Portland Gives Arena A Break

City councilors in Portland, Maine, recently approved a $31 million tax break that will help fund a new venue development in the city.

The $100 million Forefront at Thompson’s Point will feature a 4,500-capacity arena and convention center as well as a concert hall, hotel, parking garage and office buildings, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The tax break will be spread over 30 years, and many city officials praised the project as an economic incubator and job creator, the paper said. A small portion of the tax break will reportedly go toward transit projects including a new bus line and rail crossing near the site.

Project lead Jon Jennings, GM of the Red Claws NBA development team, previously told the Herald developers would not seek any additional public financing and have already approached several investors and banks about the project.

Jennings added that permits for the Forefront could be obtained by the end of the year, with demo taking place over the winter and construction beginning in the spring. The arena, music hall and parking garage could be completed within 18 months, he said.

“This is not something that we designed a couple of weeks ago,” Jennings said. “This is a real proposal that we know we can accomplish.”