Construction starting on South Portland building to be leased to DHHS

1:00 AM Builders say theyre on schedule as they face a tight deadline to deliver the contentious building.

By Kelley Bouchard kbouchard@pressherald.com Staff Writer

Construction will start Tuesday on a $7 million office building near the Portland International Jetport in South Portland thats on track to be leased to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services despite early controversy over the plan.

The contractor, Landry/French Construction Co. of Scarborough, expects to complete the two-story building by Dec. 31, which would give the DHHS one month to move its regional offices from downtown Portland.

South Portland officials issued a building permit on Wednesday and workers started digging the foundation soon thereafter, said Kevin French, vice president of Landry/French.

Workers will begin installing steel rebar in the foundation on Tuesday and finish pouring concrete by the end of the week, French said. Elevator pits will be drilled next week and steel beams and columns will start going up during the third week of May.

Were right on schedule, French said Monday.

Landry/French is working for ELC Management Inc. of Portland, which is led by Eric and Kenneth Cianchette. Landry/French is building a $19 million expansion project at OceanView at Falmouth, a retirement community, and recently completed a $2.5 million medical office building in Topsham for Mid Coast Hospital, French said.

State officials signed a contract with ELC in January to lease space for the DHHS and the Maine Department of Labor in the planned 75,000-square-foot building at 151 Jetport Blvd. in South Portland. The building has since won all necessary approvals, including a traffic movement permit from the Maine Department of Transportation, which was issued on March 10.

The lease required ELC to secure permits by March 15 and start construction by April 16. Site preparation, including tree removal and access road work, started several weeks ago.

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Construction starting on South Portland building to be leased to DHHS