Building Trades Members Have Begun Work on Tallest Building in Portland

Members of Operating Engineers (IUOE) 4, Carpenters 349, Laborers 327 and Ironworkers Local 7 have begun working on what will become the tallest building in Portland. Construction on the 18-story apartment tower at 200 Federal Street began in January with the installation of a 250-foot-tall crane. The crane operator, IUOE 4 member Jason Yanelli, has an Instagram page where he’s posted photos of the great views of Portland he can see from his seat.

“The work last week and this week has been very fast paced with unloading trucks of structural steel and shaking them out to start the erection phase of the building,” said Yanelli. “It’s important to have skilled union Operating Engineers and Ironworkers working hand and hand to complete the job in the safest and timely manner. Most of the Ironworkers are graduate apprentices like myself and have gone through their three or four year training programs to get the highest quality skill set and experience you can get.”

The developer Redfern Properties expects the $70 million apartment building to be completed within the next year and be ready for renters by summer or fall of 2023. It will be 15 feet taller than Portland’s Franklin Towers, which is currently in the tallest building in Portland and the tallest residential building in the state.

Ironworkers 7 member Mike Isgro says that as another boom in construction has begun in Southern Maine due to the housing crisis, he’s grateful union members are working to meet this challenge and to raise the bar for professionalism as well as wages and working conditions.

“This is a very pivotal time in Portland and we’re very happy to get in on the ground level of the next wave of development here,” he said. “There are a lot of really tall buildings coming to Portland and we hope we’ll have a lot of union workers building them. This way we can not only set the standard of quality for this kind of work, but also ensure contractors employ skilled professionals paid good wages and benefits.”