The Right Equation for Responsible Development: Spotlight on the Homeless Services Center (Portland)

Each year, the Maine Real Estate & Development Association (MEREDA) recognizes some of the state’s most “noteworthy and significant” real estate projects, completed in the previous year. The exemplary projects from across the state, completed in 2023, not only embody MEREDA’s belief in responsible real estate development, but also exemplify best practices in the industry, contributing to Maine’s economic growth by significant investment of resources and job creation statewide.

This year, MEREDA honored projects from Portland to Gardiner to Presque Isle, with each receiving special recognition at MEREDA’s 2024 Spring Conference on May 15th.

In a multi-part series exclusive to the Maine Real Estate Insider, we’ll provide an up-close look at the most notable commercial development projects of the past year that are helping to fuel Maine’s economy in terms of investment and job creation. MEREDA is proud to recognize responsible development based upon criteria including environmental sustainability, economic impact, energy efficiency, difficulty of the development, uniqueness, social impact and job creation.

MEREDA’s 2023 Top 7 recipients include:

University of Southern Maine Portland Commons Residence Hall and McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success, Capstone Development Partners (Portland)
Maine Savings Amphitheater, Waterfront Concerts, LLC (Bangor)
Phoenix Flats, Community Housing of Maine (Portland)
Homeless Services Center, Developers Collaborative (Portland)
Northeastland Hotel, Haley Ward, Inc. (Presque Isle)
Johnson Hall Opera House, Johnson Hall Redevelopment, LLC (Gardiner)
The Armature at Hanover Works, Reveler Development (Portland)

Please join us this week in celebrating the Homeless Services Center.

MEREDA: Describe the building and project.

The Homeless Services Center (the “HSC”) is a newly constructed, low-barrier emergency shelter for adults in Portland’s Riverton neighborhood. The single-story building is 52,000 square feet with 208 beds between two separate men’s and women’s dormitories and bathrooms, a commercial kitchen and dining area, offices for service providers, a health clinic, and an outdoor recreation area with community garden beds.

Designed by Winton Scott Architects to be durable, functional, comfortable, and humane, the HSC building maximizes natural light and emphasizes the privacy and dignity of its guests. Guests receive a single locker and bed during their stay. Beds are arranged in clusters separated by low partitions with device charging stations, and all showers are in individual stalls.

The construction of the HSC, led by Cianbro, utilized a pre-engineered Murox building system. The result is a LEED Gold-certified, well-insulated building envelope with passive-house-level fixed windows and an energy model showing 30% improvement over ASHRAE 2019 standards. HSC operations are free of fossil fuels, powered instead by a 107.8 kW PV solar array installed on the building’s roof. Heating, cooling, and hot water are electric, and a highly efficient variable refrigerant flow system focuses conditioned air in different areas as guests move throughout the building during the day.

MEREDA: What was the impetus for this project?

The impetus behind the HSC project began with the City of Portland’s desire to replace its aging Oxford Street Shelter and respond to the city’s growing homelessness crisis. According to the 2019 “Point-in-Time Survey of Homelessness in the State of Maine” produced by MaineHousing, the number of Maine people experiencing homelessness grew from approximately 885 in 2010 to 1,215 in 2019. At the Oxford Street Shelter facility, limited capacity meant waitlists and guests sleeping on mats laid on the floor. Without a kitchen, all hot food provided at the shelter was transported in from other locations.

MEREDA: That sounds like quite a process. How long were you in the planning stages before construction started?

Though a result of many prior years of visioning and planning, the development of the HSC project began in earnest with City Council approval of the 654 Riverside Street site for the new shelter in 2019. In 2021, following an RFP process, the City of Portland selected Developers Collaborative to develop the shelter and lease it back to the City. The HSC encountered and overcame several challenges during the planning stages. Apprehension by the Riverton community about the safety and security of the HSC resulted in the creation of a Neighborhood Advisory Committee to address ongoing concerns, and in 2021, a citizen-initiated referendum that would have limited new shelters to 50 beds was ultimately defeated.

MEREDA: Tell us about the most challenging aspect of getting this project completed.

The project required creative and varied sources of funding, including an upfront payment of $6.5M from the City of Portland, $6.5M in COVID relief funds, and an $18.5M loan from Gorham Savings Bank secured by Developers Collaborative, who agreed to lease the building back to the City with the option to purchase for $1 after 25 years. 

Mid-stream design changes threatened the project’s schedule and budget. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, guidance from the CDC required upgrades to the HVAC system and an expansion of the HSC’s footprint to allow for sufficient social distancing. When excess contaminated soil on the site necessitated remediation, the project team worked closely with the City of Portland and Maine DEP to develop a soil remediation plan including offsite disposal and the creation of onsite capped-in-place berms. Despite these challenges, the project came in under budget and was completed within one month of the original schedule.

MEREDA: Something unexpected you learned along the way was….

To respond nimbly to the changing needs of the community. We navigated the redesign of the building in response to COVID-19, but the end user of the HSC was always intended to be the unhoused population of Portland who have been here for some time. The HSC was built around programming for this population’s complex needs, including counseling, transportation, medical and dental services. However, an influx of asylum seekers to the state grew rapidly during the development of the building, to the point that the decision was made to initially fill the HSC with asylees from area hotels despite the closing of the Oxford Street Shelter. At that point (spring 2023), the City reengaged Developers Collaborative to locate, permit, finance, and implement a separate dedicated shelter for asylum seekers so the HSC could fulfill its intended purpose, all by that fall. With the help of Cianbro, we opened another 179-bed shelter for asylees in November 2023. While it was an entirely different process, we are equally proud to have been able to deliver that project under such a tight timeline and with so much at stake.

MEREDA: Now that it’s complete, what feature of the project do you think makes it the most notable?

The HSC is Maine’s largest homeless shelter and is unparalleled in its provision of dignified living spaces and on-site wraparound support services. While the vast majority of Maine’s homeless shelters are small, existing spaces repurposed with varying degrees of success, the Portland HSC was thoughtfully designed and constructed specifically to serve the unhoused based on input from those experiencing homelessness. It is a space where guests can feel welcomed and safe. Wrap-around services and spaces designed with dignity and compassion support guests’ feelings of self-worth and motivation toward recovery and stable, long-term housing. That the facility was at capacity on day one and has since expanded by 50 additional beds underscores the shelter’s impact on the Portland area and surrounding communities.