Consigli Construction broke ground on a new campus for Boston-based Northeastern University’s Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, the contractor announced on Sept. 25. The cost of the project is $500 million, according to a Northeastern news release.
Milford, Massachusetts-based Consigli will build the new campus at the site of the former B&M Baked Beans factory in Portland, according to the contractor. The building, which was first built in 1913, closed its doors in 2021, the Portland Press Herald reported.
The campus will be anchored by a 245,000-square-foot learning, research and collaboration building that will house wet labs, computational labs, research spaces and classrooms, according to Northeastern.
Separate from Consigli's work, the university is planning a major rehabilitation of the 58,000-square-foot Bean building to provide workspaces for startups and businesses.
The campus will also include a new parking garage, an adjacent child care center, public green spaces and pedestrian and bicycle paths on the shores of Casco Bay, which will be made accessible to the public for the first time in more than a century, according to Northeastern.
The construction and improvements will help with capacity at the institution, Northeastern said in the release. Over 800 graduate students are currently enrolled on the Portland campus, and with the work, officials expect enrollment to grow to 3,500 within five years.
The construction team is targeting the LRC building for net-zero emissions, according to Consigli. During pre-construction, the project team performed significant analyses of sustainable building methods to support energy efficiency goals. Its superstructure will be partially constructed of mass timber to reduce embodied carbon and carbon emissions on the project.
“Consigli is proud to be part of a project that prioritizes local talent and businesses,” said Matt Tonello, project executive for Consigli.
Consigli and Northeastern expect the project to be completed in the fall of 2027.
Correction: This article has been updated to emphasize the Bean building renovation is separate from Consigli's work.
