Portland, ME MEREDA’s morning menu breakfast event: Portland’s Arts District Garage: A Case Study of Private Parking Structure Development will be held on February 25 starting at 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. at the Holiday Inn By the Bay, 88 Spring St.

The five-story, 280-spaced Arts District Garage parking structure on the corner of Brown St. and Cumberland Ave. was completed in the summer of 2019. The Arts District Garage project provides lasting new value and utility to the adjacent 10-story office tower at 511 Congress St., frees up over 150 off-site parking spaces elsewhere in the city, and opens new opportunities to develop potentially hundreds of new residential units in the neighborhood.  

Join us for a MEREDA breakfast where garage owner Ed Gardner will discuss considerations leading to the genesis of the project and the operating experience thus far. Project architect Travis Nadeau of Platz Associates will explain the project’s unique exposed architectural steel design and the permitting process. Developer Ethan Boxer-Macomber of Anew Development will discuss some of the unique financial, public review, and construction administration challenges presented by the project.

Join MEREDA for breakfast on February 25 from 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. at the Holiday Inn By the Bay to learn more about this exciting new project and the some of the unique facets of private parking structure development.

About the Panelists:
Ed Gardner’s first business investment was a 12-unit apartment building, purchased at the age of 17. From there, he acquired two convenience stores. In 1995, Ed bought his first in-town investment, the Portland Performing Arts Center, home of Portland Stage Company. At 54, he celebrated the purchase of property #50 and his largest real estate acquisition, 511 Congress St. Plaza. Owner of Gardner Real Estate Group, Ed is a consistent top producing real estate broker in Greater Portland. He was awarded Maine’s Realtor of the Year, is past presidents of both the Maine Association of Realtors and the Greater Portland Board of Realtors. He is the current president of Greater Portland Landmarks and a founder and board member of Portland Equality Community Center.

 Travis Nadeau brings over seventeen years of experience in a wide range of municipal, residential, civic, religious, and retail projects, from 70-unit apartment buildings to 175,000 s/f retail entertainment centers. His resume includes the design coordination of six historic tax credit projects, and winners of two Maine Preservation Awards, with the 49-unit Lofts at Bates Mill and the Business Service Center, the adaptive reuse of Maine’s first indoor automobile dealership in downtown Lewiston. Focused on client satisfaction and effective communication, the design of parking garages has been a specialty for Nadeau, with projects including a 380-vehicle garage in Lewiston, a 730-vehicle parking structure for the Thompson’s Point mixed-use development in Portland, and a 523-vehicle parking component of a mixed-use development in historic downtown Portsmouth, N.H.

Ethan Boxer-Macomber is principal of Anew Development, a Portland-based real estate development company that he founded in 2013. Anew Development partners with for-profit companies and non-profit organizations to plan and implement high quality, sustainable, and community focused residential, commercial and mixed-use developments in communities across Southern Maine. Boxer-Macomber pairs his training and experience in the areas of real estate development, urban design, land use planning, and housing and community development with a creative, collaborative, and community-minded approach to achieve highest value project outcomes.

Registering for this Event:

MEREDA Members: $45 each | Non-Members: $55 Each

Prices Increase by $10 after February 18. 

Your RSVP is requested by February 18. Payment is expected at the time of registration. No refunds will be granted to anyone who registers but fails to attend or who cancels after February 18. 

For more information and to register, visit  http://www.mereda.org

MEREDA’s Morning Menu is Sponsored by Norway Savings Bank.