Saco Island Project Approved

In a unanimous vote the Saco Planning Board on Tuesday approved Saco Island LLC’s $100 million redevelopment plan of a 15-acre complex of former manufacturing mills. The project, of comparable size and scope to Portland’s Maine State Pier, has been under consideration and review for more than three years. The current undeveloped land has been vacant for several decades.

Construction is expected to last four years and include a combination of retail space, condominiums, marina and offices.

Last fall, Saco Island LLC negotiated $35 million in tax increment financing from Saco, the largest such deal ever made between a Maine municipality and a real estate developer.

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: mainerealestatenews.com

Maine Med Nationally Ranked

Medical care continues to excel in southern Maine. Recently Maine Medical Center, based in Portland, is the first Maine hospital to appear in the U.S. News and World Report “America’s Best Hospitals” rankings. The 2007 rankings rate hospitals by treatment type and include some of the country’s best, like the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Maine Medial Center ranked 50 out of 50 in the “Heart and Heart Surgery” category and 45 out of 50 in the “Orthopedics” category, according to a press release. Only 173 hospitals of 5,462 considered made the paper’s lists.

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: mainerealestatenews.com

Belfast Condo Project Scrapped

As has recently happened with several condo projects in the greater Portland area, developers in Belfast have decided to withdraw from a potential project. Westport Capital Partners had been planning to build 40 condominiums and a restaurant on the site of the former Stinson Seafood building in the harbor area.

According to company’s representatives, for a suitable return on investment the condos would need to be sold in the $600,00 to $800,000 range and in the current economic climate did not believe that could be realized. Westport Capital’s project manager George Pray made the announcement at a special city council meeting Friday afternoon.

The company held an option to purchase the former Stinson Seafood property, which it will not exercise. Westport Capital took over the project from developer Tom Roberts, who labored for several years to bring a similar redevelopment to fruition.

Westport Capital, like Roberts before, was seeking a contract rezoning arrangement with the city. Current zoning does not permit the sort of development both Roberts and Westport Capital planned. As a result the developers, with input from the city, had to create plans that ultimately required approval by the council.

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: mainerealestatenews.com

Belfast Condo Project Scrapped

As has recently happened with several condo projects in the greater Portland area, developers in Belfast have decided to withdraw from a potential project. Westport Capital Partners had been planning to build 40 condominiums and a restaurant on the site of the former Stinson Seafood building in the harbor area.

According to company’s representatives, for a suitable return on investment the condos would need to be sold in the $600,00 to $800,000 range and in the current economic climate did not believe that could be realized. Westport Capital’s project manager George Pray made the announcement at a special city council meeting Friday afternoon.

The company held an option to purchase the former Stinson Seafood property, which it will not exercise. Westport Capital took over the project from developer Tom Roberts, who labored for several years to bring a similar redevelopment to fruition.

Westport Capital, like Roberts before, was seeking a contract rezoning arrangement with the city. Current zoning does not permit the sort of development both Roberts and Westport Capital planned. As a result the developers, with input from the city, had to create plans that ultimately required approval by the council.

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: mainerealestatenews.com

Olympia To Develop Maine State Pier

In an expected 5-3 vote, the newely elected Portland City Council on Monday named Olympia Companies to develop the Maine State Pier. The vote comes after repeated attempts to decide between Olympia and Ocean Properties of Portsmouth. A number of previous votes ended in ties.

According to councilors the decision for the $100 million project came down to Olympia’s design over Ocean Properties’ funding. The seven-acre development will include a mega-berth for cruise ships, a hotel and office and retail space.

Many are questioning the decision as Olympia has not presented a bona fide plan as to how the project will be financed and how state and federal permitting issues will be overcome. A strong benefit of working with Ocean Properties was that the company could internally finance the project, ensuring its completion.

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: mainerealestatenews.com

Housing Market Attracts Media Feeding Frenzy

As with nearly every issue the media has a tendency to look at things from the most negative perspective – and the drop in the housing market is no different. Many home sellers in Maine and nationally are in a panic and without a doubt that desperation is working against them.

Real Estate ReportRecent stories in CNN Money, Bloomberg and The Financial Times have all decried the demise of the real estate market. As recently as last Friday Time Magazine prepared an expose on the falling housing market in Southern California.

I am not proposing that the market is not going through difficult times. Without question sales are down and properties are taking longer to sell. What is interesting, however, is how markets start to react. Initially there is denial that a problem is occurring. For example builders had their time and money invested in developments and even though the warning signs were there to slowdown, they continued to build. Now they are severely cutting back and simply trying to survive!

Wall Street is taking action and mortgage rates are beginning to show signs of retreating. The Federal Reserve will probably move to reinforce lower rates and keep the market from a complete meltdown, risking some mild inflation in the process.

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: mainerealestatenews.com