Infrequently asked questions about Portland Technology Park

What is Portland Technology Park?

An expensive embarrassment. The less you know about it, the happier you’ll be.

Huh?

OK, here’s the deal. A few years ago, the city of Portland got a federal grant, worth about $650,000, to develop an office park for high-tech businesses — biotech or “life sciences” companies, in particular. These businesses apparently prefer to be located near one another, in “clusters.” (So if, for example, a company runs out of lab rats, it can just send a scientist next door to borrow a cup.) The city borrowed about $650,000 to match that grant, and has spent another $50,000 or so on this “park,” which is located next to a wildlife preserve and Exit 47 of the Maine Turnpike, near the Westbrook line. The city has used that money to knock down dozens of trees, pave a new road, and extend sewer and other utilities to the site. It began marketing the parcels in the summer of 2013.

Portland Technology Park. photo/courtesy City of Portland

Portland Technology Park. photo/courtesy City of Portland

How did that go?

Terribly. Technology firms have apparently expressed no interest in relocating to Portland’s “technology park,” which was hyped as an opportunity to make Portland competitive with Boston for biotech business. And who can blame them? Would you want to spend every workday next to the Maine Turnpike, with the constant roar of traffic and noxious exhaust fumes assaulting your senses? The city’s economic development department has tried to pitch this office park by boasting of Portland’s “vibrant urban scene next to quiet tree-lined streets in friendly neighborhoods that are just a short walk from stunning waterfront views.” Of course, those amenities are several miles away from this bleak industrial zone.

But the city finally got a company to buy a parcel, right?

Yes, Patrons Oxford Insurance Co. is buying the largest of the three available spots, for $625,000. The 137-year-old business is relocating from Auburn, about 30 miles up the Turnpike. So, basically, Portland used over $1.3 million of public money to poach a business from another Maine community, netting the state exactly zero new jobs. And as the company’s age attests, this is hardly a high-tech enterprise — you can run an insurance business with a box of sharp pencils and some carbon-backed forms. A filing cabinet is also useful in this trade. This is the beginning of a cluster, alright — the kind that rhymes with “duck.”

Why is the government selling commercial real estate?

Good question. The sale was actually handled by Andrew Ingalls, a broker with The Boulos Co., whose corporate parent, CBRE, claims to be the largest commercial real-estate firm on Earth. According to his online bio, Ingalls lives in Cape Elizabeth, golfs a lot, and tongue-kisses his Labradoodle every night.

You’re making this up!

Sadly, I’m not. Anyway, Ingalls and his firm get about $44,000 for brokering this deal, so the city actually nets about $580,000. That means local taxpayers are still over $100,000 in the hole (and counting, since the city is paying interest on the $650,000 it borrowed, plus ongoing marketing and maintenance expenses associated with the project). Our fellow American taxpayers are still out $650,000, but who cares about them, eh? (Wait — that’s us, too!)

But won’t Portland get new property-tax revenue, and new workers who’ll live and spend money in the city?

Patrons Oxford will reportedly pay about $60,000 in annual property taxes — which is good news for Portland, awful news for Auburn, and almost certainly bad news for Patrons’ customers, who’ll likely foot the bill for the firm’s expensive new office in the form of higher rates or deductibles. The company’s president, Mark Pettingill, stressed that the location’s easy access to the Turnpike was a big selling point, so its employees and clients won’t have to drive, much less walk or live, in the city. Meanwhile, downtown office space that could have easily accommodated Patrons’ 40-plus workers will remain vacant. This is a textbook example of sprawl, paid for with our tax dollars.

The losers in this deal include insurance companies in Portland that get a new, government-subsidized competitor; the citizens of Auburn; American taxpayers; Portlanders who hoped this “technology park” would actually attract tech businesses; and the trees and creatures in and around the wildlife sanctuary. The big winner: a dog-kissing rich guy from Cape E.

I told you you didn’t want to know.

Chris Busby

About Chris Busby

Chris Busby is editor and publisher of The Bollard, a monthly magazine about Portland. He writes a weekly column for the BDN.