PORTLAND, Maine — Long-awaited plans for a Bayside neighborhood project would convert an area of former rail- and scrapyard into seven tall towers for housing and retail space.
The plans, to be publicly considered for the first time by the city this week, propose seven towers between 120 feet and 160 feet in height for much as 90,000 square feet of retail space and 600 or more residential units, plus more than 1,000 parking spaces, on the 3.25-acre Bayside parcel.
“Those are big parcels that don’t look good now, and that [project] could be transformative,” said Chris O’Neil, government relations consultant for the Portland Community Chamber. “The injection of that many residents into that neighborhood has to translate into an infusion of economic activity that would be very important.”
About 14 months ago, the city of Portland entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the development firm Federated Companies with an eye toward repurposing the undeveloped former scrapyards along Somerset Street, which in recent years have stood out visually among the housing and new development that has taken place in the area — including the towering InterMed office building and relatively new retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market and Eastern Mountain Sports.
On Wednesday, the City Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee will get its first public look at the plans for the property that resulted from more than a year’s worth of closed negotiations between city officials and their Federated counterparts.
Plans submitted to the committee show that the $38 million Phase I of the Federated project would feature two towers — one 10 stories and one 12 stories high — on opposite sides of a 700-space parking garage. The buildings would house between 160 and 176 residential units, as well as between about 37,000 and 42,000 square feet of retail space. Phase I, which would stand on the eastern side of Chestnut Street, could be completed within three years.
The second phase of what the developer is calling Maritime Landing, on the western side of Chestnut Street, does not have a cost or time table associated with it in committee documents. But current drafts of Phase II feature 340 more parking spaces, another 45,000 to 50,000 square feet of retail space and between 430 and 482 more residential units. The Phase II complex depicted as five towers between eight and 12 stories in height, with the tallest of the buildings standing alone on the far side of the lot and the other four growing from atop a common parking garage structure.
The city is distributing approximately $9 million in federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grant funding dedicated for parking expansion to The Federated Companies, and the firm is agreeing to create at least 40 permanent full-time jobs in the neighborhood with the project, Portland Economic Development Director Greg Mitchell wrote in a memo to the committee.
Mitchell also told committee members that, in order to move forward, the developers will need to seek waivers allowing them to build taller than city ordinances allow in the area — city rules currently cap buildings at 105 or 125 feet, depending on the location within the property in question.
Let’s hope this goes through, I’m tired of hearing about the city of Portland foolishly restricting or stopping economic growth.
progress!
Low income housing is not econimic growth, except for ones own pocket.
who said anything about low income housing?
Money coming from HUD doesn;t just go to affordable housing.
I sincerely hope this goes through. The Bayside area of Portland, though on the rise with the addition of Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and other improvements, is still in desperate need of repair if Portland is to encapsulate the beautiful state which it represents. This would be a huge boost.
Unless you already live there, of course. So where are the affordable homes on the peninsula supposed to be?
How big is the TIF they want?
No TIF requested
Not a TIF in the article but let us see what is down the road. TIF article recently said there were a few TIFs in the worksi Portland who they wouldn’t identify. I bet this is one.
Any project like this is Depending on Federal Government funding, which means LOW INCOME HOUSING.. Good luck Portland. This is a bad deal…
The federal grant money is for parking expansion, not subsidized housing.
if you look at the brochure on the companies website they state the project consists of “554 Luxury housing units” and over 97,000 square feet of retail. These upscale mixed use projects are not usually low income housing.
Exactly. That grant money was locked up years ago well before this project was proposed. This project is 100% not low income housing. Avesta housing which has Pearl Place I and II next to Whole Foods is mixed income, not this.
Federated Companies are a smart young group of guys who are making successful moves wherever they have gone. Look at how much money they made flipping the Bayside Student Housing on Marginal way.
Maritime Landing will truly transform Portland if completed as proposed. It will bring an influx of market rate housing and young professionals which we’ve never seen. It will also be one of the only spots where you can live in the city and truly not need a car for anything. Within a five minute walk you could be at Hannaford, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Planet Fitness, , Walgreens, Bayside Bowl, UPS store, two coffeshops, Miss Portland Diner, AT&T and a Verizon store, etc. Maritime Landing itself will add retail and restaurant shops for it’s residents and for people of the area to come to.
The one issue is connecting all this new development to Congress St and the Old Port. It’s only a couple blocks away but there is nothing pleasant about what you walk through to get there. No scenic way if I were to put it nicely.
2013 is looking like the most important year of construction in Portland in decades. Maritime Landing, The 100 million dollar Forefront at Thompon’s Point, civic center renovations, 7 story hotel on Fore Street. phase II of the Hampton Inn/Sebago Brewing site on Fore Street, two major India Street condo/apt developments, along with other proposed projects around downtown that might get going in the next year. I really think all this puts us over the Manchester/Portland debate and into the category of major top five cities outside of Boston in New England.
Wow, do you work for these guys or something?
No, I live here and I like new construction and hate NIMBYS. I’m not moving so
I
want where I am to be built up and make the most of it’s potential.
The more stuff the better. The sight of cranes is good for your soul.
“I am sad that Portland is willing to sacrifice it’s aesthetic charm, do
largely to NOT having high rises inside the city. I don’t think we need
to copy Boston and lose that sense of an intimate city.”
Say what
now? Last time I checked Franklin Towers is 175 ft and the tallest in
phase one is 158 ft and will look much smaller since it’s not on the
hill. Yeah I’m sure everybody who goes to visit a city checks to see the
height of residential towers before they decide to book their trip.
“Honey we were gonna go to Portland because of all the restaurants and
top ten lists they made, but I just checked the BDN and they’re building
a tower in the Bayside neighborhood which we’ll never see from the old
port and it’s gonna be almost 175 feet!!!! Call AAA, change the trip to
Augusta!!
Sometimes I don’t doubt you are the capital of the bath salts up there with some of the posts I see on this site. Not like our paper and comments is much better.
I am sad that Portland is willing to sacrifice it’s aesthetic charm, do largely to NOT having high rises inside the city. I don’t think we need to copy Boston and lose that sense of an intimate city. Bigger ain’t better in my book. Would you rather spend time in San Francisco or L.A.? On the other hand it may make Bangor look a whole lot more appealing and Bangor, after all, is the real heart of Maine.