Portland will consider zoning change for planned building that would be city's tallest
Courtesy / Redfern Properties
A rendering, looking up Temple Street in Portland, shows the proposed 18-story apartment building, in the background at right, surrounded by other downtown structures.
Plans to build Maine’s tallest building may get closer to leaving the ground when the Portland City Council next week takes up a proposed zoning change.
The 18-story, 190-foot-tall apartment building in the city’s downtown would require zoning amendments to allow the top 40 feet to be used for offices, residences or other purposes. Current rules allow a structure of that height, but only permit the top to be an “architectural cap,” containing mechanical equipment or to enhance design.
The high-rise, at 200 Federal St. and occupying most of the block bordering Congress, Temple and Exchange streets, would have 265 market-rate apartments, ground-floor commercial space and 180,000 square feet of space overall.
Redfern Properties, a Portland-based development group behind the project, in January obtained unanimous approval for the zoning amendments from the Portland Planning Board. The changes now require a green light from the council, which meets virtually Monday at 5 p.m. for a first reading. Meeting information is available here.
The project also requires approval by the city’s Historic Preservation Board, which is scheduled to meet Wednesday. In addition, a site plan approval from the Planning Board is required for the project to advance toward groundbreaking and construction later this year.
While there’s been much public attention to the need for affordable housing in Portland, Redfern principal Jonathan Culley on Wednesday said the project is part of a comprehensive solution that opens up housing city-wide.
“We feel it fits a community need,” he told Mainebiz. “All the progressive planning models show we need more people living in city centers. We need housing at all levels.”
If built as planned, the new structure would rise 15 feet higher than Portland’s tallest building, Franklin Towers. Measured by usable space, 200 Federal St. would also be the tallest in the state.
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That is a desperately ugly building. I know ugly is cheap but ... come on
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