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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 F E B R UA R Y 5 , 2 0 1 8 L obster traps, buoys, barrels and industrial buildings dot Portland's Union Wharf, owned by the Poole family for more than two centuries. Brothers Charlie and Malcolm Poole lease space to 25 tenants and 15 boats that tie up on the pier, all part of Portland's prized working waterfront. As they seek new tenants and income sources, the brothers are having a three-story office built at the adjacent Widgery Wharf, which they also own. ey're planning two more build- ings of commercial and retail space on Commercial Street in what is to be the first large-scale project under 2010 zon- ing that allows for more non-marine waterfront land use under certain condi- tions, including providing money to invest in marine infrastructure. "It's very expensive to take care of one of these properties, and the marine industries can only afford to pay so much," says Charlie Poole. "We need the diversification of our tenant base to ensure that we can keep the maritime commercial infrastructure repaired and up to speed." Malcolm Poole adds: "For our generation, our family, this is an opportunity to reinvest in Portland." at puts the siblings front and center of a waterfront development boom set to reshape Portland, as Maine's biggest city struggles to strike the right balance between attracting more tourists and businesses and keeping neighborhoods livable and affordable. 'Awesome responsibility' City officials, who laid the groundwork for transforming the waterfront two decades ago, are thrilled at what's hap- pening now. "It's a wonderful time to be involved in development in Portland and its history, but it's an awesome responsibility we take seriously," says Greg Mitchell, the city's economic development director. Sitting next to him in a City Hall room with stacks of maps against the wall, waterfront coordinator Bill Needelman speaks of "a development phase that'll be recog- nized 100 years from now." e city government intends to play an active role in the transforma- tion, not just in vetting the growing list of projects that come before the Planning Board, but also through longer-term ambitions of its own to turn the hulking Portland Ocean Terminal on the Maine State Pier into a mixed-use space anchored by a public seafood market and busi- ness incubator, and to turn the vacant Amethyst parking lot between Ocean Gateway and the Portland Co. on ames Street into a public open space with waterfront access. City officials are encouraged by the flurry of private development elsewhere on the eastern waterfront, where there are three active con- struction sites. Near Portland's Ocean Gateway Pier, construction is underway at WEX Inc.'s future global headquar- ters, being developed by Jonathan Cohen of O Hancock LLC and set to be completed in 2019, and at the Twenty ames luxury condominium complex and AC Hotel by Marriott being developed by Ara Aftandilian of EssexNorth Portland LLC. WEX spokesman Rob Gould said the new campus will have space for 400 to 450 employees, while other employees will stay put in South Portland. Including contract workers, WEX currently employs 1,000 in South Portland. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Reshaping Portland's waterfront A flurry of development east to west in Maine's largest city B y R e n e e C o r d e s F O C U S C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Brothers Charlie (left) and Malcolm Poole plan to expand their holdings on the waterfront with an office building on Widgery Wharf, which they own.

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