Talking about Maine’s largest city
(With two gentlemen who aren’t Running for office)
David Bateman, President of Bateman Partners, LLC
Do you know anything about Bateman Partners, LLC, and what we’re all about? Probably not, because few people do. Do you know that the City of Portland owns well over 80% of the undeveloped land along Portland’s waterfront? Probably not, because few people do.
So few people also understand that because the City of Portland does not have adequate financial resources and always has trouble balancing its budget, its waterfront infrastructure --- especially facilities for use by the general public --- lags far behind what you would expect in a “world-class” city, the recognition to which so many people who live here aspire. In a world-class city, you would expect parks and green spaces right near the water, not to mention public restrooms, but we have yet to achieve that. Portland is great, of course, but much of its potential remains dormant.
Discussion about development in Portland can sometimes be parochial and super-heated, and often takes place in a white-hot oven in which political aspirations and individual hopes for political advancement directly add fuel to the fire. That encourages grandstanding, pandering and inertia.
Are there better options for thoughtful discussion, rather than press conferences or hearings in front of a city council or planning board, when every speaker is essentially on stage and on television? We invite you to listen to a recent podcast, a discussion between David Bateman, President of Bateman Partners, LLC and Greg Boulos, a Senior Partner at The Boulos Company. The discussion is in-depth, it’s serene, wide-ranging, and it includes perspective that goes back for many decades. It requires more of an attention span than required for glancing at a Tweet, of course, but sometimes that can be a good thing. We hope you enjoy hearing frames of reference that might differ from your own. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with all the points of view, maybe the conversation will inform your thinking in some way.
About Greg Boulos
Greg joined The Boulos Company in 1983. He is a Senior Partner and involved in the sale and leasing of commercial property in the Greater Portland area. He is also a co-developer of over 1M square feet of commercial real estate. Greg has consistent commercial real estate brokerage sales and leasing transactions in excess of $50M per year. His area of specialization is the brokerage of investment properties and tenant representation.
