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V O L . X X I X N O. X V I J U LY 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 22 R E A L E S TAT E / C O N S T R U C T I O N / E N G I N E E R I N G C ontractors are hard at work on the multi-faceted redevel- opment of a former hospital in Portland's West End. Under the aegis of NewHeight Redfern — a joint venture between two Portland development firms, NewHeight Group and Redfern Properties — the former Mercy Hospital at 120 State St. is being transformed into 165 rental apartments and ground-floor commercial spaces. It will be called the Nightingale, in honor of Florence Nightingale, consid- ered the founder of modern nursing. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Mercy redevelopment replaces ambulances with residences How developers solved the puzzle of rebuilding a former hospital to suit a historic Portland neighborhood B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r Jonathan Culley, Redfern's co-founder and managing partner, and Erin Cooperrider, a principal at NewHeight, say they expect a wide range of renters at the Nightingale, part of the redevelopment of the former Mercy Hospital campus on State Street. F O C U S MERCY HOSPITAL HISTORY Mercy Hospital was founded as Queen's Hospital by the Sisters of Mercy in 1918, on donated property on the intersection of Congress and State streets. In 1941, to meet the need for greater hospital capacity, the Sis- ters of Mercy arranged for the pur- chase of property on State Street and renamed the hospital Mercy. In The new facility opened in 1943. The old Queen's Hospital build- ings were kept for housing and classrooms. Subsequent expansions included an eight-story wing with an emergency room in 1951 and a substance recovery center in 1982. Mercy relocated to a 42-acre Fore River campus in 2008. S OU R C E: Mercy Hospital and Ian Saxine, Maine Historical Society

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