A new, $660M phase of Portland Foreside development takes shape

Rendering / Courtesy of Portland Foreside Development Co. LLC Artist's rendering of a 128-room luxury hotel planned along the Eastern Promenade trail, adjacent to Fore Points Marina.

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By Renee Cordes

The next phase of the Portland Foreside mixed-use development on the city's eastern waterfront is taking shape after getting a green light from the Portland Planning Board.

Following construction of the Sun Life building, Twelve Restaurant and Fore Points Marina as anchors of the complex, developers plan to build nearly 400 residential units, a 128-room luxury hotel and 50,000 square feet of space for retail, restaurant and service businesses.

In total, the complex is expected to total 1.5 million square feet when fully built out. The project is led by Casey Prentice and Kevin Costello, managing partners at Portland Foreside.

Prentice puts the estimated cost of the next development phase at around $660 million, "give or take 10%." Getting the site plan approval on Sept. 12 "feels almost like a culmination of nearly 13 years of work," he said.

Asked about the building timeline, Prentice told Mainebiz that the team is working through construction logistics with Turner Construction Co., which is based in New York and owned by Germany’s Hochtief AG. Prentice said he should know more in the next couple of months.

“While we are very excited to have received site plan approval for what is likely the largest project in the state of Maine, we remain equally excited at how the density and housing units that are part of that project will enable us to revitalize and energize the historic buildings on Block 2 of the site,” he told Mainebiz.

The plan calls for turning the historic structures into “what we hope becomes a nationally celebrated public market that will showcase the best innovators and entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry here in Maine,” Prentice said.

Besides Turner, other companies working on the project include engineering firm Woodard & Curran Inc.; Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture, of Freeport: Penobscot General Contractors, of Falmouth; and three architecture firms. They are Boston-based Perkins & Will, New York-based Marvel, and Baskerville in Richmond, Va., whose project portfolio includes the Canopy Portland Waterfront Hotel.

Prentice previously told Mainebiz that the decision to work with three architecture firms was a strategic one, to ensure a variety of styles on the site.

Of the nearly 400 residential units planned in the next phase of the Portland Foreside development, there will be a mix of oceanfront condos, multistory townhomes and around 180 rental apartments.

“With the next phase, the company aims to cement Portland Foreside as a vibrant new neighborhood and exemplary model for thoughtfully designed, community-focused, mixed-use waterfront development," the company said in a Sept. 21 press release.