Safdie Architects, together with Portland-based community investor East Brown Cow, unveiled a comprehensive design for a district within the historic Old Port neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Old Port Square reimagines a four-acre site as a new urban heart for Portland featuring residences, retail, restaurants, hotels, offices, parking, and inviting public spaces. Situated at the district’s center, a mixed-use residential and hospitality tower at 45 Union Street will add to Portland’s skyline with a design inspired by Maine’s historic lighthouses. Through its materials and details, the 30-storey, 380-foot-tall building resonates with Old Port’s historic architecture and creates public spaces atop the tower with views of the White Mountains, Casco Bay, and beyond.
The project exemplifies Safdie Architects’ approach to creating livable, mixed-use urban environments with a sense of place. The project is part of a broader effort by East Brown Cow to strategically revitalise the site by repairing and stitching together the damaged city fabric resulting from 20th-century urban renewal, creating a beacon for sustainable growth.
“Portland is a city with a powerful history and heritage. Designing a tower in a city that’s generally low rise, at the heart of downtown, we asked ourselves: what are the elements that are going to make this really belong to Portland?” said Moshe Safdie, Safdie Architects Founding Partner. “The project’s breakthrough was the day we latched onto the idea that this is a beacon. It’s a lighthouse in the tradition of the lighthouses of Portland, those slender, beautiful structures that rise out of the land or out of the water, that become icons in the landscape for good purpose.”
“It’s an honour to partner with Safdie Architects on the vision for Old Port Square,” explains Tim Soley, President of East Brown Cow. “Collaborating with an award-winning firm that understands the life and humanity within a space, and the historical context of its surroundings, was pivotal to this project. Old Port Square was born from the idea that we could fix the urban fabric, which was torn asunder. Through historic rehabilitation and the creation of modern architecture, we seek to honor Portland’s history and look ahead with hope to the future.”
The Old Port neighborhood is located on the southeastern side of the Portland peninsula, where its maritime character is accentuated by its proximity to the harbor’s fishing piers and its 18th- and 19th-century brick buildings. Safdie Architects’ design for the new tower at 45 Union Street echoes the tone, colour, and tectonics of its historic surroundings. The mixed-use building will be situated at the center of the block, preserving the existing street edges. The building will have a 33-foot-tall transparent base hosting two lobbies and an indoor/outdoor café.
By elevating the project on pilotis, Safdie Architects connects the building to the public landscape and the rest of the pedestrian experience of Old Port Square. The first nine floors above the lobby will be occupied by a hotel with approximately 90 rooms. Above the hotel will be 14 floors of residential apartments, including a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. Crowned by a vaulted pavilion of timber and glass that embraces the metaphor of a lighthouse’s beacon, the uppermost part of the slender building will feature a public sky lobby and restaurant that will provide both Portlanders and travelers alike with generous views of the harbour.
Safdie Architects is also designing a timber and glass retail pavilion at 55 Union Street, marking a distinctive gateway to Old Port Square at its western edge. Providing approximately 8,000 square feet of prime retail space across two levels, connected by a sculptural stair, the pavilion will feature a vaulted wood roof canopy that echoes the timber structure atop 45 Union Street.
“With Old Port Square, our long-term collaboration with East Brown Cow gives us the opportunity to stitch together a fragmented block over time,” said Sean Scensor, Safdie Architects Senior Partner. “The work goes beyond the design of a singular tower. We’re going building by building, restoring existing structures, integrating new architecture, and creating new public spaces for the community.”
Safdie Architects, Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture, and Pentagram have been collaborating on comprehensive improvements to the site, starting with the 2021 renovation of the Fore Street Garage, which improved access to the block, revitalised food and beverage venues with new glass storefronts, and a new granite terrace for outdoor dining. This renovation also added rooftop solar panels and EV charging stations. The team also recently renovated 200 and 220 Middle Street with new glass vitrine storefronts, an expansive entry lobby, and a new grand staircase, which opened in 2025.
Old Port Square will add to Safdie Architects’ portfolio of mixed-use projects acclaimed for creating vibrant and human-scaled places within dense urban environments. Other residential and hospitality projects underway by Safdie Architects include a new mountain village for Killington, Vermont, the largest ski destination in the Eastern U.S., and the renovation and expansion of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, which was originally completed by Safdie Architects in 2011. Safdie Architects also recently completed Boulevard 88 and The Singapore EDITION, a mixed-use complex combining residential and hospitality spaces in an active urban hub of Singapore.
