Portland housing plan faces strong resistance
Developers eye added density for construction at old hospital site
Developers building Portland’s largest mixeduse complex plan to add 110 apartments, substantially cut the amount of commercial space and add a rooftop restaurant with views of the Arrigoni Bridge.
But a group of residents is concerned that the housing density at Brainerd Place will be too much, and plans to oppose the idea at the Planning and Zoning Commission this week. The project is already approved for 240 apartments, and some residents argue that boosting that to 350 is simply too much.
There’s also opposition to the developers’ request for a break on local property taxes. “Go and say no!” signs have appeared on lawns around town, urging people to speak against the revision when the commission meets Thursday night at 7 p.m.
Meetings are usually held at town hall, but the commission anticipates such a large turnout that this session is being held at the high school instead.
The original plan for Brainerd Place included a roughly 70,000-squarefoot commercial building along with a pharmacy at the corner of Marlborough and Main streets, but developer Dan Bertram told town leaders in March that the market has changed since that was drawn up.
“We have found that very difficult to lease or pre-lease enough to finance,” Bertram told selectmen.
In response, developers are proposing to put up roughly 40% more apartments than they originally proposed, but will scale back the planned 70,000 square feet of commercial space to about 20,000.
Bright Ravens and the Dimarco Group have razed most buildings on the 15-acre campus of the longclosed Elmcrest Hospital and are constructing Brainerd Place.
It’s one of the most high-profile properties in the town center, fronting on Route 66 and Route 17 just a couple of block from the Arrigoni Bridge to Middletown.
The plan was to build about 100 apartments in one four-story building to open this year, followed by another 140 the following year.
Most would be in twin U-shaped buildings on the eastern end of the property; the first is nearly complete, and the foundation has been put in for the second.
The original plan included a large CVS outlet on the corner, but that deal fell through and now the developers want to build a pair of two-story buildings in that area, with retail on the ground floor and offices upstairs.
“This creates more premium space for the town. This is a rightsizing to the existing demand but a premium offering, we are functionally upgrading,” Bertram said in his presentation.
Even though those buildings include more commercial space than initially planned, Bright Ravens and Dimarco want to cut most of the commercial space that was proposed for the biggest building in the complex.
It would instead be constructed as another multi-story apartment building; the roof would have an indoor restaurant with a patio and space for perhaps a dozen small tables.
Overall, the revised version of Brainerd Place would create 50,000 square feet less commercial space than first proposed, but would add 110 more apartments.
In his presentation, Bertram said the changes would “maintain momentum” for the rest of the project.
As interest rates escalated for the past year, developers pulled back from the enormously ambitious pace of new projects of 2021 and 2022. New large-scale buildings in particular have become problematic, and numerous Connecticut towns have seen a halt to new applications.
The developers are financially capable of building most of the project, including several new buildings and the restoration of three historic homes on the property.
But the two initially proposed commercial sections aren’t feasible, Bertram said.
“Without some modification of the plan, we’re concerned that both (Building) B and A will sit undeveloped,” he said.
The developers are looking for additional tax incentives, but selectmen won’t decide on that until the Planning and Zoning Commission votes on the revised site plan. Selectmen emphasized that any incentives would apply only to the first 240 apartments, which had already been approved.
The apartments would be approximately 70% studios and one-bedroom units, and 30% two-bedrooms.
Recent college graduates and senior citizens are the target market for tenants, according to the developers.