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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 JA N UA R Y 2 1 , 2 0 1 9 F O C U S C O M M E R C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T Two blocks away, Bateman Partners LLC is developing the 170,000-square- foot Vets First Choice headquarters, pharmacy and fulfillment center as part of a 211,000-square foot redevelopment of the Shipyard Brewing Co. prop- erty on Newbury Street. at project includes a 105-room "brewtel" hotel and parking for 389 cars. "is is the most development the city has seen since the Great Fire of 1866," says Jeff Levine, Portland's direc- tor of planning and urban development. "When there's this amount of develop- ment, people get concerned, but also allows us to become the city we want to be for the next hundred years." A changing neighborhood e first structure built by a white settler on the peninsula was in 1632, on the corner of what is now Hancock and Fore streets, just steps from the new WEX building. e neighborhood, the city's first commercial core, has undergone a lot of change since, including rebuilding after most of it was lost in the 1866 fire, and then a second boom when the railroad was extended east down the waterfront. e construction of the Franklin Street arterial in the urban renewal era of the early 1970s cut the eastern end of the peninsula off from down- town just as the railroad era that had kept it busy was breathing its final gasps. In the last half-century, the area went largely undeveloped. WEX will lease 80,000 square feet in the new building at the corner of ames and Hancock streets, which is owned by 0 Hancock LLC., which bought the lot from the city for $3.3 million in 2017. e building also includes ground- floor retail and other offices, and is expected to initially house 450 WEX employees. Cianbro finished up the WEX proj- ect just in time to get started on the 100 Fore St. project, also being developed by Jonathan Cohen, of 0 Hancock. at project includes 275,000 square feet of new construction, more than half of it a parking garage with 589 spaces, the rest office and retail. Cianbro plans to start demolition shortly, Brescia says. AUDIO/VISUAL EQUIPMENT SOUND MASKING SYSTEMS SECURITY SOLUTIONS CELL BOOSTERS & WIRELESS TELEPHONE SYSTEMS I.T. Guys... with tools. CONTACT US FOR A FREE ESTIMATE 866-782-0200 | connectivitypoint.com CABLING & CONNECTIVITY C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E ยป R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y O F V E T S F I R S T C H O I C E R E N D E R I N G / C O U R T E S Y O F C P B 2 L L C AC T I V E E A S T E N D P RO J E C T S 58 Fore St. Portland Foreside COST: $250 million DEVELOPER: Portland Foreside Development Co. SIZE: Up to 600,000 square feet 10 acres USE: hotel, marina, office, retail, residential PARKING: 700-plus spaces STATUS: Marina work underway 86 Newbury St. Shipyard / Vets First Choice COST: $95 million DEVELOPER: Bateman Partners LLC BUILDER: Allied Cook Construction SIZE: 211,000 square feet, includ- ing office space, pharmacy, fulfill- ment center; 105-room hotel PARKING: 389-space garage STATUS: Site work completed. Pharmacy, fulfillment center com- pletion expected October; rest of project April 2020.