Developers unveiled new plans Tuesday to redesign the office plaza near Portland's Old Port and build a 30-story residential, hotel and retail tower.
Tim Soley, founder and president of the development group East Brown Cow Management Company, said he envisions the project as an urban center where people will visit, live, work and shop.
At 380 feet, the tower would be the tallest, by far, in Portland, and the tallest in the region outside of Boston.
Boston-based architect Moshe Safdie designed the project, known as Old Port Square, and said it is inspired by Maine's lighthouses. Safdie has designed several high-profile buildings in Singapore, China and Israel, among others, throughout his career.
"This tower that's designed here, the beacon, has the potential in my opinion to become a beloved building," he said. "A beloved building means that it will become part of the identity of the city."
Plans call for the top floors to be open to the public and offer views of Casco Bay and the White Mountains.
This is not the first time that Soley's group has proposed a tall building for this area near the Old Port. In 2019, developers floated the idea of a 20-story tower, but Portland's zoning rules had not yet been changed to allow for a building at that height.
Soley acknowledged that the project, which now features a tower that's even taller, may be controversial with some Portland residents.
"It is never possible to satisfy everyone, but I think it's important to do this to increase the economic viability and the vibrancy of the city," Soley said in an interview Tuesday.
Portland zoning rules, which were revised last year, now allow for buildings of this height.
Soley's group has been gradually renovating One Canal Plaza and the parking garage on Fore Street over the last few years.
Developers will have to submit applications for the new buildings for consideration by Portland's planning board.
