Luxury condos and office building planned near Portland's Ocean Gateway Garage
Photo / Paul Koenig
A $6.9 million luxury condominium project is being built at 185 Fore St. in Portland.
Courtesy / Bateman Partners LLC
A rendering of of the luxury condo project under construction at 185 Fore St.
Courtesy / Bateman Partners LLC
A $11.5 million office building is planned for 16 Middle St. in Portland.
The construction of the Ocean Gateway Garage in Portland about a decade ago paved the way for a luxury condominium building under construction and a planned office building nearby, developers and a city official said Monday.
The $6.9 million luxury condominium project is being built between the garage and India Street near the city’s eastern waterfront.
Construction on a $11.5 million office building, the first Class A office space to be built in Portland in recent years, is expected to begin next April.
Fred Forsley, co-founder of Shipyard Brewing Co. and Portland-based Bateman Partners LLC, unveiled details of the projects on Monday at the brewery with Portland’s director of economic development, Greg Mitchell.
“These two projects will complete this municipal block,” Mitchell said at the press conference.
The projects, first announced last year, are on lots that were originally part of the mixed-use Riverwalk development that fell apart in 2008 after a legal battle and the start of the recession. Forsley was one of the developers of that project.
The condo building under construction at 185 Fore St. will have eight units, including two penthouses, ranging in price from $400,000 to $1 million. Half have already been sold, and the first floor retail space will be leased to Nine Stones Spa, currently located at 250 Commercial St.
It’s expected to be ready for occupancy next September.
The five-floor office building will be built at 16 Middle St. and includes an extended entrance to the garage. Nathan Bateman of Bateman Partners, which previously developed the Portland Harbor Hotel and the Falmouth Country Club, said developers are currently negotiating with businesses to lease the space.
The first floor will be retail or some other commercial use and the second through fifth floors will feature 10,000 square feet of Class A office space.
Class A office space is defined by the Building Owners and Managers Association as being the most prestigious, with above-average rents, state-of-the art systems and exceptional accessibility.
For the city, Mitchell said, the significance of the Class A office space is that it will draw higher quality businesses with better paying jobs.
At the unveiling of the projects, Forsley highlighted the importance of tax-increment financing deals from the city in making the projects possible.
Shipyard Brewing secured a TIF agreement for the opening of the brewery in 1994, allowing the business to get back part of the new tax revenue. Forsley and his partners also secured a TIF agreement for the Ocean Gateway parking garage. The latest projects are being entirely privately funded and will not utilize a TIF agreement, he said
“That is going to be the economic engine that allows for more growth in this area,” Forsley said of the garage.
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