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Maine State Pier May Be Redeveloped for Other Commercial Uses

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 May 2006, 18:04 CDT

By Tom Bell, Portland Press Herald, Maine

May 9--With a major hotel company eyeing a portion of the Maine State Pier for development, Portland officials are abandoning their efforts to find an industrial tenant and are considering other commercial uses.

The change of policy could bring millions of dollars in new investment to a section of Portland waterfront that has been underused and off limits to the public. The pier is situated between the prosperous Old Port shopping district and the planned Ocean Gateway cruise-ship terminal.

The change, however, also could bring more pressure on the council to relax zoning restrictions throughout the waterfront. The restrictions were put in place in 1993 to block the creep of high-end condominiums and trendy restaurants into the working waterfront.

The city has been struggling to find a major tenant for the pier -- best known to the public for the huge whale mural painted there -- since Cianbro left two years ago.

City officials had hoped that Cianbro, which had leased the site for $1.4 million a year to build two oil rigs, could continue building oil rigs or refit commercial ships. But there is no market for that kind of work, said Jeff Monroe, the city's port director.

The pier has gone from being a moneymaker to a money loser, Monroe said. The lack of a major tenant at the terminal will cost the city about $750,000 in lost revenue this year.

Built in 1922, the Maine State Pier needs repair. City officials say that structural work to strengthen the pier beneath it could cost $1 million or more.

Phineas Sprague, who owns Portland Yacht Services, said the city can't wait much longer for an industrial user because it needs to make an investment in the pier now before it becomes too dilapidated.

Meanwhile, four developers have shown interest in the pier, including Ocean Properties Ltd., the largest privately held hotel operating and development company in the United States. Its principal owner is Bangor native Thomas Walsh.

Based in Portsmouth, N.H., the company operates hotels under the Holiday Inn, Marriott and other brands. Independent properties include the Samoset Resort on the Ocean in Rockport and the Golden Anchor Inn in Bar Harbor.

Bob Baldacci, brother of Gov. John Baldacci and the company's vice president of development, met with city officials about three months ago to talk about a waterfront hotel and other opportunities in the city, said former Portland city councilor and mayor Peter O'Donnell.

O'Donnell, who now works for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, said he helped arrange meetings between city officials and Baldacci as part of his job with the state to foster development.

He described the hotel company's plans as "very conceptual."

Bob Baldacci is traveling overseas and could not be reached for comment.

City Manager Joe Gray is proposing that the city "mothball" the industrial portions of the pier until the city comes up with a business plan.

The city is mainly interested in developing the portion of the pier that contains the 85,000-square-foot warehouse. The blue building, which is largely empty, was painted by mural artist Robert Wyland in 1993.

Cruise ships now tie up at the pier.

The city is not looking at the portion of the pier currently occupied by Casco Bay Island Transit District, the Parking Garage or the Compass Park.

Over the past two years, three other developers have approached the city with proposals about that portion of the pier, said City Councilor Jim Cloutier, who chairs the council's Community Development Committee. He said the proposals include hotels and office buildings.

He said he's certain the property will basically continue to be a maritime pier. But the industrial zoning is outdated and too restrictive, he said. The council will consider ways to ease up on the zoning to allow kinds of commercial uses.

He said the council must first set some policies for what kind of development it will consider and then ask for a request for proposals.

The committee will hold a public hearing at City Hall on Wednesday to discuss potential future uses for the pier.

Mark Malone, a commercial real estate broker and former Planning Board member who worked on the Ocean Gateway master plan, said the 12-acre site is well-suited for commercial development because it is large and controlled by one entity, the city. He said he envisions a mix of shops, restaurants and a hotel.

Maintaining a pier is hugely expensive, he said, and the city is smart to consider nonmarine uses that could generate more income. He said the development would enhance public access to the waterfront.

"It helps bridge the gap between the Old Port and the Ocean Gate project, so it all flows together," he said.

The city has zoned the waterfront to protect marine-related issues. Offices, shops and restaurants generally aren't allowed on the ground floor, except for grandfathered business, and there are limits on upper floors as well.

Private wharf and pier owners have been telling the city for years to ease up on zoning restrictions because marine-related businesses don't pay enough in rent to maintain the infrastructure, said Pete McAleney, owner of New Meadows Lobster on the Portland Pier.

But others on the waterfront, including many fishermen, worry that increased commercial development will push them off the waterfront and hurt the city's marine economy.

Waterfront property owners should be pleased by the city's new direction, Malone said. If the city changes the zoning rules for itself, he said, it should give the same flexibility to private owners or face being seen as "hypo- critical."

Sprague, the owner of Portland Yacht Services, urges city officials to keep an open mind about how the property should be used.

"You can't go into this planning process with too many preconceived notions," he said. "Portland is a wonderful town. This is an opportunity to turn something that is a stone around its neck to something that is an asset."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Portland Press Herald, Maine

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Source: Portland Press Herald

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