Affordable Housing Above New Fire Stations
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George Rheault
Feb 26, 2026, 2:34:38 PM (13 days ago) Feb 26
to Mark Dion, Danielle West-Chuhta, Brendan T O'Connell, Gregory Watson, Pious Ali, April Fournier, bgr...@portlandmaine.gov, Kate Sykes, Anna Bullett, Regina Phillips, Wesley Pelletier, smichn...@portlandmaine.gov, Dena Libner, Mary Davis, gjo...@portlandmaine.gov, PB...@googlegroups.com, john...@portlandmaine.gov, ca...@portlandmaine.com
Sad to see, once again, the City of Portland unable to think creatively with its capital assets planning process.
Why are we investing lots of money in fire stations that are functionally obsolete? Stations that sit on prime city-owned land that also provide amazing re-use opportunities to enliven our embattled downtown along the Portland Peninsula's Congress Street spine?
We need adequate foot traffic to support a vibrant downtown without having to rely exclusively on suburbanite customers and out-of-state visitors (and their vehicles) to achieve that. Only a massive pulse of market-rate and affordable housing can get us there.
I don't have time right now to send you all the examples, but BUILDING DENSE HOUSING ABOVE FIRE STATIONS has been explored and has been or is being implemented in quite a few places in the last 15 years (Washington DC, SanFran, Atlanta, etc.). The number of successful and completed projects will only grow in the years ahead.
Will Portland be smart enough to be part of this trend?
Please do not spend another dollar on old fire stations until you have honestly worked hard with staff and the community to kick the tires on real, long-range planning based on 2026 realities and priorities.
See Attachment for one outstanding example recently opened in Victoria, British Columbia
Source for attachment: Victoria Fire Station No. 1 and Dalmatian Residences - hcma
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