Portland, Maine
Monday, September 15, 1997
by John Alphonse
Portland's booming container industry has prompted city officials to enact a rare eminent domain land taking at 431-461 Commercial Street, on the corner of Commercial and Park streets. The taking was approved by the Portland City Council on August 18.
The area will be used primarily by Hapag-Lloyd containers during the summer months, when the Scotia Prince ferry business occupies the present area at the International Marine Terminal.
The final price for the land is currently under negotiation between owner Angelo Ciocca and the city. An offer of $590,000 has already been made by the city.
Ciocca had planned to use the lot to expand his Nova Seafood business at 555 Commercial Street.
"We'd still rather have the land, but there's nothing we can do," he says. "We're being fair about it and the city's being fair about it."
Seen in light of the marine terminal's possible relocation to the Bath Iron Works dry dock area in the coming years, the move appears to be a temporary reprieve on the container space crunch until a major move takes place.
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