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V O L . X X I I N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 8 , 2 0 1 6 14 Culley, a Portland native whose resume includes a stint as a senior associate of the venture capital arm of the Boeing Co. in Seattle, returned to Maine and co-founded Redfern with his wife, Catherine, in 2005. He says they came back to Maine largely for the same lifestyle reasons he's counting on to fi ll his two apartment projects now under construc- tion. By the time the 139-apartment project at 667 Congress St. is completed in the spring of 2017, he and his wife will have built or renovated 300 hous- ing units in Portland in the last decade. "I'd like to think we've done our part," he says, agreeing with Vitalius that the appeal of living down- town within walking distance of many amenities cuts across all generations. " ere are absolutely demo- graphic trends supporting urban development. ese are real trends. at's why we are making such a big bet on urban housing. ese are very healthy social trends." City takes fresh look at growth Jeff Levine, director of Portland's Planning and Urban Development Department, says more than 1,100 units of housing were approved by the city's planning board by the end of 2015, with Redfern Properties accounting for 192 of the 269 units now under construction. He's been in his post for three-and-a-half years, having previously worked as director of planning and community development for a greater Boston community, and says most of his planning career has been in cities between 50,000 and 100,000 in population. "Portland is the most exciting place I've worked in so far," he says. "I think it's been 'full steam ahead' since the day I got here." Levine says it's understandable that, as the pace and scale of projects in the Portland peninsula started picking up in recent years, it has triggered fears that the city's unique qualities were at risk of being lost. "Change worries people," he says. It isn't just the mixed-use Midtown and Portland Co. proposals triggering such concerns. A recent pro- posal by retailer CVS to raze fi ve buildings in the mid- 300 block of Forest Avenue sparked a public outcry over the loss of the neighborhood's historic ambience. e recent surge of hotel, mixed-use and multi-unit housing projects, he says, has spurred the city to take a fresh look at its comprehensive plan, a long-range, » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Toll-free 1-866-HAMMOND www.hammondlumber.com F O C U S F I L E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Jeff Levine, director of Portland's Planning and Urban Development Department, in his offi ce at City Hall.

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