Mainebiz Special Editions

V O L . X X X I I N O. X I I § 2 J U N E 1 , 2 0 2 6 10 Partners, has said. A restaurant and bar area are planned for the fifth floor, with expanded deck space. Non-guests will be able to take an elevator to the top floor. Guests from both hotels will be able to intermingle and use ame- nities in the other. e project includes disassem- bling offices down to the stud walls and building out guest rooms plus amenity spaces. Demolition is in the works. Installations include plumbing, heating and cooling systems. "e shell is in perfect shape," said Bateman. e project team includes Port- land architecture firm Archetype principal Mike Coyne and PC Con- struction, which is based in Ver- mont with an office in Portland. It's expected the hotel will open by this August. "It was a natural opportunity to expand the Portland Harbor Hotel," Bateman said. Bank vault Fathom Cos.'s plans are advancing for the historic rehabilitation and adaptive reuse project at 465 Congress St. on Portland's Monument Square, to con- vert the former Fidel- ity Trust office building into a luxury boutique hotel. Partnering on the project with Port- land commercial real estate development consultancy Swing- point Development, the redevelopment is expected to wrap by early summer 2027, s a y s J i m B r a d y, Fathom's president. e 1910 build- ing, once housing offices and a retail bank, was vacant w h e n B r a d y bought it in 2024. e structure is in good condition. Plans call for 100 keys plus full-ser- vice food and beverage. Historic fea- tures include a basement vault with original doors and an internal central staircase with a skylight. e project team includes AAmp, an architec- ture and design studio based in Port- land and Toronto; and Freeport gen- eral contractor Zachau Construction. e name of the hotel hasn't been released yet. On Portland ompson's Point, the dual-branded 148-room, five- story Residence Inn/Moxy Hotel by Marriott is slated to open this sum- mer next to a museum, connected to an event space and within walking distance to a transportation center. Amenities include a restaurant and bar, fitness center and indoor pool. e project team includes general contractor Procon Inc. and manage- ment firm Colwen Hotels, both based in New Hampshire. Extended stay Earlier this year, Maine Course Hos- pitality Group, a hotel ownership and management company in Freeport, opened HomeAwhile, a 109-suite extended-stay hotel at 205 South- borough Drive in Scarborough, aim- ing to "bridge the gap between tra- ditional hotels and long-term apart- ment living," Sean Riley, the group's CEO, has said. e group's portfolio of 28 hotels includes 14 in Maine. Some are acqui- sitions with potential for improved performance; others are ground-up construction. Belmont, N.H., design-build firm Opechee Construction Corp. partnered on the Scarborough proj- ect. HomeAwhile is the group's own brand, designed to address a gap in the extended-stay market, including traveling nurses, IT folks and con- struction workers. The units have home-like amenities such as kitchens. e group owns another extended- stay hotel next door: Homewood Suites, at 200 Southborough Drive, is more upscale, he said. At 210 South- borough Drive, the group owns the Courtyard by Marriott, a traditional hotel for overnight stays In Ellsworth, Witham Family Hotels, led by David Witham, has construction underway on a Home2 Suites by Hilton at 6 Downeast High- way, also known as High Street. e hospitality company is head- quartered in Ellsworth but has most of its hotel portfolio in Bar Harbor. e extended-stay property will have 83 suites with fully equipped kitch- ens, dedicated workspace areas and sofa beds, designed for short- and longer-term stays. Amenities include an indoor pool, fitness center, guest laundry, grab-and-go retail and an outdoor patio with fire pits and grills. "We are currently targeting a mid- to late-August 2026 opening, with construction progressing well," says Eric Marichal, Witham's director of strategic operations. e project team includes Wright- Ryan as construction manager and Chambersburg, Pa., architect New- comer Associates. e Home2 Suites is on the main corridor to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. e extended-stay segment is the fastest-growing in hospitality and is underserved in the Ellsworth area, Witham has said. Potential guests include traveling nurses, construc- tion crews, Jackson Lab employees and leisure travelers. » CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE HomeAwhile Maine Course Hospitality Group of Freeport teamed up with Opechee Construction, of Belmont, N.H., to build the HomeAwhile extended-stay hotel in Scarborough. Bateman Partners bought 245-253 Commercial St. in Portland's Old Port from MEMIC for $10 million. Behind 245-253 Commercial St. is MEMIC's headquarters and, to MEMIC's right, Portland Harbor Hotel. A vintage postcard of the Portland's Fidelity Trust Co. building, where plans are advancing to develop it as a hotel. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y JA S O N G O M E Z , T H E BO U L O S C O. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y M A I N E C O U R S E H O S P I TA L I T Y G RO U P P O S T C A R D / P E T E R VA N A L L E N , F RO M OW E N , M O O R E & C O. P O S T C A R D

• Cover