Roux Institute’s new campus in Portland

Press Herald -   Against a sky and ocean backdrop of monotone gray, the copper-red columns of the curving, seven-story centerpiece of the Roux Institute’s new campus, the Alfond Center, provided some of the only color Tuesday afternoon.

That was, of course, if one didn’t count the bright yellow and orange of construction vehicles, reflective vests and cones that dotted the sprawling construction site along the water in East Deering.

Over the sounds of a crew of about 220 workers, Mike Pollastri, senior vice provost and academic lead at the Roux Institute, said the copper color was chosen as a nod to the former B&M Baked Beans factory, which is undergoing its own transformation.

While construction on Northeastern University’s $500 million high-tech education, research and entrepreneurial hub officially began in November 2024, the general public didn’t get a clear picture of the project until this year, when a parking garage emerged seemingly overnight and the Alfond Center began to take shape. For native Portlanders, it’s the latest marker of a changing city.

The project is on track to be completed by this time next year, with 600-plus students set to arrive for the spring 2028 semester. Two empty lots remain for future growth, and while they could be used for housing, Sam Reiche, a project manager, said there are no immediate plans for them.

The Roux Institute, established in 2020 with a $100 million donation from Lewiston native and wealthy technology entrepreneur David Roux, welcomed its first class of students in 2020 using offices at the Wex building on Fore Street.

Its founders envisioned a high-tech graduate school, business accelerator and training pipeline to boost Maine’s workforce and economy, and Roux chose the Boston-based Northeastern University as its academic partner. A separate nonprofit was then formed to develop a permanent campus, eventually settling on the 13-acre B&M site in 2021.

The new campus includes firsts for Portland but will also retain mirrors into the city’s past, calls for which project managers heard loud and clear from residents — along with concerns for traffic — during the approval process.

The site was designed to be fully electric and will incorporate geothermal wells, air-source heat pumps, an electric boiler, and a chiller for heating and cooling. Crews drilled down 800 feet for the geothermal wells, which will meet roughly 80% of the heating and cooling demand.