Rock Row (née The Ridge, née Dirigo Plaza) | Westbrook, ME

[Cosakita18]

Originally Posted by cneal

^ Some of those buildings could be in Portland – the city line is about 350' west of the Turnpike right of way. That land is actually owned by the City – there are about 18 acres of city-owned land between the Turnpike and the Westbrook city line, south of the railroad line.

Possibly related: tonight's economic development committee meeting at city hall went into executive session to discuss the possible sale of city-owned land "near the Turnpike".

My hunch is that Portland's zoning laws would be more supportive of this kind of higher-density development than Westbrook's, although I may be mistaken.

I just can't imagine how there would ever be enough demand to justify two large office buildings, especially in Portland's suburban environment.

[markhb]

Originally Posted by Cosakita18

I just can't imagine how there would ever be enough demand to justify two large office buildings, especially in Portland's suburban environment.

I think they're emphasizing medical offices for those. But as cneal said, over on that side of the quarry they'll be on Portland's side of the line. I checked, and that land is B4 Commercial Corridor north of c. 400' north of the railroad track (where there's really no room between the edge of the pit and the Turnpike land), and IL Light Industrial from that point south.

[mainejeff]

This an interesting development they are doing in China...



Of course it would make no sense here, but interesting nonetheless.

[markhb]

Phase 1 was approved. The PB meeting video is here; I haven't watched it yet but it's only 1 hour.

[Dr. StrangeHat]

More details on the proposed amphitheater:

http://news.keepmecurrent.com/concer...rock-rock-row/
http://www.theforecaster.net/westbro...pier-concerts/
https://www.pressherald.com/2018/10/...-to-westbrook/

Here's the link to the planning board meeting video (presentation begins around 45:30):

https://westbrooktv.viebit.com/playe...h=xiBtM5e1LNDE

I'm already hearing a lot of NIMBY pessimism, skepticism and cynicism from Westbrook residents, especially older residents. People are automatically fearing the worst rather than actually looking at the plans and understanding what they are actually going to do. It's very frustrating, to say the least.

[Portlander]

Love the proposed amphitheater idea, only wish the capacity would be closer to 12,000 so there would be no need to drive to Bangor for the upper tier concerts. Still a big improvement over the State Pier's 3,000 limit.

[Dr. StrangeHat]

During the planning board meeting they did say that this was a temporary situation to provide proof-of-concept, and they'll consider expanding if it works.