Portland could revert winter warming shelter to off-peninsula industrial park location
City employees move sleeping mats into the storage unit at the city of Portland’s warming shelter in Riverside in December 2025. The city's warming shelter may return to the same location this winter after plans for an on-peninsula shelter hit snags. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)
After previously having secured a downtown location, Portland officials will soon consider funding a warming shelter in the Riverside Industrial Park — at the same location as the city’s often-criticized shelter operation last winter.
The last-minute change comes with increased costs.
The City Council will be asked during a special meeting Monday to approve appropriating $900,000 in opioid settlement funds toward the shelter proposal after officials reached an impasse over the initial plan to host a nightly operation at the Elena’s Way facility downtown.
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The new proposal for 166 Riverside Industrial Park, which requires a lease agreement and transportation plan for shuttling people on and off the peninsula, is estimated to cost $1.2 million — a $500,000 increase from the downtown option.
The meeting Monday comes roughly three weeks before a shelter is supposed to be up and running, with the Biddeford-based Seeds of Hope slated to host between 45-50 individuals per night in the basement of Preble Street’s building on Portland Street.
However, earlier this month, staff said zoning requirements in place on the building — as well as ongoing neighborhood concerns over the existing shelter — complicated the planning and forced officials to consider alternatives.
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The conditional use standards for Elena’s Way stipulate that the sleeping area be limited to the upper level, and that a maximum of 40 shelter guests would be allowed at one time.
City staff previously said that while the planning director has the authority to approve a temporary use, doing so at Preble Street’s building would contradict zoning requirements already in place there, and it’s not something staff can override.
Further complicating the issue was a recent city inspection of Preble Street’s operation, which found that the organization is not following parts of its management plan, including its responsibility to monitor safety in the area.
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According to a council memo, Seeds of Hope informed staff that it is no longer willing to operate an emergency shelter at Elena’s Way “due to community resistance and regulatory challenges,” and Preble Street also declined to operate it.
Faced with few options, staff began looking elsewhere. It reviewed city-owned buildings (including the Homeless Services Center on Riverside Street) and contacted the St. Vincent de Paul and First Parish churches, which have previously been involved in city warming shelters. It also looked at last year’s location.
A council memo said staff began real estate negotiations on the building in Riverside Industrial Park in response to guidance from officials during an Oct. 13 executive session. While it wasn’t considered the ideal choice, it soon became one of the only options.
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The memo states there is another option available that will need to be discussed in executive session.
Last winter, faced with few options and no social service agency taking the lead, the city operated a warming shelter at 166 Riverside Industrial Park, the site of a former shelter for asylum seekers. The operation received $400,000 in state funding and opened based on temperature and precipitation thresholds that were often criticized. The location was also panned as being too far for many of the city’s most vulnerable residents to reach easily, especially during inclement weather.
Councilor Anna Bullett, chair of the health and human services and public safety committee, said she’s frustrated by the process. She said officials relayed to staff that finding a better solution was a priority early this year, in hopes of avoiding the setup of last winter’s operation.
“I feel like I’m in a time loop, because this is what happened last year,” she said Friday.
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The $361,000 MaineHousing recently awarded to Portland’s initial shelter plan at Elena’s Way has been built into the budget for the Riverside proposal. The city would also need to update its contract with Seeds of Hope to operate it.
According to the memo, the item must be read on two separate days, but staff is requesting that the second reading be waived, which requires seven affirmative votes from the nine member council. Staff is also requesting that it be passed as an emergency, which also requires seven affirmative votes.
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Tagged: city of portland, homelessness, Portland City Council, portland city hall, preble street, shelters
Andrew Rice is a staff writer at the Press Herald covering the city of Portland. He's been working in journalism since 2012, joining the Sun Journal in 2017, then the Press Herald in 2026. He lives in. More by Andrew Rice
