The venue — with 35‑foot ceilings, factory windows and floral design studio — can host 600 guests inside and 200 guests on a new riverfront covered patio.
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A South Portland event and wedding venue provider and consultant will set up shop at a redeveloped mill building at 30 Upper Falls Road in downtown Biddeford.
Maine Venue Partners leased the 20,000-square-foot building, called the Foundry, and said it plans to open for events this summer.
Former factory space
The building is part of the Levee, a mixed-use complex overseen by Portland-based Reveler Development.
Other redevelopment components have included two apartment projects called Lofts on the Levee and Lofts North, and a townhouse and condo project called Landing on the Levee.
Located along the Upper Falls Road peninsula, the Levee occupies the former Saco-Lowell Mill that once served as the location of the Saco and Lowell machine shop for the area’s textile industry. The site had fallen into disrepair, sitting vacant for decades.
The Foundry’s original building dates to 1941 and was previously the location of a screw machine production facility. Its redevelopment was completed in 2025. Advantages of its location include the direct connection to the Levee’s current and future resident base and proximity to downtown Biddeford, the RiverWalk and Pearl Street Park.
The cost for the Foundry’s redevelopment into a commercial space was $8 million, financed by investor equity, a primary loan through Kennebunk Savings, a bridge loan and historic tax credits through Brunswick-based CEI, and brownfields funding through the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission’s revolving loan fund.
Event space
The venue will have the name the Foundry at the Levee.
Maine Venue Partners is a collaboration between Laurie Andrews, owner and creative director of Portland wedding florist and planner Laurie Andrews Design and Fausto Pifferrer and Reuben Bell, founders of Blue Elephant Events and Catering in Saco.
The building has 35‑foot ceilings, factory windows, river views and a floral design studio. The venue can host 600 guests inside and 200 guests on a new 3,560-square-foot riverfront covered patio.
“The Foundry at the Levee is the culmination of years of dreaming, designing and understanding what today’s couples and event hosts truly want,” said Andrews.
Reveler’s goal is to honor history while adapting structures for how people gather today, said John Laliberte, the development firm's CEO.
Maine Venue Partners has been in the event industry for more than a decade, offering venue development, management, design and hospitality strategy. It has other venues in Bristol, Scarborough and Portland, with another one coming soon to Buxton, according to its website.
The Foundry will be offered as a venue for weddings and receptions, corporate meetings, retreats and conferences, nonprofit galas and fundraisers, holiday parties and social celebrations, and community gatherings and private milestone events.
Laurie Andrews Design will relocate from Portland into the Foundry.
“You can walk the venue, explore the showroom, choose your décor and collaborate with our design team all in a single visit,” said Andrews.
