Blink, and you might miss it. It's a small surface parking lot nestled between the small brick structures in Portland's historic Old Port and the taller office buildings downtown.
It's also the site proposed for a 30-story tower — the tallest, by far, in northern New England. On this quiet December afternoon, there are a few cars parked in the lot, along with some construction equipment.
It's almost hard to believe that a 30-story tower might be here one day.
The city of Portland says that's exactly the point.
"It's important that we maximize our land," said Kevin Kraft, director of planning and urban development for the city of Portland. "By going vertically, you can achieve the density needs and you can accommodate more people, utilizing a smaller footprint of land."
Portland's bid to build higher began several years ago as part of the city's effort to update its land use code and zoning. Kraft said Portland studied other peer cities, such as Worcester, Massachusetts, and and New Haven, Connecticut.
They allow taller buildings than Portland, which until last year, had set a height limit of roughly 250 feet.
Through its rezoning process known as ReCode, the city of Portland raised the maximum height allowed in some parts of downtown — Congress and Temple Streets, as well as some parts of Spring Street — up to 365 feet.
That's the exact height of the Old Port Square tower.
The project is being proposed by East Brown Cow, a development company that owns about two dozen properties in Portland. It's not the first time the development 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.
"It felt like it was something beckoning the future of Portland," said Shannon Richards, president of the Maine Real Estate and Development Association. She recalls seeing early plans for the project when the tower was smaller.
But Richards said taller height allowances are a welcome change at a time when construction costs are a challenge for developers. By building higher, they can create more units on a smaller footprint, she said.
"You ideally want to do that in urban communities, where you have shared amenities, like transportation," Richards said.
The plans for Old Port Square call for an 88-room hotel, 73 condos, some retail and a publicly accessible observation area at the very top. It would stand twice as tall as Portland's well-known Time and Temperature building.
At planning board workshops over the last several months, some residents have raised concerns about parking and traffic. And about the height.
"It just feels like a tone-deaf building, when it comes to housing, when it comes to look, when it comes to scale," Jason Rubinoff, a Portland resident, said.
Rubinoff, who grew up here, said the proposed tower seems out of place, like something meant for a much larger city. Downtown Portland, he said, already has its own appeal.
"There's not a gigantic shadow in all directions because of these skyscrapers that are up," he said. "There's not an urban heat island effect in Portland the same way that there is in Boston, or Philadelphia or New York, where it actually gets hotter at night because of the skyscrapers and all of the pavement. We also can see the stars in the city of Portland, and people like that. I like that."
Rubinoff, who said he followed Portland's ReCode process over the years, said he agrees Portland needs to urbanize, in part, to create a more walkable place for people to live with better public transportation. The city, he said, does need to build up.
But Rubinoff doesn't believe the project addresses Portland's affordability challenges, including its pressing needs for more housing for working people.
As required by Portland's inclusionary zoning rules, the developers have indicated they will pay fees to the city in lieu of providing income-restricted housing on site.
There are also some who fear the Old Port Square project could see a new crop of tall buildings downtown.
Kraft, Portland's planning director, said there are many factors that will shape Portland's future.
"The height isn't what's going to change a city," he said. "I think it's going to be part of the continued history of Portland."
Kraft said he believes it's more likely that developers will pursue projects that, while still considered tall for Portland, will not rise up to 30 stories. The Casco, an 18-story apartment building that opened last year in the city, is Maine's current tallest building that isn't a church.
The city's planning board will hold a public hearing Tuesday on the Old Port Square tower and is expected to vote on the project.
