Peter Van Allen
Tom Landry, at lower left, cutting the ribbon for the Solaris, a seven-unit condo building in Portland.
Updated: January 12, 2023
A Munjoy Hill condo development is a modest yet welcomed contribution to Portland housing supply
Peter Van Allen
The Solaris, a seven-unit condo building at 130 Morning St. in Portland.
A Portland condo project was unveiled this week that local officials are touting for its "green" elements, but also for the contribution it makes to the region's tight housing supply.
The Solaris, at 130 Morning St., has just seven units, including one unit designated for workforce housing. All six of the larger units are sold; the affordable housing unit has been retained by the developers.
MaineHousing has estimated that the state needs between 20,000 to 25,000 units of affordable housing, so it will likely be a long process to meet that goal. Yet with much of the need concentrated in the Portland area, each additional housing unit is being hailed as a step forward, as the developer and local officials said at a ribbon cutting this week for the Solaris.
"This is the type of project we want to see in the city," said Pious Ali, an at-large member of Portland City Council who spoke at the ribbon cutting. "We're in a housing crisis. Housing is a challenge not only for Portland, but everywhere in the area. People want to live here, they want to work here, but we don't have enough housing."
Development of the Solaris was led by Tom Landry, Realtor and developer at Benchmark Real Estate, and Landry's design-build firm CornerStone Building & Restoration.
Landry, who said he's been "working on the Hill for 25 years," said the housing effort in Portland needs a range of investors — what he referred to as moving "money from Wall Street to Main Street."
He also cited the need for an attitude of YIMBY — or "yes in my back yard."
"We're in a housing crisis. We have to develop. We cannot put a cap on the city," he told a gathering of 50 or so people at the ribbon cutting. "It's a fabulous place to live and people want to continue to move here."
The construction team
Great Falls Construction, the Gorham-based firm led by Jon Smith, managed the project. Lauren Reiter of CornerStone Building & Restoration was the lead architect. Acorn Engineering was also involved.
Quincy Hentzel, president and CEO of the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, said she was at the November 2021 groundbreaking for the Solaris project and was happy to see if now finished.
"Our biggest challenge in Portland is housing, so it's good to see this come to be. That's huge," she said.
Peter Van Allen
A kitchen in one of the units of the Solaris.
Solaris is also be home to one of Portland’s larger scale residential solar farms. On the roof are more than 70 solar panels, which are projected to offset half of the building’s electric use.
"It's a super-efficient building envelope," Landry said.
The building includes garage parking with an electric vehicle charging station at each spot, an elevator, storage and private decks. Some of the units have water views. Several of the units feature a gas-fired stove, a Danish Rais stove; one unit has a bioethanol-fired stove, from EcoSmart Fire.
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