions with Portland Planning Department staff to subdivide the property. The land covers one square block, with the exception of a corner building at Middle Street and Franklin Arterial, which houses businesses and the Pepper Club and Hugo?s restaurants.

Procaccianti spokesman Ralph Izzi said in October that the company was taking time to re-evaluate the real estate market in Portland. He said Procaccianti was considering adding office space to the project.

Izzi did not return a call for comment this week. Lee Urban, the city Planning Department director, also did not respond to requests for comment.

The Westin project was one of three major projects proposed for the Eastern Waterfront in 2005. The others are both still in the works. Riverwalk, a mixed-use development slated for the eastern end of Commercial Street and India Street, has its approvals. A groundbreaking for the accompanying Longfellow Parking Garage is scheduled for Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

That garage is expected to provide parking for several nearby projects, including the city?s Ocean Gateway terminal and a proposed Marriott Residence Inn, at the corner of Fore Street and Hancock Street Extension. Another project, the 170-unit Village at Ocean Gate condominiums, is still before the Planning Board.

The city-owned Maine State Pier could also be redeveloped into a major mixed-use project, if the City Council votes to approve leasing the 85-year-old pier to one of two developers vying for the opportunity.

Kate Bucklin can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or kbucklin@theforecaster.net.

Patrick

05-03-2007, 08:38 AM

Gargae seen as catalyst for development

PORTLAND ? Four years in the making, developers and city and city and state officials held a celebration April 26 to mark the beginning of construction of the 720-space Ocean Gateway parking garage.

The garage is one element of the Riverwalk development, a $100 million condominium and retail complex planned for land along India and Commercial streets. Once known as ?The Longfellow Residences,? the project has been renamed ?The Watermark.?

The parking garage is expected to supply spaces for the city?s new Ocean Gateway cruise-ship terminal, island residents and several Eastern Waterfront projects still in the pipeline.

Riverwalk developer Drew Swenson told the 80 or so people gathered in a tent he expects to break ground on the condominium and retail portions of the development this summer.

?This has been a long road,? Swenson said. ?Nothing this important and good ever happens quickly.?

Swenson teamed up with Shipyard Brewing Co. founder Fred Forsley and Boston venture capitalists Steve Brackett and Alexander Spaulding to create Riverwalk LLC. Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. is also a partner in the development, as is the city of Portland, which sold the waterfront land to Riverwalk.

Gov. John Baldacci was among the guests Thursday. He lauded Riverwalk for its commitment to using union labor.

?This will have many ripple benefits,? the governor said.

The Ocean Gateway parking garage is expected to be completed in a year.

cneal

05-03-2007, 12:43 PM

Some photos of the revised Village at Ocean Gate proposal on this blog post:

http://vigorousnorth.blogspot.com/2007/04/india-is-new-exchange_27.html

You might also be interested in a new blog from GrowSmart Maine. The latest post has some news about the Dunstan Crossing neighborhood development in Scarborough:

http://www.growsmartmaine.org/blog/

Patrick

05-04-2007, 10:20 AM

Excellent information. where did you take a picture in City Hall of those renderings?

cneal

05-04-2007, 01:48 PM

In the planning department - their office is on the fourth floor at the west end of the building. Files on all they city's major construction projects and proposals are available for public viewing there.

I've been meaning to go back to see the proposals for Oak Street and the hotel proposed on Fore St. in the Eastern Prom, but haven't had the time.

Patrick

05-04-2007, 02:18 PM

whoa, never knew that. I'll have to swing by sometime. Thanks for the info.

grittys457

05-21-2007, 12:36 PM

They are putting in the big floor windows at Custom House today. The building really looks sharp from the corner next to Fore St. restaurant. Very glassy corner. Looks like they'll have the exterior finished this week.

Patrick

05-21-2007, 03:26 PM

The building looks great.

grittys457

08-01-2007, 01:58 PM

Can't write in detail cause I gotta get to work. New Forecaster talks of the new plans submitted for the Jordan's site. It will now be a Starwood Element hotel, long stay. It will be 8 stories and the other part will still have condos but only about 50ish. Still tons of space for retail and restaurants. I don't understand this, but it says that on the sketch part of it was 138 feet. On an 8 story hotel?

Patrick

08-01-2007, 03:03 PM

Thanks for the update

residential floor heights are smaller than commercial floor heights

that sounds about right

also, remember the structure will need to be taller than the pier development, which could block views

grittys457

08-15-2007, 09:07 PM

The new Forecaster says that The Watermark(riverwalk condos) will have a groundbreaking tomorrow, Thursday. They also said that due to high construction costs they have axed the office building part of it and have put it up for sale. I think that's the part they were going to add on right to the garage.

www.thewatermarkportland.com

has been updated but no pics of the buildings. As long as that main part of it stays the same, I'm fine with it.

Patrick

08-16-2007, 10:54 AM

portlandneedsnewarena

08-16-2007, 12:43 PM

Patrick

08-16-2007, 12:48 PM

I'm glad this development is moving forward; its buildings like these that make Portland a destination city

places like Bayside are interesting for locals, but not for tourists
The Watermark is just right for the Old Port

You can view some nice drawings/renderings of Watermark at www.architecturalteam.com , WHAT'S NEW , Residential. Nice looking development.

Also, I talked to an individual last evening in the Portland commercial property development business and he scoffed at the idea that Waterview (Jeff Cohen's gem) will ever be built. After all why would Cohen be selling the Parking Garage that he bought specifically for Waterview.

those are not up to date renderings
the design was changed according to the forecaster
also, why would Waterview LLC file for a year more time to build if they had no intentions to?

portlandneedsnewarena

08-16-2007, 02:16 PM

Patrick

08-16-2007, 02:57 PM

The council complained the building was too ornate and requested some changes to the exterior

portlandneedsnewarena

08-17-2007, 10:17 AM

Patrick

08-17-2007, 10:25 AM

portlandneedsnewarena

08-17-2007, 01:29 PM

The council complained the building was too ornate and requested some changes to the exterior
Actually, yesterday we received a full set of architectural drawings for Watermark. It has changed from the renderings shown on Architectural Team's website. It's still a fairly substantial and aesthetically pleasing project.

has the size remained the same?

I don't understand how something could be too ornate for the old Port.

6 stories high, large U - shaped building w/ an approx. 35' x 100' 6 story section coming off of the midpoint of one of the legs of the U-shape. Also, the 3 story existing "Grand Trunk" building connects to the Watermark w/ a small skywalk.
With this development, the Starwood Element Hotel/Condo project and the Maine State Pier Development happening all within the next couple of years this section of the City is going to be a happening place.
Now all the city needs is an new 10,000 seat Arena, a Convention Center and a 20 story high-rise (similar to Joe Bolous's idea).

Patrick

08-23-2007, 07:25 AM

I thought this development would have 250 condominium units but yesterday' forecatser said only 122?

grittys457

08-23-2007, 12:43 PM

I don't think they ever had 250 planned. Not in a building that short.

I can't believe it's not going to be done until the end of 2009. Come on. They were putting up a floor a day on the Empire State Building 80 years ago. Stuff takes too damn long here.

Patrick

08-23-2007, 08:12 PM

are you sure

I remember 250 units for one of the projects in that area and it wasn't the westin

Patrick

09-05-2007, 08:39 PM

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/6769/dsc05883xd8.jpg

Corey

09-19-2007, 08:47 AM

That's a nice unique angle. Despite the less-than-beautiful appearance of that building, it doesn't look too out of place there to me.

grittys457

09-19-2007, 01:32 PM

Thank God they finally painted that thing. It was the ugliest building in the whole city. Now it looks like new condos even though it's pretty old.

Patrick

09-22-2007, 08:29 PM

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/includes/global2/cms/pph/070921/photos/962036-l.jpg

grittys457

10-07-2007, 01:06 PM

The Village at Oceangate has turned 56 Market st into a sample condo. There was an open house today and there are pics in the windows of what they will look like. Very bland and short and bricky. Too bad since the first Village plans were big and pretty nice.

grittys457

10-12-2007, 09:38 PM

A new condo strategy in Old Port

MATT WICKENHEISER

October 12, 2007

The building at Market and Milk streets was home to the Moose
Alley Saloon and Squire Morgan's for a while, and Molly's
Steakhouse and Irish Pub for a bit, but has been empty and
occasionally covered in graffiti for years.

In the Old Port, where churn and change seem to be the
bywords, this central storefront has stayed stubbornly empty.

But today, artwork of sea life hangs on the walls of a room that's
outfitted with a dark-wood, heavy bureau and a bed, covers
turned down. Stylish tables sit in other rooms, and chrome
appliances grace a kitchen space.

It could be a furniture store. Or a design shop. Or high-end
office space. Instead, it appears to be something new for the Old
Port.

It's actually a model unit for the Bayhouse development, a condo
complex planned for the Village Cafe site at Newbury, Hancock
and Middle streets.

The Village Cafe's still there, and no shovel has touched earth.
Groundbreaking, in fact, is pegged for next spring. But the
developers -- Village at Ocean Gate LLC, made up of Boston
firms GFI Residential and Atlas Investment Group -- put this
model unit into the heart of the Old Port to serve as a local sales
office.

It's a common tactic at housing subdivisions -- a model house
will go up first so potential buyers can check it out. But it's less
common for a city condo development that is not even under
construction.

"Buyers have a hard time visualizing something that's not yet
built. Buyers today want to look, touch, feel," said Demetrios
Dasco, the managing partner overseeing the project. "This is the
exact layout. There's minor, minor differences --but this is the
size, the ceiling height, etc."

This model is one of the two-bedroom versions that would cost
around $370,000. The model includes features such as a patio
(displayed indoors, of course), a fireplace and a high-end
bathroom (BIG shower stall, tile -- so very).

One-bedroom units will go for around $270,000, and some
larger two-bedroom condos will be priced in the mid-$400,000
range.

Phase One will include two buildings, with 84 units on four
floors above a retail level, all over an underground parking
garage. The developers want to go back to the city for Phase
Two approval, which would include 54 units.

Dasco said his firm has used this model-unit strategy
successfully in other cities. And in the current condo
environment, any edge will help.

There are a number of competing projects in the city, either
planned or under way, and the housing market nationally is
having ... issues.

"The way the market is, they have to work harder and be more
creative," said Lee Urban, Portland's planning and development
director.

Urban was unaware of the developer's Old Port unit --in fact, he
said he never had heard of the storefront strategy for selling
condos.

"I think that is a very creative idea. It lets people just walk on by
and catch their interest, which might not otherwise have
existed," said Urban. "It is the most convenient opportunity to
check out housing when you might not otherwise be interested
in housing."

Dasco is confident that the project will be popular and will move
ahead as planned.

The model went live this week. The local brokers, Town & Shore,
had an open house for other brokers and drew about 30 of their
colleagues. Some brought clients back. One client put down a
$1,000 refundable "reservation" for a unit.

Brokers will be at the sales office during the week and will have
open houses on weekends, and the Web site,
www.bayhouseportland.com, just went live.

The goal, Dasco said, is to have about 12 or 15 sales chalked up
before breaking ground.

"Check with me in the next week or so. I think we'll be doing
pretty good," he said.

Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or
at:

mwickenheiser@pressherald.com

cneal

11-05-2007, 03:35 PM

New renderings for the Bayhouse condos (Village Cafe site):
http://www.bayhouseportland.com/images/22_large.jpg
http://www.townandshore.com/resource/image/image_viewer.php?id=4780&cache

...and the Watermark website has been updated with a section of building renderings:
http://www.thewatermarkportland.com/gallery.html

The future view down Fore Street:
http://www.thewatermarkportland.com/images/gallery/render_lg_0.jpg

Corey

11-06-2007, 11:05 AM

I enjoy them both very much. I would just love a unit with a balcony in the watermark.

grittys457

11-14-2007, 12:43 PM

Nice pics. Did you take them from the rooftop garden bar at the Westin?

I read on a food forum that Village Cafe cancelled people's reservations near Christmas. I would have to assume that means they must be ready to smash it down.

cneal

04-15-2008, 03:22 PM

The proposed condo buildings in the neighborhood may be stalled indefinitely, but there is one building under construction besides the massive parking garage. This is going to be an extended-stay hotel, on the corner of Fore and the rebuilt extension of Hancock Street - right next to the Shipyard brewery and the new garage:

http://www.bayhouseportland.com/marriott.jpg

This came from the website for the Bayhouse condos (proposed for the Village Cafe site). They have an interactive map of the area's proposed developments (http://www.bayhouseportland.com/devmap.html), including this rendering associated with the Jordan Meats plant. Is this an updated proposal, or another view of the failed Westin idea?

http://www.bayhouseportland.com/procaccianti.jpg

grittys457

04-15-2008, 04:42 PM

The second pic is the old westin plan.

"The proposed condo buildings in the neighborhood may be stalled indefinitely,"

Are you talking about Riverwalk? Please don't tell me you've heard something about that no being built. Why would they spend the money to do the garage if they weren't going to make money off of the condos/retail?

I had never seen that first pic you posted. Is that the Marriot?

cneal

04-15-2008, 07:59 PM

Yes, the first image is the new hotel under construction.

I believe that the Watermark developers were required to build the garage as part of their agreement with the city to acquire the land for development - the city wanted it open in time for the opening of the cruise ship terminal next door.

These guys aren't going to build a luxury condo building on speculation in this market. I'd expect that they're going to wait until they have deposits on most of the units before they begin construction, and in this housing market, that will probably at least a year from now. They've invested a lot in the plan, the garage, and the land already, and the project will happen eventually. But they're not going to sink millions of dollars more into building, maintaining, and paying taxes on a half-empty building. Same goes for the Bayhouse, which seems to be marketing itself more aggressively around town - that one is also slightly more affordable, so it may have a better chance of starting before Watermark does.

I suspect that the Watermark developers are more likely to begin construction on their planned office building next to the garage, on India Street, first. But they'll also want to secure leases for most of that space before they begin, and that's also looking less likely in the face of a recession.

grittys457

04-15-2008, 09:42 PM

The hotel is bigger looking than I thought it would be. Do they just recycle the same plans for buildings down there? That's pretty bland. Reminds me a little of the Portwalk project in Portsmouth but that one looks much better.

Any word on what businesses are going in the parking garage? Should be open in a few months and I'm sure they want the retail open as soon as possible.

Corey

04-16-2008, 10:41 AM

I'm sure it will include a dunkin or starbucks. :-P

I also noticed that all the designs, both in progress and ones that have been scrapped, look exactly the same.

I think there is a lot of potential for creating some sort of 'destination' in this area. Sure, hotels are great, but I think eventually we will have too many hotels and not enough attractions to draw people to town long enough to merit staying at a hotel. The old port is great but it's quite small.

I still think an aquarium in Portland would be cool, but then again we had to downsize the indoor public market and abandon the lovely building that once housed it because it didn't perform well enough. I just think we need some genuine attractions. Maybe a casino? downtown mall? amusement park? (random ideas)

grittys457

04-16-2008, 07:57 PM

Dowtown mall? No, we wouldn't want people coming intown to spend money, that would be a crime. Instead my options of buying a pair of jeans start at 100 bucks a pair down there now. You know, for the common folk.

Yeah, there isn't much to hold people's attention in the old port. Sure there are great restaurants and people can go on duckboats, but then what? Having a kid now I realize how unfriendly to kids it is. Seriously, where would you take kids to eat down there? Margarita's?

On a side note, thebollard.com says that Waterview might be alive again, in the original 12 story form. Yeah sure.

Lrfox

04-16-2008, 08:09 PM

A downtown mall with some upscale shopping would be a smart move. As it is, there's really no upscale shopping in the Portland area. It would also put proposals for a dumb upscale Westbrook glorified outlet center with an ice skating rink to rest.

Margaritas is kid friendly; especially the one next to the civic center. I went out there on friday with some youngsters at 10:30pm (long story short, we were at an "event" which went later than I thought it would and everyone was hungry... I don't normally take kids out to eat at 10:30 on a friday night) and the hostess put us in the upstairs dining area where it really is quiet and kid friendly. Other than Margaritas, I don't know.

I know I will never return to Cinque Terre- mediocre "Italian" food in an even more mediocre setting and poor service. Kid friendly, it is not. Hey, there's always the children's museum.

grittys457

04-16-2008, 09:28 PM

You're better off going to Ribolitta for Italian. I actually like Cinque Terre's sister restaurant next door, Vignola. Perhaps it's more for the atmoshere and style of the place.

I at least hope some of these retail spaces in the "New Port" are a little more upscale but not these crazy upscale places that are overboard expensive. Seriously, can we just get a plain old Gap down here so I can pick up some t-shirts and maybe a pair of emergency jeans if I need them?

grittys457

05-28-2008, 08:16 PM

New Forecaster that came out today says that Ocean Properties bought the Jordan Meats site. They didn't reveal their plans. OP is the company that lost to Olympia for the maine state pier project. Ocean Properties has deep deep pockets and connections and they will do nothing less than grand at that site I'm sure. Can't wait to see what it is.

Corey

05-29-2008, 02:22 PM

That's good to hear, The Jordan's factory is a sad sight. I wonder what it looks like inside an abonded hot dog factory?

And yeah, a Gap would be good for emergency jeans haha.

grittys457

05-31-2008, 11:52 AM

From the website for the Bayhouse

NEWS
Village Cafe Demolition: JUNE 2!

Sweet

grittys457

06-09-2008, 01:05 PM

The steel is going up now for the Marriot hotel.

Also, almost all the glass has been put in the garage next door. I really love how the first floor retail is all curved glass. Looks very very sharp.

The Maine Medical garage is almost 100% done. I really like the first floor glass retail area on congress street for it. I'm pretty sure the planning board made them do that. Not sure who would want to go in that spot. Maybe a coffee shop of some sorts.

Lastly, as reported on local food blogs, Andrew Zimmern and the Bizarre Foods crew were filming in Portland this past weekend. The episode will air on the Travel Channel in August. Most national coverage of Portland, good news.

SHAZBAT73

06-19-2008, 09:02 AM

Riverwalk hits a snag....

from the Press Herald:

Portland fears lawsuit could derail parts of Riverwalk plan

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y162/shazbat73/1543101-l.jpg

The contested ownership of a parking garage might jeopardize commercial and residential projects in the East End.

By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Staff Writer

June 19, 2008

The Ocean Gateway parking garage project is nearing completion, and city officials say they have been assured it will open early next month.A partner's lawsuit might jeopardize plans by Riverwalk LLC to build a $100 million residential and commercial development in Portland's East End.

The lawsuit contests ownership of a 720-space parking garage, construction of which was sought by the city to spur redevelopment on the eastern waterfront.

Portland officials say Riverwalk partners have assured them that the $12 million parking garage is nearly finished and will open by early July.

But city officials say they are concerned that a disagreement between the developers and their financial backers may further delay or derail the remainder of the project, which includes 116 luxury condominiums, a five-story office building and a 40-unit apartment building.

"This project is really the centerpiece to the redevelopment of the eastern waterfront," City Manager Joseph Gray Jr. said Wednesday. "We understand that the real estate market is down, but we certainly hope they can resolve this lawsuit in a timely manner and resume their project as planned."

Fred Forsley, owner of Shipyard Brewing Co. and a partner in Riverwalk, filed the lawsuit against his Riverwalk partner, Drew Swenson, and Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., the Boston firm that agreed to finance the project. The suit was filed March 27 in Cumberland County Superior Court.

In the lawsuit, Forsley claims ownership of the parking garage, which is being built on brewery land at Middle, Hancock and Fore streets. A purchase agreement signed in September 2006 identifies Forsley as the future owner of the garage, according to the lawsuit.

Forsley disputes a Dec. 6 memorandum of agreement, signed by Swenson and Paul Nasser, Intercontinental's chief financial officer, which they claim changes the terms of the purchase agreement.

The memo conveys 95 percent of Riverwalk's assets to Intercontinental and gives the Boston firm 50 percent ownership of the parking garage. Forsley claims he never authorized the action outlined in the memo.

Forsley declined to comment Wednesday but his attorney, George Marcus of the Portland law firm Marcus, Clegg & Mistretta, issued a written statement.

"Mr. Forsley is not in a position to comment on the allegations of the complaint because of the pending litigation," Marcus wrote. "The issues raised by the complaint should not be interpreted as any lessening of Mr. Forsley's long-standing commitment to the successful development of the Ocean Gateway area in Portland. Mr. Forsley looks forward to being an integral player in this important development process."

Marcus said no court date is pending on the lawsuit.

Swenson and Nassar didn't return calls for comment.

The Portland City Council selected Riverwalk to build the parking garage through a competitive bidding process that attracted three other proposals. The garage was planned to serve the Ocean Gateway cruise-ship terminal, which opened in May, and other redevelopment anticipated on the eastern waterfront.

The Riverwalk plan covers a four-acre, two-block area that includes an acre of former city land at the extensions of Commercial and Hancock streets. The council agreed to sell the city land to Riverwalk for $885,000 in 2005.

The deal included a special zoning contract and a $5 million property tax break over 13 years. The city started rezoning the area in 2001 to promote commercial and residential redevelopment.

Gray said Swenson informed city officials last week that a management company has been lined up to operate the garage and that it will open around July 1. According to a lease agreement, 310 spaces in the new garage will be available to islanders.

However, island representatives say they've had little success contacting the developers to secure spots in the garage. They also say many of their neighbors cannot afford a monthly rental rate that's expected to top $100 per space.

In the past, islanders paid $50 to $75 per month to park on vacant city land that's now part of the Ocean Gateway complex.

"Many of us are beginning to feel the squeeze of this recession," said Michael Langella, chairman of the Peaks Island Advisory Council. "We already pay about 30 percent more for everything, and now this. Our way of life is increasingly under threat."

On Monday, the council approved a plan to issue parking stickers to islanders so they can park for free in 55 parking spaces on Thames and Hancock streets.

Patrick

07-02-2008, 05:38 PM

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/4548/dsc07215sp0.jpg
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/954/dsc07221wo6.jpg
http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/631/dsc07222ry2.jpg

Patrick

07-02-2008, 05:39 PM

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2967/dsc07225bf5.jpg

Patrick

07-02-2008, 05:41 PM

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/9646/dsc07228ag5.jpg

Patrick

07-02-2008, 05:44 PM

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/3395/dsc07229hr4.jpg

Patrick

07-02-2008, 05:45 PM

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/1699/dsc07230js8.jpg

Patrick

07-02-2008, 05:46 PM

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/3551/dsc07232wg8.jpg

grittys457

07-10-2008, 08:23 PM

I know it's already known that Riverwalk is in trouble, but if you look next to the garage where the office was going to go, they have sodded and grassed it all. Guess they're not planning to build anything on it anytime soon. I don't even think any of the retail spaces at the garage have been leased. I think the garage and those glass retail spots look great though.

Corey

07-11-2008, 06:52 AM

I agree, it's very nice as far as garages go. It's surprinsgly large in person. I think this should do it as far as parking in the area. I often feel like Portland has a lot of garages but I guess every city does.

Lrfox

07-11-2008, 04:42 PM

^I've noticed that too. Most cities have plenty of garages, but Portland has noticeably more than most cities of comparable size that I've visited.

Matt68

07-11-2008, 09:50 PM

Thanks for the pictures Patrick. I too like the look of the new garage and I hope retail fills in around the garage to give the area vitality and further enhance the building.

ConstantlyInTransit

11-13-2008, 11:50 AM

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=221774&ac=PHnws

Portland to sue state over pier dispute

The city seeks ownership of the sea floor, trying to clear up an issue that has halted planned redevelopment.

By MATT WICKENHEISER Staff Writer
November 13, 2008

The city of Portland will sue the state to secure ownership of the sea floor beneath the Maine State Pier - an issue that has halted the redevelopment project planned for the property.

The city has maintained it owns the submerged land beneath the pier, but Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe contends the property belongs to the state.

The City Council's Community Development Committee recommended Wednesday night that Portland terminate negotiations with The Olympia Cos., the developer the city had picked for the project.

Olympia wouldn't begin to spend at least $500,000 in due diligence work while the title to the land remained in question.

Olympia President Kevin Mahaney said at a City Hall press conference this morning that the potential financial risk to his company was too great going forward with an unresolved title to the submerged land.

City Attorney Gary Wood said this morning that Portland would proceed with legal action against the state to clear up the title, and a lawsuit would be filed by January. He said a resolution in the case could take between a year and 18 months.

City Councilor Cheryl Leeman said the new City Council, to be seated Dec. 1, would have to choose how to proceed with the project. Several options exist, said Leeman. The Council could put it out for another request for proposals. It could see if Ocean Properties, which lost the bid for the project, would take on the development. It could sign the master development agreement with Olympia, with the understanding that no work be done until the title is cleared. Or it could do nothing, she said.

And Mainebiz's slightly more severe, brief take on the story: http://www.mainebiz.biz/news43736.html

Corey

11-16-2008, 05:32 PM

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/2685/const22pl9.jpg

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5202/const20zr5.jpg

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8675/const21ud0.jpg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/4996/const23wh3.jpg

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/4263/const24tf9.jpg

Josh

11-16-2008, 05:47 PM

Great pics! Is that the hotel?

SHAZBAT73

11-17-2008, 05:10 PM

It's pretty sad when the parking garage is the tallest building in the area! Thanks for the pics!

portlandneedsnewarena

01-16-2009, 10:08 AM

cneal

01-17-2009, 07:50 AM

Sorry, "needsanewarena," but Councilors Donoghue and Marhsall ("those two green party dudes") have actually been two of the most proactive, pro-development councilors on the Council: they've supported measures like the loosening of parking requirements, which will make future residential development easier to happen, and they've been key to advancing economic development efforts in Bayside and elsewhere.

The most serious blame for the Maine State Pier mess lies with the Councilors who proposed the project in the first place, in cahoots with well-connected politicians: that's primarily ex-councilor Jim Cloutier, who was justly fired last year, as well as Councilors Duson, Skolnik, and Waxman (the latter two made shilling for Ocean Properties the keystone of their "public service" careers, and they've got some serious egg on their faces now).

The economics for putting a big hotel and office building on an unstable pier in the ocean were always questionable; any politician who honestly believed it could happen in this economic climate is too ignorant of financial issues to lead our city.

Worse, the whole MSP fiasco distracted our city, its developers, and our planning resources from neighborhoods where this kind of development is more economical and realistic: places like the Eastern Waterfront (which is still mostly empty) and Bayside.

When Jim Cloutier, Dory Waxman, and Jill Duson offered preferential treatment to Ocean Properties to develop a huge hotel and office complex on city property, that sent a clear message to other private-sector developers that it would be difficult for them to compete, and that they should hold off on building their own projects on private land.

But now that the MSP chimera is (hopefully) gone, maybe Portland can finally focus on REAL development projects.

grittys457

01-18-2009, 06:47 PM

I certainly didn't vote for the two green party guys, but they have actually done a really good job for the most part. CNeal was right saying they have been very pro development.

I mentioned this on the pressherald website, but the failure of this should almost force the city to allow the hotel/retail development next door on the waterfront that is being proposed. How the hell could you say no to somebody offerering to do a 50 million dollar job right now?

grittys457

01-26-2009, 08:27 PM

I was driving up India street today and I peeked over to the new hotel and I was like when did that happen? The last pic that Corey posted above shows the back corner of the hotel. That is all completely glass now. I wasn't expecting that. I thought it was going to be all brick but it looks really good. Kinda like the Fore Street building that is all glass behind Old Port Sea Grill.

Corey

01-27-2009, 08:22 AM

Sounds interesting, I will have to check it out sometime. Havent been on that side of the Franklin Arterial/Street in several months.

Corey

04-27-2009, 05:53 AM

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4527/waterfront1.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5465/waterfront2a.jpg

SHAZBAT73

05-03-2009, 02:12 AM

Why is it that in this area of the city (including the Custom House area) the parking garages are the tallest structures around? Does this appear to be a little odd?

Corey

05-04-2009, 05:25 AM

It is certainly disappointing for us urban enthusiasts. Portland should put a moratorium on any more parking garages. Maybe I can handle one more in Bayside if something gets built there but that's the last one.

Josh

06-19-2009, 07:35 PM

Unless its a cool underground one ;)

Corey

06-24-2009, 07:56 PM

The Marriott Residences, earlier today (Not sure if the windows really have a purple tint or if my camera is messed up):

See the rock near the entrance?
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/91/86890939.jpg

It commemorates the fact that the building is built on the former site of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's former home/birthplace, FMI (http://vigorousnorth.blogspot.com/2008/04/longfellows-garbage.html).
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/1954/31377551.jpg\

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8286/13049255.jpg

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7686/25186207.jpg

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/3171/74698052.jpg

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pwmdt-residence-inn-portland-downtown-waterfront/

grittys457

06-24-2009, 09:33 PM

Corey, you need to snap a pic of the Marriot lit up at night. Looks really good, especially the windows and the front entrance.

Josh

06-25-2009, 05:04 PM

That building looks great! Great pictures!

Corey

08-16-2009, 06:09 PM

Other than the Marriott (which does look sharp at night, as Grittys mentioned), the lots on both sides of the parking garage remain empty and quiet. At least they are all cleared for when the economy gets back on track and someone decides to build something.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8070/marriotteasternwaterfro.jpg

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7652/easternwaterfrontconstr.jpg

Patrick

08-16-2009, 08:39 PM

I think the area looked much better before the neighborhood that used to be there was raised and cleared. The houses were dense and the trees and landscape was mature. I was looking through a history book on Portland and thought the neighborhood all in all was better the way it used to be. I think in Portland's current renewal/redevelopment efforts, a greater focus should be concentrated on adding downtown housing stock. Although it would be neat to fill the area up with tall buildings, I think the best features of Portland stem directly from its vibrant neighborhoods.

On a side note, I just read today that exchange street used to be called fish street. I think probably the name change worked out to the tourism industry's advantage.

I think the city should follow through on its plan to rename marginal way to bayside avenue. The name change would do a bunch to invigorate the area. Marginal sounds so bleak and rundown. I also think the new office development there should all have been on the south side of the street, where planet fitness is, with the north side filled up not with student block housing but with rowhouses for affordable housing.

Now that I have officially changed topics in this post, has anyone read the Daily Sun this week. It mentions efforts in Bayside to create BID, the bayside improvement district, which is similar to the district currently in effect for downtown. essentially, a small increase in current property taxes would be used to make neighborhood improvements like additional sidewalks, trees, landscaping and trash barrels.

The Portland Daily Sun also had an article this week about a study on how to improve the neighborhhod of east deering. Good issue.

Patrick

08-16-2009, 08:59 PM

here are some more stories which may be of interest as well:
http://www.theportlanddailysun.com/cgi/story.pl?storyid=20090812027591000176

http://www.theportlanddailysun.com/cgi/story.pl?storyid=20090811017311000237

corey, this article (and the book itself) made me think of you, as I notice you are very into historical photo comparisons. Have you checked this out yet?
http://www.theportlanddailysun.com/cgi/story.pl?storyid=20090814037371000837

http://www.theportlanddailysun.com/cgi/story.pl?storyid=20090814047471000419

Patrick

08-16-2009, 09:15 PM

Corey

08-19-2009, 03:45 PM

something I'd like to see more of in the eastern waterfront, bayside, and the west end west of the prom is this type of neighborhood: http://urbanmilwaukee.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tnd-bayview-street-perspective.jpg

I'd be happy with that type of development, too

corey, this article (and the book itself) made me think of you, as I notice you are very into historical photo comparisons. Have you checked this out yet?
http://www.theportlanddailysun.com/cgi/story.pl?storyid=20090814037371000837

I received an advance copy of that book (see here (http://portlandmainedaily.blogspot.com/2009/07/ive-been-slacking-lately-but-i-have.html)) and I highly recommend it for people who enjoy that kind of stuff (the type of people that visit forums like this).

Josh

08-19-2009, 07:16 PM

I like that kind of neighborhood too. I love rowhomes. I think Portland should have multiple streets of rowhomes. Or even better, New York City style brownstones :cool:

Pipe dream, I know :rolleyes:

Patrick

08-20-2009, 09:32 AM

Once the economy sees an uptick, the bayhouse development should begin phase one. It would sort of look like the sort of housing we are talking about here. I rather like it, even though I initially wanted to see the larger, 10 story design implemented. I think Portland is known for quality tow houses (or at least it was) and this sort of design principle should be encouraged.

Patrick

02-26-2010, 11:33 AM

Plan for Jordan's site: hotel, condos
The developers also want to build a restaurant on the former meat-plant land, and hope to finish the project by mid-2011.

By Matt Wickenheiser mwickenheiser@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND ? Less than a month after buying the property, the owner of the former Jordan's Meats plant has submitted plans to build a hotel, a restaurant and condominiums on the site.

Old Port Hospitality LLC is proposing a 122-room Hampton Inn, an undisclosed restaurant with about 180 seats and 12 condo units on the lot bordered by Franklin Arterial and India, Middle and Fore streets.

''We are trying to get a hotel project in the ground for the spring,'' said Mark Woglom, who is a principal in Old Port Hospitality along with Greg Kirsch.

The goal would be to finish the project in a year, so the hotel and restaurant would be open for the tourism season in 2011, Woglom said.

Although he declined to put a value on the potential development, papers filed with the city and state say it is estimated to be a $15 million project.

Woglom and Kirsch are president and vice president, respectively, of Belmont, N.H.-based Opeechee Construction. They formed the company to buy the Jordan's Meats site, and closed the deal Feb. 1.

The new owners have declined to discuss the purchase price, but the real estate agent who handled the deal said at the time that the asking price was $4.75 million and they bought the property for less than that.

At the time, Woglom said they had no firm plans for the site, nor a timeline, citing the challenging economy.

On Thursday, Woglom said Old Port Hospitality has lined up financing from a small commercial bank, which he declined to identify. The firm has been granted the franchise for the Hampton Inn, which is part of the Hilton family of hotels.

Still, Woglom said, ''A lot of things have to happen any number of stumbling blocks could stop a project like this.''

Greg Mitchell, Portland's economic development director, said the firm's quick movement is ''a positive and encouraging sign.''

''This is reinforcement that the Portland economy is strong and can support additional hotel rooms and restaurant investment in a slower economy,'' Mitchell said.

According to the plans, the 1.74-acre site would be subdivided into two parcels. A six-story, 95,000-square-foot building would be built on a 0.66-acre parcel for the hotel, restaurant and condominiums. The rest of the property would be kept for future development.

The hotel would have 112 parking spots, plus 22 spaces for bicycles.

The developers still need state and city permits and approvals. Woglom said the proposed uses are all permitted under the city's zoning.

Opeechee has constructed buildings in Maine, including the AAA regional headquarters in Portland, Hampton Inns in Augusta, Bath and Ellsworth, the Comfort Suites in Biddeford, the Comfort Inn & Suites and Homewood Suites in Scarborough, and the Holiday Inn Express in Freeport.

Old Port Hospitality bought the former meat-packing plant from The Procaccianti Group of Rhode Island, which paid $6 million for the property after Jordan's Meats closed in 2005.

Procaccianti planned to build a Westin Hotel and 97 luxury condos on the site, but never moved ahead after getting city approval.

Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:

mwickenheiser@pressherald.com

Just for some reference, here are what the ugly hampton inns look like in their more urban form
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/0f/b8/3a/hampton-inn-boston-cambridge.jpg
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/0f/b8/3a/hampton-inn-boston-cambridge.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/res17zef/hampton.jpg
http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/tennessee/nashville/hampton-inn-suites-nashville-downtown.jpg
http://images.gta-travel.com/HH/Images/US/HEAH/HEAH-HAM-1.jpg

Corey

02-26-2010, 12:04 PM

I was just looking at some Hampton Inn design guides online. I'm guessing we will get the standard brick model on the upper right:

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/8885/12954382.jpg

grittys457

02-26-2010, 08:33 PM

The one with the curved side looks pretty urban and meant for a city. Actually look a bit like the curved corner of the westin that was going to go there.

Really interested to see what the restaurant will be. At first you might be thinking that the Marriot down there is going "oh shit", but they are completely different hotels and getting that area developed can only help the Marriot and everything over there. Seriously, are they ever going to even lay a floor down in the eastern waterfront garage retail space? It's seriously still dirt inside of it.

Corey

02-27-2010, 10:21 AM

I've noticed the unfinished retail spaces too, Grittys. I assume they will get around to that once someone shows some interest in moving there. I think there would be more demand for those spaces than the ones in the new Maine Med garage.

bostonbred

02-27-2010, 07:58 PM

thes renders is UGLIE!!!

Patrick

02-27-2010, 11:59 PM

Yeah a lot of projects are not being completed right now until there is demand for them because it just does not make sense to finish the interior of a project that isn't likely to be leased for some time. In South Portland the new condos in the Knightville neighborhood (large mixed use building) are almost all unfinished. I toured one of three finished units, which was in my opinion very overpriced, and was informed that no one else had signed up to move in and the other units would only be finished as buyers showed interest.

the size of the proposed hampton inn will be about 100,000 square feet. I plan on looking at the plans submitted to the city on Monday. are that many parking spaces really necessary with a garage right next door? especially one that was built for a project that was never completed? I guess half of the parcel is to be reserved for future development, of what I don't know.

Corey

03-01-2010, 11:43 AM

I guess half of the parcel is to be reserved for future development, of what I don't know.

That sounds like developer code for "surface parking lot for 10-30 years." I'll be happy with the Hampton Inn development as long as it isn't too ugly, doesn't have a huge parking garage, and doesn't take up the entire block.

I saw you are interested in the parks commission, Patrick. Sounds like a good opportunity. Make us (archboston) proud!

Patrick

03-01-2010, 02:20 PM

I just viewed the plans and the building doesn't look too bad, but its not a landmark.

SHAZBAT73

03-02-2010, 08:44 PM

It's really too bad that the new owners just don't run with the old plan, or at least the size and height that was already granted for the site. Even though the new plan is more affordable, I think the new developers need to aim higher! But, in the end, some progress is better than none...

Anyway, is there a way to show the new renderings here?

Patrick

03-02-2010, 09:25 PM

Yeah Shaz a taller building would have been nice, but whereas there is nothing really in this neighborhood to begin with this structure should still stand out as a noticeable change. It is very urban and brick looking. Not the highest quality, nor a landmark, but it is appropriate for the neighborhood in my opinion. It even includes a pedestrian walkway through the property with some landscaping and new urban streetlights like what you see in front of the marriot extended stay hotel down the street. The previous owners needed additional height to get views to make the condos more attractive, but now there are only 12 condos, as opposed to 100, so the extra space isn't needed. I would much rather see height downtown and in bayside than this neighborhood anyway and am happy with this structure as designed. It will also bring more foot traffic to the area that previously has been leaking to budget hotels in the suburbs. I was told the renderings would be online today, let me see if I can locate the pictures. If I do, I'll post them here.

Edit, I just looked. The planning board is scheduled to have a meeting on march 9th and the backup material to that meeting should include the renderings. Here is the link to the site, but it looks like the pics have not yet been scanned or added to the website yet. Keep checking back though they should be there soon. http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning.htm#Current_Backup_Material

http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning.html

Corey

03-05-2010, 07:01 AM

This seems to be an appropriate place to discuss this Press Herald article about Parking because it's has to do with the waterfront.

http://www.pressherald.com/news/parking-parking-everywhere_2010-03-04.html
Parking, parking everywhere (http://www.pressherald.com/news/parking-parking-everywhere_2010-03-04.html) As land-use policies along the harbor get new attention, some see potential for development in the sea of asphalt.

On the 15 piers between the Maine State Pier and the International Marine Terminal, there are 1,300 parking spaces in lots for commercial uses and lots bigger than 30,000 square feet. That doesn't include smaller clusters of parking for specific businesses, or parking garages and large lots nearby.

"We don't have a working waterfront," said Don Perkins, executive director of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. "We have a parking waterfront."

I thought it was a nice article. I comment in just about every other post I make about not wanting more parking garages. I have only lived car free for a couple of years so I'm not completely out of touch with car culture but I am obviously quite opinionated about the issue. I would be interested to hear about the topic from people who motor everywhere yet value the city on some level.

Patrick

03-05-2010, 10:52 AM

I use a car due to necessity not preference. The fact is its not as simple as making a choice. many of the decisions have already been made and are dictated upon us by the structures we have to navigate on our ways to and fro destinations. If things were closer together I would walk. Perhaps this works for people who live intown but its a non option for people who live off the peninsula, even in portland. sure the bus works, but people don't even carry change on them anymore, and if they buy monthly cards the schedule is irregular and takes time to figure out connections etc. If there was a regularly running free shuttle downtown I would take it. Many cities even some smaller than portland offer this option. I would be completely for abolishing parking on the waterfront and I would even go so far as to make all of the old port pedestrian only and ban cars altogether. However, part of the attractiveness of the old port is its mix of uses, which requires a professional presence of offices and other commercial entities, but the people who populate the upper floor businesses in the old port have schedules for which walking is not always the best option. It is tricky, but I think it requires a different built environment before we make the switch to no cars. of course, if the climate was different, I would bike a lot more places too, as I do in the summer.

Patrick

03-05-2010, 03:26 PM

I don't think parking should be a requirement of development EVER. city wide the parking requirements should be abolished. If a developer thinks his or her project would be viable without it, why require it? If the developer's project wouldn't be viable without it, they would propose a project with parking. Let the market decide. Stop mandating who has to have how much parking. There, problem solved.

Also, here are some particularly entertaining quotes from the article:

"A sea of cars," she said, "is not an attractive way to market the waterfront."

"We don't have a working waterfront," said Don Perkins, executive director of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. "We have a parking waterfront."

both true. People want a sea of water, not asphalt, and people want a working waterfront not a parking waterfront. What a waste of prime space.

Patrick

03-05-2010, 10:25 PM

The Hampton Inn Portland Waterfront and the Portside Residence Condos

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs512.snc3/26874_607973529080_6903714_36352422_1152033_n.jpg

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs492.ash1/26874_607973154830_6903714_36352408_7542868_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs512.snc3/26874_607973149840_6903714_36352407_3995436_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs512.snc3/26874_607973144850_6903714_36352406_3801739_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs512.snc3/26874_607973139860_6903714_36352405_4202409_n.jpg

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs512.snc3/26874_607973134870_6903714_36352404_3407682_n.jpg

Lrfox

03-06-2010, 01:18 PM

Yawn. The site deserves much better than that.

SHAZBAT73

03-06-2010, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the pics Patrick! Like Lrfox, I believe this site deserves more, but we might as well get used to this. Anyway, when does construction begin? This spring maybe?

Edit: This would look better with another story or two. I wonder if it is like this for quick review / passage in order to get construction moving ASAP?

Patrick

03-06-2010, 05:20 PM

There is a tight tenant driven deadline Shazbat. I don't know about the site "deserving" better than this project. We are lucky there is even a project at all. I can't think of too many other cities building hotels in this economy. The eastern portion of the site is reserved for two levels of structured parking beneath a commercial office building (but this is a later yet to be planned phase of the project). I think the site will be tremendously improved by this project and the fact that it is a hampton inn, although at first made me think suburban strip, doesn't seem to have been too bad after all. The building as proposed is built exactly to the maximum of current EWF zoning specs, and on the south side is even a bit taller than the 65 foot limit (the two sides' heights north and south are averaged to get total height). I like the look of this building, even if I'm not crazy about the parking lot for now. What else would go better there? A meat processing plant? We know that doesn't work, and we also know that luxury condos selling for 5 million don't work either. The westin would have been nice, granted, but I would much rather see this than nothing at all. Its not like Portland has a shortage of spaces to build, on the contrary the city is full of them. If the westin wants to come back, which this development will only encourage by making the city more of an attraction for ALL income levels, it is certainly welcome to buy another site. I think they could afford it. Overall I think this project is far better than anything we could have hoped for in this economic climate. The construction/clearing is supposed to start this spring, with the structure fully up and running in 2 years. Think about it like this, the building may not be an architectural masterpiece, but what new building in portland (or many other places for that matter) is? at least this will add structural mass, a restaurant, urban connectivity, street activity, lower income tourists (which currently stay in places outside of the city and thus divert their dollars to the mall and places like freeport) and additional residences. Could we ask for more, especially in this economic situation? This is a gift to the City.

Corey

03-10-2010, 06:55 AM

I can't see the pictures on the last page, but it might just be because I am at work. I look forward to seeing them eventually.

Story in the Herald today...

Hotel complex gets initial OK from Portland board (http://www.pressherald.com/news/hotel-complex-gets-initial-ok-from-city-board_2010-03-10.html)
One developer of the old Jordan's Meats site says Sebago Brewing plans to relocate there.

The hotel would have 92 parking spaces, Woglom said. The restaurant would have none, but Woglom noted that several parking garages are nearby, and development plans would create 16 to 18 new spaces on Fore Street.
According to the plans, the 1.74-acre site would be subdivided into two parcels. A six-story, 95,000-square-foot building would be built on a 0.66-acre parcel for the hotel, restaurant and condominiums. The rest of the property would be kept for future development.

And a good article on Munjoy Hill News Here (http://munjoyhillnews.com/2010/03/10/former-jordans-site-on-fast-track-for-development-sebago-brew-pub-old-port-to-be-restaurant-on-site/).

"Hill resident Jamie Parker said he found the proposed development ?generally favorable. The developers have paid attention to details. It?s a welcoming space.? But he did take issue with the lack of attention paid to Franklin Street in view of the recent work of the Franklin Street Study group. Parker went on to say he would like some interface on Franklin Street ? not just on Fore Street."

Sounds good all around.

I will also note that I really like Sebago Brewing and their current location is awesome. But I understand that they probably want a more modern facility that is built to their own wants and needs. I hope another classy place moves into their old spot.

grittys457

03-10-2010, 09:33 AM

I think it looks great from it's most important corner, the one where Sebago Brewing will be. The rest of the sides look like crap. It's just like Intermed, one great corner and that's it.
Where did you get the color pic of the building from? I'm on the planning board page and I only see the black and white.

Lrfox

03-10-2010, 09:33 AM

^I wonder a bit about the Sebago move? I, too, like them in their current location. It has a very cool feel to it (I loathe their Scarborough location). It's also a prime spot on Middle Street. I think relocating may be good for bringing more people to the other side of Franklin, but I question the motives (on their end... I know why the developers would want them). More space? The Middle Street location is pretty roomy when you consider the outdoor seating and downstairs. I thought the Maine Mall location was roomy enough too, but they built that joke of a space in Scarborough (it really feels like the interior of a cheaply built suburban home, not a pub) so what do I know?

For the record, how is the Hampton Inn dealing with parking? Is it surface parking, underground, or garage? Sebago doesn't need the spots (they never had parking downtown before and there's always plenty of street parking over there) anyway, but I'm just curious as to where it's going to be?

SHAZBAT73

03-10-2010, 09:34 AM

Sounds good! Does anyone know if there is going to be underground parking at the site? Or is all the parking going to be above ground? I read in the links above that there could be a future 2 level parking garage at the site.

grittys457

03-10-2010, 09:41 AM

I used to go to the Sebago intown quite a bit but barely go once a year now. It's really cramped like most places down there. Think they must have a vision for how they want all their places to be from now on. I'm also guessing their kitchen space is really outdated and small. Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, it's good that something is going into the hotel space that we already know guaranteed will be successful.

When they say outdoor cafe as well, does that mean just the outdoor seating for Sebago or is it maybe a coffeehouse like I read it?

grittys457

03-10-2010, 09:50 AM

nevermind, I found the color pics at the end

Lrfox

03-10-2010, 09:55 AM

nevermind, I found the color pics at the end

Is it a separate cafe or part of Sebago?

I never thought of the kitchen space. That makes a lot of sense. I do see the other side of it. It's tough to find big space downtown so the move probably makes sense. It will also open up a prime location (current space) for (hopefully) a new restaurant.

grittys457

03-10-2010, 11:00 AM

"Is it a separate cafe or part of Sebago?"

My bad, I just meant I found the color photos on the planning board site.

The black and white drawing has a better design than the colored one. The black and white one shows a more curved entrance and I like the upper windows better. Just drove by it a few minutes ago. Looking at the Marriot, it can't be any worse than that. I don't hate the Marriot, but again....for the tenth time, it only has one good angle.

Even though I go by there once a day or so, in my mind it was further away from the old port than it actually is. Bangor Savings and Fore st is right there across the street. Going to anything on the other side of Franklin always seems like an extra mile away.

Too bad they didn't have the office building project lined up yet. I'm sure hotel guests are really going to enjoy drilling and banging all day when that starts up.

Patrick

03-10-2010, 11:17 AM

The planning board is working with the developers to improve the looks a little bit and move one of the entrances to make the building more pedestrian friendly.

I think the outside seating is just for Sebago.

My only issue with the building is that coming down into town on Franklin it won't look like much. It will only look like a nice building from Fore street, which is not how most people will drive in. But then again, that is a very automobile centric view of me to take, I know. But I can't help but think people's first view of the city will be intermed's ugly backside and then the ugly backside of the hampton. If they could round off the middle street side as well that would be better in my opinion. However, the structure will be partially blocked on the northern side anyway, by the row building that currently exists behind Jordans.

The parking will not be underground or garage. It will be 93 surface parking spaces to the east of the structure. However, I spoke with Bill Needelman and he essentially said that is earmarked for phase two. As to what phase II will be, no one knows yet because there are no plans at the moment. It could be residential, but given the market that is unlikely. It will probably be a commercial office building, he said. Two levels of structured parking would then be incorporated into any later phase of the project. As to whether or not the project will materialize (phase II) the planner said that the developers basically paid too much to just have it sit there. They are just waiting for things to improve in the market and economy in general before proposing anything.

Dominic you were called an idiot on press herald comments for your point about rushing through a good looking building. I see both sides of the argument. You wouldn't want to rush through just any old thing, normally, but this is Portland. Portland is different. Its as if projects evaporate if they aren't shown enough support in the community because developers get frustrated, think things are pointless, and forget about their proposals. Portland is odd. There have been so many major projects proposed here yet so few actually come to fruition. A main reason is because they get delayed for so long that they are no longer viable. That is a common legal tactic of opponents of projects. delay delay delay. then the project sinks. I agree with you. This may not be the greatest architectural wonder of the world, but it sure beats a meat factory that has been abandoned and vandalized. From an urban planning perspective, this thing should have gone up the day before yesterday. From an architectural perspective, it could do better. I agree with you, gritty's, lets get this thing built and we can complain about it after.

grittys457

03-10-2010, 09:22 PM

They should just copy the plans for that Portwalk project in Portsmouth. Yeah, I don't think that dude on the press herald site knew what I was saying and why I was saying it, you do. It's like going to a bar and hitting on 8's and 9's all night. If it's 12:45 and a 6 starts talking to you.....well.....

Corey

03-11-2010, 05:42 AM

I can see the pictures now, and I have an overall positive impression. Looking forward to more details. I'll have to take some pictures of the hot dog factory before it bites the dust.

Good call Grittys. I agree.

Patrick

03-11-2010, 07:39 AM

Deep-water berth proposal welcomed

MATT WICKENHEISER

- By

Staff Writer

PORTLAND - City officials welcomed the news Wednesday that Gov. John Baldacci had proposed $8 million for a deep-water cruise ship berth for Portland Harbor in his $79 million bond package.

If approved by the Legislature and then by voters in June, the $8 million would fund a "mega-berth" at the city's Ocean Gateway Terminal. It would allow large cruise ships and other vessels to dock.

Such a deep-water pier was originally part of the Ocean Gateway project, but it wasn't built because the the project ran out of money.

The state asked for federal stimulus money to build the pier, but didn't get it.

"This is something we have been working on for some time, looking at different funding options," said City Manager Joe Gray. "This has benefits not only for the city, but also for the entire southern Maine region -- even to some extent, the entire state."

Last year, 45 cruise ships visited Portland, said Gray. This year, 75 have scheduled stops.

Large cruise ships now dock at the Maine State Pier. With a deep-water pier, the city could host two at once.

The new pier would accommodate a 1,200-foot-long ship. It would be a floating dock anchored in a section of the harbor known as the "deep hole" because it is dredged to about 80 feet.

It would be attached to the two concrete "dolphins" that once secured the floating drydock owned by Bath Iron Works, and to the 600-foot-long Ocean Gateway pier.

Cruise ship passengers disembark in Portland and visit Kennebunkport, Freeport and other areas as well as the city, said Gray. And cruise ships that visit Portland often visit other ports, such as Bar Harbor, Eastport and Rockland, he said. The new pier would allow those visits to continue.

Mayor Nicholas Mavodones Jr. said a deep-water pier could also be used by Navy ships, cargo ships and other vessels that need short-period home ports.

Many fiscal conservatives disagree with bonding to pay for infrastructure investment.

"I'm going to vote against any bond," said Steven Scharf, president of the Portland Taxpayers' Association. "I don't think any bonding should go out, period."

Gray said 96 construction jobs will be created if the pier funding passes. All pier permitting has been approved.

More ships would mean more work for members of the International Longshoremen's Association Local 861, said Jack Humeniuk, business agent for the 45-member union.

More ships also would mean more work for harbor pilots, and more business for other maritime businesses, he said.

"I think (Baldacci) saw the great market potential," said Humeniuk. "Hopefully the Legislature and the public see the same thing."

So, you want some say on next Veterans Bridge? Well, here?s your chance

ANN S

A series of meetings beginning today will let the public weigh in on details of the $63 million span that will replace the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

FOR MORE about this project, go to www.maine.gov/mdot/vmb/index.htm

The preliminary design was released last month. Input is being sought on the remaining details, including memorials to the military, landscaping around the approaches, the pedestrian-bicycle path and elements such as railings. The first meeting will be held in the South Portland City Council Chambers from 5 to 8 p.m. today.

Organizers plan to review the work done so far and distribute pictures of the bridge plan and options for elements such as lighting and concrete treatments to get the conversation under way, said Karen Gola, who will facilitate the meetings for T.Y. Lin International of Falmouth, the design firm on the project.

If there is time, the discussion of aesthetic treatments may begin.

The other meetings are scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. March 23 and 24. The locations have not yet been determined.

The Veterans Memorial Bridge, built in 1954, will be removed after the new one is finished. The timeline calls for the new bridge to open in July 2012.

The new four-lane bridge will have five "pavilions" -- portions where the concrete swings out in small arcs. Those areas will have concrete finishes that can come in various colors or stamped patterns. Benches, lighting fixtures and memorials will also be considered.

The concrete forming the bridge will be subject to architectural treatments that create patterns and textures, said Jeff Folsom, the Maine Department of Transportation's resident engineer on the project. The rendering shows stars at the top of the piers, but that is just a suggestion, he said.

"Sometimes they can simulate packed granite, like a granite block. Sometimes they're like a fluted concrete finish, a different texture than smooth formed concrete," Folsom said.

Although the meetings are meant to deal with details of the bridge, some groups hope to influence the larger design. The organizations were on a committee that provided input before the contract was awarded to T.Y. Lin and Reed & Reed Inc. of Woolwich, the contractor.

Norm Nelson, a member of the Greater Portland Landmarks board of trustees, is disappointed that the design didn't take a more imaginative approach.

"It's just an extension of (Interstate) 295. It's an off-ramp," said Nelson, who was on the committee.

Hilary Bassett, the organization's executive director, said beautiful design can be accomplished with the same resources. "We're not trying to put an add-on here," she said.

Christine Cantwell, who represented the Portland Society of Architects, said the critical site represents a high-stakes opportunity for Portland.

"We feel this is a gateway to the city and we feel it has the opportunity to have a sculptural presence," she said.

Corey

03-12-2010, 05:28 AM

In the future I'd like something that looks 'different' from the Hampton Inn, Marriott, and Bay House to be built in this area. The Bay House model unit is still up and site still says Fall 2011, hmmm. They must be starting construction if that is the case.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9207/bayhouseportlandmainema.jpg

Corey

08-11-2010, 05:22 PM

Reported on Munjoy Hill News (http://munjoyhillnews.com/2010/08/11/two-story-parking-garage-to-go-up-on-site-of-former-jordans-meats-in-6-8-weeks/) today:

Two Story Parking Garage To Go Up on Site of former Jordan?s Meats; In 6 ? 8 Weeks

Last night, the planning board approved a proposal by Opechee Construction Corp. for a two-level parking garage on the site of the former Jordan?s Meat plant. The approval was for 208 parking spaces. The first floor of 106 parking spaces will be accessed from Fore Street. The 102 space upper parking deck is accessed through a two-lane drive on Middle Street.

....

As on July 13th, board members again last night expressed concern as to just how long the city would have to wait for additional development on the rest of the land. It could be several years or it could be much longer ? depending on when the economy recovers ? or it could even be a different developer.

.....

Two area landlords, Brent Adler and John Williams, expressed their frustration with more space being dedicated to parking in the vicinity. Planning board member Michael Patterson responsded: ?The planning board does not dictate what is built. It?s up to the the developer.? Woglam said that his company is putting a lot of investment into the parking area that will not produce big income for the company.

A photo from last weekend. I already posted this in the new construction thread, forgot we had this Eastern Waterfront thread too
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/2157/portlandmainesummer2010.jpg

I sometimes get the feeling that development in Portland consists of just hotels and parking lots/garages.

Patrick

08-11-2010, 06:04 PM

Yeah, that's part of phase one of phase two of the Opechee construction team's plans. They formed a new group, Fore India Middle, LLC specifically for developing this portion. The residential component will follow. Until we get better alternative transportation in place, parking garages are fine with me (assuming they are designed correctly) because it means less sprawl, less open surface lots, and often times they can effectively be wrapped in a retail or commercial component (if only the market were better...).

Corey

01-11-2011, 04:28 AM

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/3084/january2011portlandmain.jpg

grittys457

04-12-2011, 08:04 PM

This is pretty cool. Guess they're going to start having concerts at the base of ocean gateway. If you read the state theater's comments here, says it's bigger than the maine state pier which I would have thought was bigger...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=833489&l=ccee8bebee&id=126779164014177

grittys457

04-12-2011, 08:06 PM

"State Theatre, Portland, Maine Tom, you are smart. It's a new site - the queuing lanes of the Ocean Gateway Terminal at the intersection of Commercial and Franklin streets. Right on the water. Bigger. More details coming soon cuz we love Portland and Maine.:"

"

Corey

04-12-2011, 09:16 PM

That sounds like a great use of the queuing lanes that are vacant 99% of the time (and probably more often now since there is no car ferry there any more).

From the Eastern Waterfront recently:

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/3061/april2011portlandmainep.jpg

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3373/april2011portlandmainei.jpg

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/2856/april2011portlandmainef.jpg

grittys457

04-26-2011, 11:29 AM

Interesting. More of a put that out there for somebody else to do so I doubt it would happen anytime soon if at all

http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p-portland-shipyard-convention-center-forsley-042711

toddc

04-26-2011, 12:26 PM

This would be ideal....the city could use some development like this....if the economy improves, this could be a reality.....

Corey

04-26-2011, 01:08 PM

Patrick

04-26-2011, 03:34 PM

While it has its obvious criticisms, the vision is admirable. A convention center has been on the agenda for Portland for a while, just like an aquarium.

toddc

04-26-2011, 06:02 PM

An aquarium and a convention center should be a priority when the economy turns around....both would bring economic gain for the city

Patrick

04-26-2011, 08:11 PM

I think those projects should be priorities now, to get in place for better economic climate. I think the convention center's proximity to the water would be ideal, and the hotel obviously would be directly tied to it, like the last convention center/hotel (2005), and therefore less dependent on the wider market everyone is always complaining is so saturated (as it would create its own market)

cneal

04-26-2011, 08:39 PM

Great concept - although Forsley has already received TIF financing for the brewery on this block, and I'm not sure how much more he could squeeze out of the city. It probably goes without saying, but I'd also hope that the architecture gets refined. The sketch looks like a faux-Italian McMansion.

I'm also a bit nervous about the culinary school idea. Setting up a 4-year educational institution is no easy feat - even building a high-rise is an easier task. A culinary school could be successful here, but this guy will need to find some others who could champion the idea, or else it'll consume all of his time and money.

I think that the convention center idea is a lot more realistic, and a higher priority for the downtown area.

grittys457

04-26-2011, 08:59 PM

Why on earth does shipyard not have a brewpub there or somewhere in Portland?

On a side not, I think the Sebago Brewing is going to do a killing at the new location. Really looking forward to that opening up which should be within a month.

The inside of Gingko Blue is lit up a bit now. Just like Walter's looks like a big city restaurant and different from all the other ones intown, so does the look of Gingko.

Patrick

04-27-2011, 10:02 PM

Yep, the architecture is in need of improvement in that rendering, but I suspect it is just a massing model sketch. Hopefully. I don't like the hip roof on the largest of the buildings, which reminds me of the Portland Harbor Hotel in how it attempts to look like a house but on a large scale. Walmart employs the same tactics, with no better success.

Also, its a bit weird the condos in the above rendering are positioned where they are. Are people familiar with the row of houses across the street? Not attractive in the least. But that could change with some work.

Gynko Blue looks fantastic and is a good addition to that spot.

And yes, Shipyard should have a pub in town, especially if it builds a hotel...that would be an attraction and anchor to that end of the Old Port (defined loosely), like Boru's is for the Gorham's Corner area. Speaking of which, Gorham's Corner needs some improvement, and given its ideal location it is somewhat surprising that none has taken place.

Also, while I'm at it, here is an article in Portland Monthly Magazine about One City Center, for which I was interviewed. http://www.portlandmonthly.com/portmag/2011/03/lost-horizon/

Corey

05-04-2011, 06:56 AM

Story in the Daily Sun about the Shipyard proposal:

http://portlanddailysun.me/node/24945/

Plans for East End development not affected by Thompson's plan, says owner By Matt Dodge (http://portlanddailysun.me/users/mdodge) May 04, 2011 12:00 am

The co-owner of Shipyard Brewing Co. said that recently announced plans for a $100 million entertainment complex on Thompson?s Point will not necessarily affect his own goal of bringing a convention center, hotel and culinary school to Portland?s East End.

?I see them as majorly different projects,? said Fred Forsley, who unveiled plans for a 300,000- to 600,000-square-foot development adjacent to the brewery?s Newbury Street location last Wednesday.

toddc

05-04-2011, 07:28 AM

Forsely has a prime piece of land....even if the convention center aspect doesnt pan out they way he is proposing, he can certainly fill a need in Portland with that land. The economy might be down now, but that area should be booming when the economy picks up....

Patrick

05-05-2011, 12:03 PM

I really think the Eastern Waterfront could benefit tremendously from a Form Based Code, more than anywhere else in Portland. This area is going to boom again, but if we want quality development, which is an extension of the old port, we need to avoid the controversies that occurred last time with large scale development. I'm not saying development shouldn't be large, just that it should address the walkability concerns of the neighborhood to prevent prolonging what is already a contentious process. FBC might actually speed up the review process, too, and produce exactly the types of buildings we want there, steering larger scale stuff toward Bayside and downtown. Moreover, as part of the regulating plan, new streets can be introduced as requirements, which is good because the City's plan for this area comes in two parts, the preferred plan and a backup plan. The preferred plan shows landowners working together to split up property to reintegrate a street network along the water, producing more urban areas as a result, the second one assumes landowners don't cooperate, and large blocks remain, which is the current status. A FBC would (could) require splitting up new blocks as part of requirements for approval of development plans.

toddc

05-05-2011, 12:44 PM

Is there any chance a form based code will be enacted? How does The City Council feel about A FBC?

Patrick

05-07-2011, 06:35 PM

Typically FBCs are enacted for districts instead of entire cities, although a few cities have comprehensively overhauled their entire zoning ordinance, name Denver and Miami. I don't think many councilors know what a FBC is (actually, most people don't know what it is). But I think there is definitely some willingness to explore the idea from at least 1/3 of the council with whom I am familiar. It really isn't that different from typical zoning, but the emphasis is on walkability and urban areas, which I think the council supports as general concepts.

grittys457

05-12-2011, 06:13 AM

The new hotel is going really fast now as they wrap up the exterior. They put the signage up for Sebago. It's the on the corner and says "Sebago Brewing" on one side and "Restaurant Brewpub" on the other. The sign along with the interior when open will bring light to a very dark and dull two blocks between the old port and the india street side of restaurants.

Honestly, it would be nice if they actually put a floor in the parking garage retail space. I feel like that and the retail space at Maine Med will never get filled in my lifetime.

Corey

05-12-2011, 11:44 AM

Per a post yesterday on Munjoy Hill News (http://munjoyhillnews.com/2011/05/11/new-hampton-inn-delays-opening/):

The opening date for the new Hampton Inn has been delayed until July said a source close to the situation this afternoon. Originally scheduled to open the first of June, the date has changed due to delays by suppliers. The Sebago Brewing Company restaurant remains on track to open over the Memorial Day weekend with the condominium units to open this August.

Seems like the building came together so fast, looking back now. I agree Grittys, the restaurant on the corner will really help bridge the current restaurant (and general pedestrian activity) gap between the Old Port and the India Street areas.

Upon a quick search of the internets (http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=16790033), it appears that the retail space in the Ocean Gateway Garage is offered for lease at $18 per square foot. I don't know if that is pricey or not for the area. And per this site (http://www.commercialiq.com/jsp/listings/listing_overview.jsp?ID=55_2112139), a 2,100 square foot space in the Maine Med garage is $3,500 a month / $20 per square foot.

grittys457

05-24-2011, 08:13 PM

So tonight I drove by and they had the sebago lights lit up. Backlit and not as bright as I thought. They also hung the two Hampton signs on the corner and each one has a square sebago logo sign under them. Those should light up nicely.

Gingko blue looks ready to open in the next few days and I like how that big bright shelf looks with all the bottles on them. Like I said before, Walter's and Gingko Blue really stepped up the urban modern design where nobody else has tried it really in portland.

Patrick

05-24-2011, 10:18 PM

Corey

05-25-2011, 05:48 AM

Ginko Blue opens May 27. Hampton looks nice with the lights, I agree. We should meet for a beer sometime Gritty's, perhaps at one of these new venues.

You should organize the first annual ArchBoston -Greater New England - Portland meetup.

Easter Waterfront / Bay House related. I am noticing more grass growing in this lot this year, looks slightly nicer than before:

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/9082/may2011portlandmaineeas.jpg

M. Brown

05-25-2011, 05:37 PM

You should organize the first annual ArchBoston -Greater New England - Portland meetup.

I'd go.

Portlander

05-25-2011, 07:51 PM

I'm down!

Patrick

05-25-2011, 08:32 PM

Yeah lets do it. Day works best, or weeknight evenings. Coffee or beer or whatever. Sounds cool.

About the Bay House, does anyone know how the planning board voted on last night's extension of site plan approval request? The best way to fix that property is to build something on it. Lets not let perfection be the enemy of improvement.

toddc

05-25-2011, 08:57 PM

I believe they voted to approve the site plan extension for fifteen mos...tge city council will cast the final vote next month.

Patrick

05-26-2011, 02:36 PM

Tanks...not bombs. (thanks)

Union Station

05-28-2011, 11:39 AM

Count me in for a Meetup! I already have an account under "Car Free Maine (http://www.meetup.com/CarFree-Maine/)" if nobody else wants to set one up...

Corey

06-18-2011, 07:57 PM

In addition to photos of the Oak Street Lofts and the Hampton Inn, I posted a snapshot of this photo in the thread for Portland "new construction" earlier today. This photo is for sale at Anna's Antiques on Congress Street, near Congress Square. It's a large framed photo that looks like it was on display at city hall or somewhere like that. It's titled "Portland Drydock Facility 1983." The asking price is $149 so I took a photo instead of buying it:

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/4469/portland1983antiquephot.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4210/june2011portlandmainedr.jpg

Corey

06-23-2011, 07:57 PM

Walk-able sidewalks! Until the winter at least.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5503/june2011portlandmainemi.jpg

Patrick

06-23-2011, 10:02 PM

Walk-able sidewalks! Until the winter at least.

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5503/june2011portlandmainemi.jpg

If I'm not mistaken, those will be bricked in too. Should do a lot for the neighborhood. If I were the developer, which has encountered some opposition from the surrounding neighborhood, I would wrap whatever larger project I had envisioned for phase two in building components and facades that match those across the street. What a nice looking street that would be (and it would hide the undesirable but necessary parking garage).

Patrick

06-23-2011, 11:46 PM

A quick hand sketch of what I think would look nice here. This took about an hour.
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5503/june2011portlandmainemi.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7880/hamptonblock.jpg

Corey, I have used this photo of yours on my blog to show a comparison and discuss the issue of Form Based Codes in Portland. I think I remember you telling me at some point it was ok to use your work, as long as it wasn't purchased by someone else, but if I am mistaken and you would like me to take it down just let me know. Really. I understand this is your work and you should haqve control over it. Just send me an email or something.

Corey

06-24-2011, 05:48 AM

^ No problem, Patrick. That sketch looks great. I agree that matching the existing character of the buildings across the street would much improve this stretch of Middle Street.

Corey

07-10-2011, 04:12 PM

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9098/july2011portlandmaineha.jpg

Patrick

07-11-2011, 12:37 PM

I prefer the meat factory. Really pretty sweet Corey, nice work. The street wall is starting to form here, creating that "city" feeling or sense of place, and that is good news for this neighborhood. I really like the outdoor dining, which actually brings activity to this section in addition to just new building stock too. The area across the street is ripe for redevelopment when the market will bear it. My favorite view of this project is coming toward it from the old port on Fore, which gives a view of continuous buildings, making one think the city goes on--or could go on--for blocks in that direction. Before you could tell things stopped at Franklin when the meat factory was a big "stay away" sign. There is a lot of positive movement in Portland for a recession.

cneal

07-12-2011, 10:34 AM

^ Agreed. The sidewalk dining area was a smart way for the developers to draw tourists from the Old Port across Franklin Street. I walk past this block frequently on my way downtown from my house on Smith Street, and now that it's almost finished I feel like the still-vacant eastern part of the block is much, much more valuable real estate. Every night, the sidewalks outside Duckfat/Ribollita are packed, Micucci's and 2 Fat Cats are right around the corner, and the new cruise ship terminal is opening up two blocks away later this summer. There's just a lot of foot traffic, and that's in spite of the fact that a lot of the neighborhood still looks bombed-out with construction going on and weedy parking lots. And there's a lot more foot traffic to come.

I know that the developers' planning board application called for building residential townhouses on Middle, but I hope they'll reconsider that plan. With these successful businesses as their neighbors, and thousands of cruise ship passengers soon to arrive, a well-designed streetscape on Middle and India could attract Old Port levels of foot traffic - and with more spacious, new-construction storefronts, I wouldn't be surprised if street-level retail here exceeded the Old Port in rental rates.

Hopefully they'll look at adding more street-level commercial space into the mix, especially along Middle and India Streets, for the next phase of construction.

grittys457

07-12-2011, 11:26 AM

"I wouldn't be surprised if street-level retail here exceeded the Old Port in rental rates."

You are never going to get the foot traffic down there for that to happen. It's never going to be even a fifth of what exchange street and that area has during the summer. I'm still waiting for something to go into the first floor of the east end parking garage. Hell, it's still a dirt floor in there.

cneal

07-13-2011, 12:03 PM

^ I ride down Middle Street on an almost daily basis, passing this block and the top of Exchange Street both, and I disagree. During the lunch and dinner hours, there are at least as many people on this eastern stretch of Middle Street as there are on Exchange. And this is still a construction zone!

As for Exchange Street, I almost never go down there anymore, nor do most people I know. It's all turquoise jewelry and stupid t-shirts - not exactly high-end retail. The older Joe Soley who owns most of the storefronts is letting things go. On the eastern end of Middle, on the other hand, you've got Hugo's, Rabelais, Deans, Duckfat, Ribollita, Two Fat Cats, Foodworks, Micucci's, and now Sebago (and Sangillo's, which isn't a tourist destination by any means but is nonetheless a really fun place). Places worth going, in other words, no matter whether you're a tourist or a resident.

So as I said, if the developers from Opechee wanted to build a high-quality streetscape on their side of Middle and India, with modern spaces capable of attracting high-quality retailers - and with the opening of the new cruise ship terminal just down the street - I don't think it's beyond the realm of possibility for this block to be more lucrative for them than Exchange Street is for Joe Soley.

And if you still disagree with me, let's at least agree that we'd like them to try to make that happen.

Corey

07-21-2011, 12:00 PM

I didn't see this Forecaster story posted here yet:

Portland City Council grants extension for downsized Bay House condos on Newbury St.

Jul 19, 2011 9:10 am

http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p-portland-city-council-072011

Highlights:

PORTLAND — Developers of the Bay House mixed-use condominium buildings planned for Newbury Street have until Sept. 22, 2012, to obtain funding for the project and begin construction.

The $30 million Bay House project, approved in 2006, initially included 176 condominiums and retail space in two construction phases on both sides of Newbury Street. The second phase of construction, on the north side of the street, has now been scrapped, leaving two buildings with a total of 82 condominiums and some first-floor retail space at 112-113 Newbury St.

The developers have also been required to put up $25,000 to guarantee sidewalks and curbs adjacent to the property are repaired, regardless of whether the project is funded.

grittys457

10-17-2011, 11:34 AM

Patrick

10-17-2011, 07:15 PM

Well the Bay House showroom on market street has a for lease sign on it. I have to believe that project is completely done by now. Think of the people that put a down payment on one in the beginning. A few of them are probably dead by now.

Also nice renovations on the building right next to the dirt lot on India street. Didn't notice it until today.

Yes, the old Bill's Surf and Skate from when I was a kid. It is now the Bait and Tackle Shop. It is residential units....and has been under construction for quite a while. Should be pretty nice once completely retrofitted.

I don't know about the Bay House. They just requested a site plan extension for 15 months and were granted an extension. I think probably what happened is that they leased the space on Milk Street for a certain number of years and they probably did that when it looked like the units would be up and running by now. Probably the space doesn't justify the lease. I for one think that place should just be sold as is, as a residential unit. Think of how cool it would be to call that space home.

grittys457

01-06-2012, 07:49 PM

Anybody know exactly how big this project is supposed to be?

Portland firm chosen to lead Sussman project on Hampshire St.
By Casey Conley
Jan 06, 2012 12:00 am

Billionaire hedge-fund investor Donald Sussman has chosen a local firm to design an arts-themed project he's hoping to build in the East End.

Tom Federle, an attorney and Sussman spokesman, said Developers Collaborative was chosen ahead of several other companies, including the Minneapolis firm Artspace.

Specific details about the project have not been announced, although Federle said various ideas have been discussed, with most involving some mix of artist space, housing and retail. The project would be built in one section of the India Street neighborhood, where Sussman and an affiliated company, Hampshire Street Properties, own more than a dozen properties.

“The Hampshire Street neighborhood has a rich history and great potential for a vibrant future,” Sussman said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be teaming up with Developers Collaborative to design a use for these properties that has a positive impact for the Hampshire Street neighborhood.”

Sussman is a billionaire hedge-fund manager and the husband of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who represents Maine’s first congressional district. The couple lives in North Haven, but Sussman also owns a home on Hampshire Street.

Sussman and Receco LLC, which share an office suite on Commercial Street, own at least seven properties on Hampshire Street, five on Newbury Street and two on Federal, according to city records.

The India Street neighborhood, which is sandwiched between Munjoy Hill and the Old Port, has a mix of health and social service providers, century-old apartment houses and a host of established restaurants and delis. Recently, a yoga studio, and men's barber shop have opened in the neighborhood, which has long been home to Coffee by Design, Rite Aid and an Angela Adams boutique.

With an abundance of vacant lots, it's also seen by some as ripe for development. An 80-unit condo project on Newbury Street has been approved by the city but remains stalled until the developer can find financing. Meanwhile, the four-story, 122-room Hampton Inn opened on Fore Street last year.

Federle predicted Sussman's project would include demolition of some existing buildings but an overall net gain in apartment units. Developers Collaborative, among other things, will help decide which buildings should be removed and what should be built in their place.

“We are going at it with the angle of trying to create space that can be useful to the creative economy,” he said, adding that live-work spaces, arts-compatible businesses and artists studios are among the ideas being kicked around.

Developers Collaborative was chosen, Federle said, based on their experience with “creatively making reuse of properties in a way that enhances the neighborhoods in which they exist.”

He added that Developers Collaborative is a “(champion) of smart-growth principles and sustainable design."

Kevin Bunker, a principal in Developers Collaborative, said the company was “thrilled” to be working with Sussman and Hampshire Street Properties.

Federle gave no time line yesterday for when a specific project might be released.

Corey

01-07-2012, 05:30 AM

^It would be helpful if the reporter included a map with the properties highlighted since he must have looked up the properties on the city's property look up page (http://www.portlandassessors.com/). From a few other articles (http://www.theforecaster.net/content/p-sussman-hampshire-street) I've seen on the topic (http://munjoyhillnews.com/2012/01/06/hampshire-street-owner-names-developer-partner-in-new-project-on-the-hill/), my understanding is that this project will mainly be rehabilitating several buildings into artist space/housing/retail. I guess we will have to wait and see exactly what is being planned. Developers Collaborative (http://www.developerscollaborative.com/index.php) does seem to have a good track record.

PortlandArch

01-07-2012, 04:39 PM

This has been in the pipeline for a while. The ISNA has been keeping track of the property purchases of this fella for over a year....keeps growing his portfolio, which led many to believe something was in the works. Now we know what. India Street is indeed a good place for development. The city's original downtown was there, and the view corridor to the ocean is unparalleled.

cneal

01-08-2012, 04:16 PM

Patrick

01-08-2012, 05:11 PM

I worked with Kevin a bit when I was at GrowSmart Maine, so I'm also encouraged that DC is going to be involved in this project. Hopefully with Sussman's backing they'll be able to make a really excellent project without too much concern over what the banks will finance.

I'm also helpful that this project can coordinate with and gain some additional real estate from the Franklin Street redesign project. That effort is supposed to produce some final designs for the street later this year, and it's almost certain that it will produce some extra real estate for redevelopment, in exchange for developer contributions towards street construction.

I live a couple blocks away in East Bayside so I'm also curious to see what will happen as a neighbor.

I'm curious to see how many of the structures will be re-used as opposed to torn down. I know the neighborhood group expressed concerns over whatever plans might have been brewing by this property aggregation (and if I understand the consultant correctly, the issue was trying to prevent another Hampton Inn up the street). I can understand the concern for the area involved, although I still have my basic support for the Hampton at its actual location, and the marriott, too. Those projects are more appropriate where they are because of their location on main streets. Hopefully the ISNA can relax now that it seems like this project will do relatively little in terms of altering the fabric of the neighborhood.

There are plenty of cool places in that neighborhood, and when I was there grabbing my coffee this morning the place was packed, as usual. The funny thing is, it is still largely undeveloped. If it was built out as much as the Old Port, I think cneal's earlier comment about the area becoming more of an attraction than the old port might actually be close to on point. There is something trendy about India Street that is relatively new. When I was a kid I used to go to Bill's Surf and Skate on India, and the street had nowhere near as much interest as there has been lately.

Who is doing the designs for FRA's efforts along Franklin? Is it MRLD? For some reason I think I remember Mitch Rasor being involved in the preliminary ideas, but I can't recall for sure. I spoke with Markos Miller in an email when he was running for city council and he expressed interest in Portland having a form-based zoning code. I brought this idea up at a PSA meeting, and although it generated some initial interest, it seems to have lost some momentum. I think a special zone, along Franklin, might be the perfect pilot project for this approach to land regulation in an urban setting in Maine (Standish has the state's first FBC, but it is largely rural in nature, or perhaps village-ish is a better description). Anyone unfamiliar with form-based zoning should look into it as it may very well be the best way to actually secure the results in urban design that we all want.

Max

01-09-2012, 11:40 AM

Patrick

01-09-2012, 07:42 PM

I recently stayed in both the Hampton Inn and the Marriott Residence Inn while visiting family over the holidays. Both are very nice hotels on the inside, and it was interesting to see development slowly pushing eastward in this part of town. I still think that the exterior signage on the Hampton is tacky (both the Franklin Street vertical sign and especially the red lettering on the Middle Street side). I mentioned this to the manager on duty and she said she'd heard the same thing from several people and that she'd pass my thoughts along to the bosses.

I also think the hotel parking next to the Hampton, while well-manicured, is a bad use of space. I also discussed this with the manager (she actually seemed interested in this stuff, but maybe she was just being friendly) and she said there are plans to develop the lot but it probably won't happen for a few years.

I remember a few years back it was a big deal when the Village Cafe closed down, but that space hasn't been redeveloped yet, right? I guess it was another victim of the rampant speculation that occurred before the economic crisis.

I personally like the vertical sign. a lot. But the Hampton Inn red letters are a bit tacky. Then again, the Hampton Inn is a bit tacky (in the hotel world, it is just average is perhaps a better way to put it). The good thing is that, with this sort of trade dress, for lack of a better word, people who typically look for lower budget hotels in places like South Portland or Scarborough will now be spending their days walking around Portland instead of driving around the suburbs. This is good for surrounding businesses. Also, when the market for better uses increases, the structure--which is very urban being built up to the sidewalk with parking in the back, and of an urban height--can always be re-used.

The phase two plans are for residential and renderings/preliminary sketches have already been released (last year). I've spoken with the developers and with City planners on the phase two portion, and one said it was definite, while the other said the site cost too much to not develop. But yes, I think we all agree with you here that parking is less than ideal for that spot. At least they rebuilt the perimeter sidewalk.

Also, the creeping of development eastward is by deliberate policy choices rather than random market forces, but I too think it is interesting to watch, all the same. One last thing, the Village Cafe site is still being developed, only now as apartments convert-able to condos at a later date. The rendering and project appear to be unchanged in all other material respects. The more important site to develop, in my mind, is that formerly eyed for the watermark condos, in front of what otherwise will remain a sorely out of place parking garage. Most people who complain about that structure don't realize it was part and parcel of a much larger redevelopment scheme, which although wouldn't have changed the basic nature of the structure, would have surrounded it with other similarly sized structures (and much more attractive structures, too).

Corey

01-09-2012, 08:58 PM

Thanks for the comments, Max. Always interesting to hear views and opinions of our city from people who don't presently live here. I echo Patrick's sentiment about the Hampton Inn's vertical signage: I like it. It's something a little different yet also a nod to the style of signs that used to be more prevalent in urban areas (maybe I'm thinking too deeply there). The fact that it's vertical and sticks out from the building is more appealing to me than the alternative of just having the Hampton Inn logo up against the flat wall. The surface parking lot is a sore spot, but it does sound like it will be developed eventually. I like how it leaves room for one or (preferably) more smaller developments. I understand that the current economics of the situation tend to favor large developments but from an urbanist perspective I would like to see more small-scale projects that fit into the existing urban fabric. I can back-up the observations of others on this forum who have noticed an increase in pedestrian activity in this part of town the last few years. It's naturally not as busy as a few blocks West, but a lot more people are wandering down to this area and it's shops and restaurants than ever before. It's an exciting time to live here and witness the transformation of this area firsthand (the same can be said for Bayside which is really not far away).

grittys457

01-09-2012, 09:36 PM

Love the vertical sign, hate the red one.

The Watermark project was one of the ones I was really bummed about when it failed. Really liked the look of it. I also liked the Westin project that went where the Hampton ended up.

cneal

01-09-2012, 10:31 PM

^ Thanks for advocating for better urban design during your visit, Max! It's good to hear that other guests have mentioned the same points, hopefully the message gets through to the landlords.