Prominent local restaurateurs Dana Street and Sam Hayward have signed the lease on space for a planned New England-style seafood restaurant on Maine Wharf, which they hope to have open by the beginning of summer, Street said Wednesday.

Street and Hayward, co-owners of the upscale Portland restaurant Fore Street, envision the new venture as a classic-style seafood house reminiscent of the brasserie-style dining rooms of the early 20th century, Street said.

Although the focus would be on fresh local seafood, the menu would be more diverse, with entrees such as steak, chicken, lamb and other meats, he said.

“It will incorporate some other sensibilities,” said Street, who also owns the Street and Co. restaurant on Wharf Street in Portland.

The still-unnamed restaurant would be one of Portland’s largest. Street said the space, on the ground level of what will be called “Building 4,” is roughly 7,000 square feet and would seat about 144 patrons inside, as well as another 25 or so on an adjacent patio.

Now that the lease has been finalized, Street said, he and Hayward intend to get straight to work on the interior.

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“We’re going to try to start building lickety-split, because we want to try to get it open by the beginning of the summer,” he said.

Still, Street noted, restaurant projects are complex, and there is always the possibility of unforeseen delays.

The restaurant would be another significant step in the ongoing revitalization of the pier, which at one point was so dilapidated that a lobster dealer was evicted out of fear it would collapse.

Stephen Goodrich, president of the National Payment Card Association and the former CEO of PowerPay, bought Maine Wharf in 2013 for $2.1 million and has put at least twice that amount into its renovation, he has said.

Goodrich told the Press Herald in August that he expects the building housing the new restaurant, which could see an investment of $7 million or more, to be finished by the middle of next year.

The pier also houses Fog’s Boat Works, Bangs Island Mussels, Morrison’s Maine Course and Upstream Trucking.

Next to Maine Wharf, Casco Bay Ferry Lines recently completed a $3.5 million renovation of its passenger terminal.

Goodrich said in August that he planned to lease the restaurant space to Street, but only after first demonstrating that he had tried and failed to procure a marine tenant, as is required by city ordinance.


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