CPF66 wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 7:38 am
As for one of your statements, from a business stand point I don't understand how so many pot and vape stores can be built in one area, while having enough business to stay open.
It does seem like a lot, but it's still less than the number of stores that sell hard liquor, and far less than the number of stores that sell beer, wine, and tobacco. We've all been sort of desensitized to how many alcohol/tobacco stores there are, because they've been around for decades. With recreational cannabis stores only being around for a few years, we're more likely to notice them because they're new and different. I also think it's easy to vastly underestimate the number of people who use cannabis, due to the fact that it was still illegal just a few years ago; the people who used it before recreational legalization did so discreetly, which gave us the impression that very few people used it, when in fact it was much more common than we realized.
Eventually the market will settle down, and the weed stores will blend in like everything else. It's also likely that the number of medical (non-recreational) cannabis stores will decrease.
Regarding a potential future Portland train station, I think there's a significant likelihood that MaineHealth (parent company of Maine Medical Center) could propose some kind of arrangement with NNEPRA to use part of the former Maine Central Railroad headquarters property at 222 Saint John Street, perhaps with parking in Maine Med's enormous parking garage that they built next door to 222.
MaineHealth currently has a multi-decade lease at 222 Saint John, and I'll be shocked if they don't eventually buy it outright. The building is currently less than 50% occupied. According to an article in the
Bangor Daily News last month, MaineHealth recently expressed interest in turning some of the office spaces in the building into apartments. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. This could be a very interesting opportunity because there are tax credits available for converting historic buildings into affordable housing, and if a train station was onsite, there may be additional tax credits available that are related to transit-oriented development... all of which would help the project to "score" better in the application process for state and/or federal funding.
Link to
BDN article:
https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03 ... oam40zk0w/