Economic development

The $60 million project also includes the expansion of surface parking lots as well as planned improvements to Washington Street designed to improve traffic flow and boost pedestrian safety.

"This funding allows Aroostook County to move beyond isolated recruitment efforts and implement a coordinated, county-wide strategy that benefits employers across every major industry," the head of Aroostook Partnership told Mainebiz.

From the skilled trades to white-collar work, there are tens of thousands of job openings in the state, and many employers are actively looking for human capital — human brainpower, not machine learning.

Every week in the Thursday Real Estate Insider, Mainebiz compiles a list of commercial real estate leases. These are the leases published for July 2026.

Portland City Council came a bit closer to defining its vision for the four vacant lots in the Bayside neighborhood. Mixed-income housing is at the top of the list.

Southern Maine movie buffs can beat this week’s heat at the newly reopened Patriot Cinemas, which reopened June 22 in the former Nordica theater at Freeport Village Station.

The total 3.45 acres are some of the only undeveloped land on the Portland peninsula, and are located in the B-3 zone, which allows for housing as well as commercial and community uses. 

The Breakaway, will offer 15,000-square feet of retail and restaurant space for smaller local businesses, along with 76 market-rate apartments on the building’s four upper floors.

“The findings suggest that while many historic downtowns have lost foot traffic over the years, locals still feel strongly attached to them,” said a MarketBeat spokesperson.

Recent resistance to a proposed covert venue in Portland could deter some developers from pursuing projects in Maine's biggest city, Mayor Mark Dion warned in an interview with Mainebiz.