Photo / William Hall
The Portland Harbor Hotel plans to expand into space at 245 Commercial St., the two adjoining buildings shown here. A third building on the block, at 241 Commercial St., would not be affected.
September 10, 2024
Portland Harbor Hotel may add dozens of rooms with $11M deal for property next door
Photo / William Hall
The Portland Harbor Hotel, at 468 Fore St. in the city's Old Port District, plans to build a 52-room addition in a property next door.
Photo / William Hall
An alley behind 245 Commercial St. currently separates the building from the Portland Harbor Hotel, whose parking garage is shown at the right.
Photo / Provided, City of Portland
A marked-up aerial photo shows the block that consists of two buildings at 245 Commercial St. and an adjoining property at 241 Commercial St., which is not included in the pending purchase. The Portland Harbor Hotel is shown in the photo to the right and just above the block.
By William Hall
The developer of the Portland Harbor Hotel in the city's Old Port District hopes to expand the hotel's capacity by half after buying property next door for $11 million.
Bateman Partners LLC is purchasing 245 Commercial St., a pair of century-old, five-story brick buildings whose rear entrances abut the hotel. It occupies much of the block surrounded by Commercial, Cross, Fore and Union streets, and the entrance is at 468 Fore St.
A letter-of-intent for the firm's purchase of 245 Commercial St. from CascoView Holdings LLC shows a price of $11 million. Nathan Bateman confirmed on Tuesday morning that the sale is now pending.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Portland Planning Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing about the proposed build-out.
If the project goes as planned, a skybridge would connect the 103-room luxury inn to the Commercial Street property, where 52 rooms would be created out of 14,000 square feet of space on the upper floors. Currently, they're almost vacant, after having been adapted for office use by the MEMIC Group shortly before the pandemic.
More recently, that company has returned to its primary offices, a block away — but like many other businesses in the post-COVID era, no longer needs extra quarters.
The ground-floor retail tenants at 245 Commercial St., including Muse Paint Bar and Old Port Noodle House, would remain. An entrance would be created on that level, however, allowing hotel guests to access the new rooms from Commercial Street via elevator.
Bateman Partners developed the Portland Harbor Hotel more than two decades ago, and while it has been renovated and upgraded over the years, this project would be its first major expansion.
The firm sold the hotel three years ago to a New Hampshire company, but still holds a minority interest and owns the underground parking garage on which the hotel sits. Nathan Bateman told Mainebiz the build-out will allow the Portland Harbor Hotel to meet continued demand for stays in Portland, while bringing new life to real estate on the city's working waterfront.
Repurposing 245 Commercial St. for housing or commercial use would not have been financially viable, according to Bateman.
"So this is really just about making better use of existing resources," he said.
City zoning allows for hotel construction at the site, but because of the size of the addition it requires a conditional use application and review.
The Portland Planning Board hearing is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Portland City Hall.
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