🔒Portland takes another step toward selling embattled Midtown parcels

Portland has selected the Boulos Co. to list four undeveloped parcels of land on Somerset and Elm streets in the Bayside neighborhood. Two brokers from the Portland-based commercial real estate firm — Nate Stevens and John Finegan — met with the City Council in executive session Monday night to discuss details of a marketing plan for the properties. Yet, despite naming a broker, the city has not made an official decision to sell the lots. Prior to meeting behind closed doors, council members clarified that “no decision to sell at all has been made,” in the words of Council chair and Mayor Mark Dion. “We are meeting with the brokers to explore the potentialities for use of the properties,” Dion said, adding that the process has a long way to go before any sales are considered, and public input will be sought.

Failed project

The so-called Midtown parcel, which totals 3.45 acres of undeveloped property amid other growth in the Bayside neighborhood, has languished for more than a decade. The Midtown name came with a proposed housing and retail development, which became embroiled in legal disputes and never got off the ground. Florida-based Federated Co. purchased the properties from the city in 2016 for $2.6 million, and proposed an $85 million complex that would have included 800 market-rate apartments in four 165-foot towers. The project was later scaled back to 450 housing units and 100,000 square feet of retail space, with an 800-vehicle parking garage. Opposition by neighbors and a dispute with the city over a lot designated for parking led to legal battles and the development stalled. In July 2025, the city bought the properties back from Federated for $15 million. In the fall, the city put out requests for proposals to brokers. The parcels have remained undeveloped and at least one is currently filled with 12-foot-high piles of snow removed from city streets. Boulos was one of four firms that submitted a proposal to market the properties. Potential valuations for the lots have not yet been disclosed, but one of the Boulos Cos.' managing partners, Chris Paszyc, told Mainebiz that land prices in downtown Portland are generally listed in the $4 million/acre range, “depending on location, demand, zoning and achievable density of development. “Downtown Portland has by far the highest land prices when compared to surrounding communities,“ Paszyc said. Paszyc has under contract a 0.785-acre empty lot directly adjacent to one of the Midtown properties at 9 Somerset Street, currently owned by E. Perry Iron & Metal Co., for an undisclosed sum.