File photo
Market Basket, whose Rock Row location in Westbrook is shown here, plans its third Maine supermarket in Topsham.
Updated: October 26, 2022
Here’s a roundup of recent real estate and development news in Maine
Courtesy / Uncommon Group / Archetype Architects
The Longfellow Hotel & Spa, with 48 guest rooms, is under construction on Congress Street in Portland.
Here’s a roundup of recent real estate and development news in Maine:
Boutique hotel planned for Portland
A boutique hotel is under construction on Congress Street in Portland.
The Longfellow Hotel & Spa is planned for 754 Congress St. It’s being called a wellness-themed boutique hotel, with 48 guest rooms, a spa, cafe, and bar and gym. Features will include 24-hour concierge services, valet parking and room service.
The developer is Portland-based Uncommon Hospitality, which was founded by Joe DeLois and is led by Tony DeLois. Uncommon Group owns the Francis Hotel across the street from the Longfellow Hotel site.
AlliedCook Construction is managing the Longfellow Hotel project. Design is by Archetype Architects of Portland. AlliedCook and Archetype teamed up on the recently completed 102-room Cambria Hotel Portland at 25 Hancock St. and adjacent Covetrus headquarters.
Back at the Longfellow, interior design will be handled by Post Co., which has offices in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Jackson, Wyom. Financing is through Mile Marker Investments and Maine Community Bank.
Site work is done and early concrete work is underway. A 2023 opening is planned.
Proposal in the works for Wells
The Wells Planning Board took a site walk through the Anchor Inn and Cottages at 424 Post Road in Wells, led by Geoff Aleva of Civil Consultants. According to a planning board notice, the owner of the hotel is looking to raze 16 cottage-style motel units and construct a three-story, 51-unit hotel/motel building. Another 54 motel units would be unaffected by any upgrades.
Market Basket sets sights on Topsham
Market Basket cleared another hurdle in its plan to build an 80,000-square-foot supermarket at 169 Topsham Fair Mall Road. It plans to open by the end of 2023.
South Portland-based Gorrill Palmer, a civil engineering firm, has handled site planning. The developer is Topsco LLC of Newbury, Mass. Topsco, led by John Matthews, has led previous Market Basket projects at Riverside Landing complex in Plymouth, N.H., and the Merchants Way in Concord, N.H.
With the okay from the planning board, the Topsham store would be Market Basket’s third in Maine, after Biddeford and Westbrook. The Tewksbury, Mass.-based supermarket chain has 87 stores in four New England states.
Thomas College sports center unveiled
Thomas College dedicated its new sports center, which will be known as the Sukeforth Family Sports Center in honor of the central Maine family’s lead gift to the sports center. The Waterville college broke ground on the 18,000-square-foot facility in June 2021. Sheridan Construction, which is based in nearby Fairfield, managed the project with Farmington-based E.L. Vining & Son. The designer was Portland-based SMRT Architects.
Changes in logging industry
David Gordon, president and owner of Katahdin Cedar Log Homes, writes a regular blog that goes out to subscribers and the media. He often has interesting insights, and a recent post shed light on how changes in the logging sector have affected the ever-evolving supply chain:
“As most of us have experienced," Gordon writes, "supply chain woes seem to be lifting for building materials like windows, cabinetry, flooring and other essential components for building. In Maine, a different sort of supply chain issue is arising in the logging industry.
“Despite record high prices for dimensional wood (such as 2 x 4s and trusses), loggers have missed out on much of the profits of the past two years. Pressures on family logging businesses are particularly acute with rising costs for fuel, parts and a diminishing trained labor force,” he wrote in his regular newsletter.
Gordon says he’s working with the logging sector to find solutions, including training new loggers and creating new wood-based products. Katahdin Cedar Log Homes’ three mill locations in Chester, Ashland and Oakfield.
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