Portland Bayside plan expected to create jobs

PORTLAND – An $11 million plan to develop a business and technology park in the Bayside neighborhood is the city’s latest proposal to revitalize a blighted cluster of scrap yards and weed-infested former railroad property.

With the federal government paying most of the cost, the city plans to convert 14 acres into an attractive commercial district with 400,000 square feet of stores, offices and possibly manufacturing spaces.

The project is expected to create hundreds of new jobs in the last section of Portland seen as available for substantial development.

A Bayside redevelopment plan proposed by the City Council three years ago included a 10,000-seat, $46 million sports and entertainment arena, but officials eventually decided not to pursue the plan.