Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X X V I N OV E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 2 4 6 Incumbents stay in place Maine voters on Nov. 5 generated few surprises on the state level. Voters reelected three members of the state's congressional delegation, with incumbent U.S. Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine 2nd District, and Chellie Pingree, D-Maine 1st District, and U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, all getting the nod from voters. (U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, will not face reelection until November 2026.) Maine voters also supported bond measures for research and development funding and funding for historic restora- tions, but rejected a proposal for a new Maine flag. In the presidential election, Democrat Kamala Harris won 52.1% of the Maine vote, while Republican Donald Trump captured 45.4%. Maine was one of only 18 states Harris carried. Trump will be inaugu- rated as president Jan. 20, 2025. N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E U.S. Sen. Susan Collins an- nounced that the state of Maine was awarded $37.6 million and Maine tribes received an addition- al $1.4 million through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Fidium Fiber said it is expand- ing its all-fiber internet network in Belfast and Windham, bringing multi-gig speed service to a total of 15,000 homes and businesses in the communities. SoPo effort to add 1,000 housing units fizzles A Portland developer called off a zon- ing change request that would have allowed the creation of over 1,000 units of housing, including 100 afford- able residences, along South Portland's eastern waterfront. PK Realty Management hoped to build out the 30-acre property, called Yard South, with housing, a park and other ameni- ties over a period of 15 to 20 years. But the development required new zoning to allow residential construction — a change that provoked some pushback from the community. e property, at 1 Madison St. and 149 Front St., is mostly vacant. It's owned by L&R Northpoint Holdings and managed by PK Realty, which submitted the appli- cation for rezoning in July. "When we acquired the 30-acre property six years ago, we had many options for devel- opment under the current zoning," said Jennifer Packard, the project lead, president of PK Realty and part of L&R Northpoint Holdings. "However, the city encouraged us to pursue the vision outlined in its comprehensive plan, which called for changing the zone to include residential uses. Since we submitted the application a few months ago, it has become clear that city leadership just isn't ready to bring this vision forward, so we withdrew our zone change application and are pursuing other options." Agency will open Springvale site for older adults e Southern Maine Agency on Aging opened a service location at the Anderson Learning Center at 21 Bradeen St. in Springvale, addressing a growing need for services for older adults. e site serves residents from Acton, Alfred, Lebanon, Newfield, North Berwick, Sanford, Springvale, Shapleigh and Waterboro . e agency is planning to open another service location in Cumberland County in 2025. Southern Maine Agency on Aging is a resource for older adults in York and Cumberland counties. It B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N SP ONSORED BY Cities take a 'u-turn' on one-way thinking B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n B ack in 2019, a Mainebiz reporter took a closer look at central Maine cities that were turning downtown streets into two-way thoroughfares. As reported in the Real Estate Insider of Aug. 22, 2019, "Inside what two-way downtown means for developers," Augusta and Waterville were in the process of changing the traffic patterns. One-way streets have long been a staple of major cit- ies. In Maine, the one-way streets dated as far back as the 1940s. But the one-way traffic flow didn't necessarily work for modern shoppers and shopkeepers. Various par ties inter viewed by repor ter Maureen Milliken hailed the change and said it would invigorate the downtowns. A central Maine real estate broker, Hoa Hoang, didn't need a study to tell her conversion to two-way would be good for development. "I'm an advocate, I've always been one," she told Mainebiz. "We'll see values increase." In Augusta, Maureen wrote, the "downtown is less than half a mile long, hemmed in on one side by the Kennebec River and the other by a steep hill. The business district is a compact area, and Water Street is its only thoroughfare." "Switching to two-way is the single best way we can improve both visibility and access to downtown restaurants and retailers — now, and in the future," a local official told Mainebiz. Broker Hoang had recently sold a three-story commercial building at 166 Water St., just north of the area that was one-way, the Real Estate Insider reported. In the past, she'd talked to buyers about property in the one-way area, but the response was often the same: "'Oh it's dead here,' they'd tell me," she told Mainebiz at the time. "And it was dead. So dead." F U N FAC T : John Gilderbloom, director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods at the University of Louisville, studied traffic flow and the effect of one-way streets. "While there is no magical quick fix when it comes to turning around neighborhoods, converting multi-lane one-way streets to two- way streets is a smart and affordable policy."Of a conversion in Louisville, he wrote: "Two-way con- version improves the livability of a neighborhood by significantly reducing crime and collisions and by increasing property values, business revenue, taxes, and bike and pedestrian traffic." F I L E P H O T O / M A U R E E N M I L L I K E N Southbound cars on the newly two-way section of Water Street in downtown Augusta pass a vacant storefront. Studies show converting one-way downtown streets to two-way decreases vacancy rates.

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