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V O L . X X X N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 5 , 2 0 2 4 12 C O M M E R C I A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Casey Prentice, developer of the Portland Foreside mixed-use neighborhood on the city's East End, says that floating docks at the Fore Points Marina help cushion the impact of ocean waves. A s Casey Prentice transforms 10 acres of for- merly industrial land into a mixed-use neigh- borhood along Portland's eastern waterfront, increasingly volatile weather is top of mind. Portland Foreside, which represents an invest- ment of close to $1 billion, is anchored by the Fore Points Marina, a 150-slip, deep-water harbor with berths for 12 super-yachts. e $27 million marina includes large concrete blocks designed by Sweden's SF Marina to cushion the impact of ocean waves and interior docks by Montreal-based Structure Marine Amarco Inc. "ose docks float nine feet below the surface — they are like giant icebergs," Prentice says. "As a result, our marina, which took a direct hit from this last storm, didn't sustain any damage, nor did any of the vessels in the marina." He was talking days after the second of two January storms that coincided with astronomical high tides, causing widespread flooding that destroyed homes, boats and businesses. In Portland alone, city offi- cials expect the damage to be around $10 million, for which they will seek reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Association though the agency will only cover the costs of restoring things back to what they were pre-storm, according to city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin. e two January rain, snow and wind storms fol- lowed the Dec. 18 "Grinch" washout that caused an estimated $20 million in damage, mainly in central and western Maine. What increasingly severe and more frequent weather events mean for waterfront development state- wide: "is is an important wake-up call for the future of coastal Maine," says Cameron Wake, a climate change expert at the University of New England. "We cannot build back the same way and expect anything different in the future." Building 'for the next 100 years' From Maine's coast to inland rivers, private developers and others are building with an eye to a stormier future — not just as a challenge, but also seizing on opportu- nities to innovate. "When we build something, it's for the next 100 years, not for the next 20, so seawalls and breakwa- ter have to be included in any plan we do," says Drew Lyman, president of Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding Inc. in omason and Camden who led the $15 million It's not easy to find developers who can self-finance projects in the floodplain, but increasingly, that is what we need to do. — Keith Luke City of Augusta tide Turning the How climate change is reshaping waterfront development in Maine B y R e n e e C o r d e s

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