A developer has submitted a proposal to turn Portland’s iconic Time and Temperature building at 477 Congress Street into apartments and a hotel.GreenMars Real Estate Company submitted a site plan and conditional use application to revamp the building where WMTW TV used to have its studios.The plan includes 140 apartment rooms, a 136-room hotel, amenity spaces for guests and residents, and new stores on the ground level.Under Portland rules, with a hotel that size, GreenMars would be required to provide at least five low-income housing units, which the company says it will do. With the number of apartments proposed, they will also be required to make 35 of them (25 percent) meet the definition of workforce housing. GreenMars is proposing to provide the housing options instead of paying a fee.Workforce housing for rental units in Portland is defined as housing that is affordable to a household earning up to 100 percent of HUD Area Median Income.”We see an enormous economic impact, obviously,” said Chris Marshall, General Partner for GreenMars. “I mean, Monument Square has a few vacant office buildings around it. So bringing those back to life in whatever form, you know, a project brings forward hours, obviously, as the hospitality and the residential, it’s going to be a really big impact for the downtown area, broader Portland and I think Maine.”The Time and Temperature building has more than 78,000 square feet and is located within the Congress Street Historic District.GreenMars is based in Maine, and both General Partners are from Portland.The proposal comes as Portland and much of Maine deals with a housing crisis. A recent report estimates that Maine will need 84,000 new homes by 2030 to solve the housing shortage.
A developer has submitted a proposal to turn Portland’s iconic Time and Temperature building at 477 Congress Street into apartments and a hotel.
GreenMars Real Estate Company submitted a site plan and conditional use application to revamp the building where WMTW TV used to have its studios.
The plan includes 140 apartment rooms, a 136-room hotel, amenity spaces for guests and residents, and new stores on the ground level.
Under Portland rules, with a hotel that size, GreenMars would be required to provide at least five low-income housing units, which the company says it will do. With the number of apartments proposed, they will also be required to make 35 of them (25 percent) meet the definition of workforce housing. GreenMars is proposing to provide the housing options instead of paying a fee.
Workforce housing for rental units in Portland is defined as housing that is affordable to a household earning up to 100 percent of HUD Area Median Income.
“We see an enormous economic impact, obviously,” said Chris Marshall, General Partner for GreenMars. “I mean, Monument Square has a few vacant office buildings around it. So bringing those back to life in whatever form, you know, a project brings forward hours, obviously, as the hospitality and the residential, it’s going to be a really big impact for the downtown area, broader Portland and I think Maine.”
The Time and Temperature building has more than 78,000 square feet and is located within the Congress Street Historic District.
GreenMars is based in Maine, and both General Partners are from Portland.
The proposal comes as Portland and much of Maine deals with a housing crisis. A recent report estimates that Maine will need 84,000 new homes by 2030 to solve the housing shortage.
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