February 16, 2004
Bayside bustle | Development is happening on Portland's urban frontier, but can the latest big-picture plan succeed?
By Mike Woelflein
Ron Spinella imagines a day when his Portland neighborhood will be transformed. The president of the Bayside Neighborhood Association hopes his Cumberland Avenue art gallery, 3fish, will be surrounded by mixed-income housing, storefronts and creative-economy businesses, all part of a new gateway to the city.
Long an unsightly patchwork of vacant land, warehouses, parking lots and scrap metal yards ˆ the latter of which are at the center of the latest storm over how Bayside should be redeveloped ˆ the neighborhood is in the midst of many changes, and is targeted for more. Last month, the city established the 103-acre Bayside Development District in the hopes of accessing federal funds to oversee a long-term redevelopment of the area. "In the shadow of city hall, here is this really neglected part of the city," says Spinella, who lives and works in Bayside and owns residential buildings in the area. "It's been allowed to fall into this state over the past 50 years. Now, I think there's momentum from a development standpoint, from a political standpoint. It's going to keep getting better."
Things are happening in Bayside, but whether the new development-district plan will succeed where others failed won't be known for years. City government does seem determined, and a number of developers are taking up, or at least considering, projects in the area (see "What's goin' on," this page). But there have been many development plans before this one ˆ everything from attracting corporate headquarters to locating a new civic center in the neighborhood ˆ that have failed.
This time, though, proponents say, it's going to be different. "Five years ago, the impression you got here was one of a decaying northeastern city," Spinella says. "If you look at it today, you're not going to say, 'This is a vibrant area.' But you can see a glimmer of potential. It's not coherent yet, but it's there."
Vision quest
If it does cohere, Spinella figures it'll be great for business. "If we can make this happen, we'll see a lot more foot traffic, and all of the businesses in the area would benefit," he says. "If this is a place where people are comfortable living and working, it'll be huge."
A plan to make that happen, entitled "A Vision for Bayside," became part of the city's comprehensive plan in April 2000 and details a pedestrian-friendly urban neighborhood. The redevelopment would use existing (if updated) infrastructure, and is designed to tie into the overall texture of the city.
The planning began in 1998 with the Bayside Development Committee, of which current Mayor Nathan Smith was chair. The plan has some friends in high places, and Smith believes the city council is unified to make things happen, citing members' agreement to use the power of eminent domain, if necessary. "We have a chance to do something special down there," Smith says. "The [development district] is designed to put some more arrows in the quiver, in terms of tools that we can use for redevelopment. We need those tools."
Defining the area ˆ the north-south borders are I-295 and Oxford Street, and east-west from Forest Avenue to the Franklin Arterial (see map, this page) ˆ as a development district allows the city to apply for federal funds through the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. The district also allows the city to use the powers of eminent domain ˆ buying a property and compensating its current owner for moving expenses ˆ for redevelopment. Portland has used eminent domain for the extension of Chestnut Street, and is expected to use those powers again to relocate Bayside's scrap yards.
The first component of the development plan, called the Bayside Business and Technology Park, would focus on developing 14 acres between Marginal Way and Lancaster Street over the next five to 10 years. Mark Adelson, the city's director of housing & neighborhood services, says the project would utilize about $14 million from the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, the Economic Development Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal monies, which the city is in the process of applying for, would be used for acquisition, clearance and environmental remediation of the land, as well as for building infrastructure like parking lots. There would also be money available for business attraction, and for incentives to businesses to relocate or expand in the area.
Three additional components have also been defined. The Train Station Redevelopment Area focuses on a 7.5-acre strip between Marginal Way and I-295, now home to a new building that houses AAA headquarters, that the city hopes might one day accommodate a new train station. (There are also plans to place a passenger rail line along I-295, with the goal of adding rail service north of Portland.) The Public Works Redevelopment Area includes 4.7 acres around the site of the city's Department of Public Works, between Kennebec and Portland streets, which is expected to move sometime in the next decade. The Post Office Redevelopment Area is 11 acres surrounding the post office's distribution center on Forest Avenue, which is slated to move sometime in the next five years.
"This is a long-term project," says Adelson of Bayside's big-picture redevelopment. "We're talking about the next 15 years and probably more. It's a constant process. Things are happening all the time. There are some big, important steps and then thousands of little steps. Eventually, there's a lot of activity."
Scrap flap
The next big step is the relocation of three scrap metal recycling yards on Somerset and Pearl streets, long seen as a hindrance to Bayside development.
For 30 years, the city has talked about moving the scrap yards. One of the "critical actions" of the development district's plan is redeveloping the three parcels, and the district is designed in part to make possible an eminent domain takeover of the properties.
Two companies are involved; one seems willing to work with the city, while the other is bracing for a fight. New England Metal Recycling, known locally as H. Finkleman, is set to meet with the city in the next few weeks to discuss plans for relocation. The company is a subsidiary of Oregon-based Schnitzer Steel Industries and Hugo Neu Corp., the largest recyclers of scrap metal in the country.
"It's complicated, and there's a lot to negotiate," says Peggy McGehee, the lawyer representing NEMR. "There are a lot of stakeholders. I don't see that this could happen in a matter of months, but we are going to have a dialogue."
At E. Perry Iron & Metal on Lancaster Street, however, even dialogue seems a long way off. Alan Lerman, whose family has run the business for more than 100 years, is concerned that the city will relocate his operations outside Portland, which he says would be devastating to his business. As a result, he's prepared to fight.
The law requires the city to pay market value for the property and to compensate the businesses for moving. Often, suits arise over the value of the property, and that could happen with any of the Bayside scrap yards. But the eminent domain process also requires a municipality to have a public purpose for taking a property, and Lerman's attorney, David Hirshon, doesn't think Portland has one. If the city exercises eminent domain powers, Hirshon plans to challenge it, saying litigation in the next six or nine months is "extremely likely."
"Typically, eminent domain happens for the expansion of a street or a highway coming through," Hirshon says. "As I view this, it'll benefit private enterprise. Apartment buildings owned by private investors, retail space, commercial space. They want more tax dollars and a better-looking environment. I question whether that's a public purpose."
Last month, Portland hired Peter W. Sleeper Associates, an Arlington, Mass.-based eminent domain consultant who will assess the companies' relocation needs and facilitate the transaction. Sleeper's job is to put together a plan, come up with a dollar-figure for the exchange, and negotiate the deal.
Lerman and his attorney aside, a lot of people involved with the reinvention of Bayside agree that moving the scrap yards would make the area more attractive. Ross Furman, the founder of Skillful Vending who says he's "bought up a piece of land every year [in Bayside] for the past 25 years," says the removal of the scrap yards "will really open that gateway up. It's going to sizzle down here when they're gone."
Furman says Gorham Savings Bank and Hollywood Video are about to move onto property he owns, and he says he has "two or three more projects" in the works. "This area is on fire," he insists. "It's about to pop."
At least one developer isn't so sure. Peter Quesada's Fore River Co. has a building in the works on Marginal Way, but that doesn't mean he's automatically bullish on Bayside. Quesada questions the city's political will ˆ "It's hard to imagine all the different factions are going to want to get in the same line when they haven't before," he says ˆ and doesn't think the demand is there to push the overall redevelopment of Bayside anytime soon, even though the location, with easy access to I-295 and proximity to downtown, is attractive to businesses and developers. "It is attractive," Quesada says. "But so is waterfront and so is the Maine Mall area and so is Scarborough. So is Brunswick-Topsham. So is suburban 128 outside Boston. So is San Jose, California. It's a competitive marketplace."
What's next?
With a handful of projects about to begin or in the planning stages, Bayside advocates can rightly tout the area's growing redevelopment momentum. But they're also quick to point out that it won't be an overnight process. "I think if some of the initiatives we have in the works fall into place ˆ if we relocate the junkyards, if the railroad environmental assessment wraps up ˆ there will be a significant step forward," Mayor Smith says. "But I think there's the potential for things to start to snowball. You'll see construction every year. The difference will really be felt when you start to see three or four projects instead of one or two, and the projects start to get bigger."
That's Spinella's vision for Bayside, too. He wants to see six- or eight-story buildings filled with artists, aging baby boomers, young professionals and students living and working in the area, filling up Maine's last truly urban frontier. "Five years down the road, with today as a benchmark, you will see a change," Spinella says. "You'll see improved infrastructure, lighting and street conditions, a couple of major housing projects, maybe some mixed-use development. Maybe the train station will be in. The scrap yards will be gone, and those lots aren't going to stay empty. You can't ignore Bayside anymore."
Long an unsightly patchwork of vacant land, warehouses, parking lots and scrap metal yards ˆ the latter of which are at the center of the latest storm over how Bayside should be redeveloped ˆ the neighborhood is in the midst of many changes, and is targeted for more. Last month, the city established the 103-acre Bayside Development District in the hopes of accessing federal funds to oversee a long-term redevelopment of the area. "In the shadow of city hall, here is this really neglected part of the city," says Spinella, who lives and works in Bayside and owns residential buildings in the area. "It's been allowed to fall into this state over the past 50 years. Now, I think there's momentum from a development standpoint, from a political standpoint. It's going to keep getting better."
Things are happening in Bayside, but whether the new development-district plan will succeed where others failed won't be known for years. City government does seem determined, and a number of developers are taking up, or at least considering, projects in the area (see "What's goin' on," this page). But there have been many development plans before this one ˆ everything from attracting corporate headquarters to locating a new civic center in the neighborhood ˆ that have failed.
This time, though, proponents say, it's going to be different. "Five years ago, the impression you got here was one of a decaying northeastern city," Spinella says. "If you look at it today, you're not going to say, 'This is a vibrant area.' But you can see a glimmer of potential. It's not coherent yet, but it's there."
Vision quest
If it does cohere, Spinella figures it'll be great for business. "If we can make this happen, we'll see a lot more foot traffic, and all of the businesses in the area would benefit," he says. "If this is a place where people are comfortable living and working, it'll be huge."
A plan to make that happen, entitled "A Vision for Bayside," became part of the city's comprehensive plan in April 2000 and details a pedestrian-friendly urban neighborhood. The redevelopment would use existing (if updated) infrastructure, and is designed to tie into the overall texture of the city.
The planning began in 1998 with the Bayside Development Committee, of which current Mayor Nathan Smith was chair. The plan has some friends in high places, and Smith believes the city council is unified to make things happen, citing members' agreement to use the power of eminent domain, if necessary. "We have a chance to do something special down there," Smith says. "The [development district] is designed to put some more arrows in the quiver, in terms of tools that we can use for redevelopment. We need those tools."
Defining the area ˆ the north-south borders are I-295 and Oxford Street, and east-west from Forest Avenue to the Franklin Arterial (see map, this page) ˆ as a development district allows the city to apply for federal funds through the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. The district also allows the city to use the powers of eminent domain ˆ buying a property and compensating its current owner for moving expenses ˆ for redevelopment. Portland has used eminent domain for the extension of Chestnut Street, and is expected to use those powers again to relocate Bayside's scrap yards.
The first component of the development plan, called the Bayside Business and Technology Park, would focus on developing 14 acres between Marginal Way and Lancaster Street over the next five to 10 years. Mark Adelson, the city's director of housing & neighborhood services, says the project would utilize about $14 million from the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, the Economic Development Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. The federal monies, which the city is in the process of applying for, would be used for acquisition, clearance and environmental remediation of the land, as well as for building infrastructure like parking lots. There would also be money available for business attraction, and for incentives to businesses to relocate or expand in the area.
Three additional components have also been defined. The Train Station Redevelopment Area focuses on a 7.5-acre strip between Marginal Way and I-295, now home to a new building that houses AAA headquarters, that the city hopes might one day accommodate a new train station. (There are also plans to place a passenger rail line along I-295, with the goal of adding rail service north of Portland.) The Public Works Redevelopment Area includes 4.7 acres around the site of the city's Department of Public Works, between Kennebec and Portland streets, which is expected to move sometime in the next decade. The Post Office Redevelopment Area is 11 acres surrounding the post office's distribution center on Forest Avenue, which is slated to move sometime in the next five years.
"This is a long-term project," says Adelson of Bayside's big-picture redevelopment. "We're talking about the next 15 years and probably more. It's a constant process. Things are happening all the time. There are some big, important steps and then thousands of little steps. Eventually, there's a lot of activity."
Scrap flap
The next big step is the relocation of three scrap metal recycling yards on Somerset and Pearl streets, long seen as a hindrance to Bayside development.
For 30 years, the city has talked about moving the scrap yards. One of the "critical actions" of the development district's plan is redeveloping the three parcels, and the district is designed in part to make possible an eminent domain takeover of the properties.
Two companies are involved; one seems willing to work with the city, while the other is bracing for a fight. New England Metal Recycling, known locally as H. Finkleman, is set to meet with the city in the next few weeks to discuss plans for relocation. The company is a subsidiary of Oregon-based Schnitzer Steel Industries and Hugo Neu Corp., the largest recyclers of scrap metal in the country.
"It's complicated, and there's a lot to negotiate," says Peggy McGehee, the lawyer representing NEMR. "There are a lot of stakeholders. I don't see that this could happen in a matter of months, but we are going to have a dialogue."
At E. Perry Iron & Metal on Lancaster Street, however, even dialogue seems a long way off. Alan Lerman, whose family has run the business for more than 100 years, is concerned that the city will relocate his operations outside Portland, which he says would be devastating to his business. As a result, he's prepared to fight.
The law requires the city to pay market value for the property and to compensate the businesses for moving. Often, suits arise over the value of the property, and that could happen with any of the Bayside scrap yards. But the eminent domain process also requires a municipality to have a public purpose for taking a property, and Lerman's attorney, David Hirshon, doesn't think Portland has one. If the city exercises eminent domain powers, Hirshon plans to challenge it, saying litigation in the next six or nine months is "extremely likely."
"Typically, eminent domain happens for the expansion of a street or a highway coming through," Hirshon says. "As I view this, it'll benefit private enterprise. Apartment buildings owned by private investors, retail space, commercial space. They want more tax dollars and a better-looking environment. I question whether that's a public purpose."
Last month, Portland hired Peter W. Sleeper Associates, an Arlington, Mass.-based eminent domain consultant who will assess the companies' relocation needs and facilitate the transaction. Sleeper's job is to put together a plan, come up with a dollar-figure for the exchange, and negotiate the deal.
Lerman and his attorney aside, a lot of people involved with the reinvention of Bayside agree that moving the scrap yards would make the area more attractive. Ross Furman, the founder of Skillful Vending who says he's "bought up a piece of land every year [in Bayside] for the past 25 years," says the removal of the scrap yards "will really open that gateway up. It's going to sizzle down here when they're gone."
Furman says Gorham Savings Bank and Hollywood Video are about to move onto property he owns, and he says he has "two or three more projects" in the works. "This area is on fire," he insists. "It's about to pop."
At least one developer isn't so sure. Peter Quesada's Fore River Co. has a building in the works on Marginal Way, but that doesn't mean he's automatically bullish on Bayside. Quesada questions the city's political will ˆ "It's hard to imagine all the different factions are going to want to get in the same line when they haven't before," he says ˆ and doesn't think the demand is there to push the overall redevelopment of Bayside anytime soon, even though the location, with easy access to I-295 and proximity to downtown, is attractive to businesses and developers. "It is attractive," Quesada says. "But so is waterfront and so is the Maine Mall area and so is Scarborough. So is Brunswick-Topsham. So is suburban 128 outside Boston. So is San Jose, California. It's a competitive marketplace."
What's next?
With a handful of projects about to begin or in the planning stages, Bayside advocates can rightly tout the area's growing redevelopment momentum. But they're also quick to point out that it won't be an overnight process. "I think if some of the initiatives we have in the works fall into place ˆ if we relocate the junkyards, if the railroad environmental assessment wraps up ˆ there will be a significant step forward," Mayor Smith says. "But I think there's the potential for things to start to snowball. You'll see construction every year. The difference will really be felt when you start to see three or four projects instead of one or two, and the projects start to get bigger."
That's Spinella's vision for Bayside, too. He wants to see six- or eight-story buildings filled with artists, aging baby boomers, young professionals and students living and working in the area, filling up Maine's last truly urban frontier. "Five years down the road, with today as a benchmark, you will see a change," Spinella says. "You'll see improved infrastructure, lighting and street conditions, a couple of major housing projects, maybe some mixed-use development. Maybe the train station will be in. The scrap yards will be gone, and those lots aren't going to stay empty. You can't ignore Bayside anymore."
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