M ay 2 0 1 7 5 7 City Beat meaghan maurice Hungry For More W ith a Midas touch and the Nissen Building at 100-per- cent capacity, Harris has set his sights beyond its walls. This summer, the old Creighton’s Flower Market will be re-imagined to house Maine Craft Dis- tilling’s expanded production and tasting room. Boston-based Island Creek Oysters will share the space. A block away, Harris plans to install five shipping containers on an empty patch of land cornering Marion Street. Each container will offer a month- to-month lease that allows small business to set up shop in a low-risk environment– an entrepreneurial incubator. For visitors, it creates the excitement and spontaneity of a pop-up shop. Similar projects have blos- somed across London. The street’s manufacturing heritage has its advantages over the Old Port, where space and surface parking are van- ishing dreams. Plus, industrial chic is the new nautical. Jordan Milne of Hardshore Distill- ing installed his 20-foot gin still, a totem of copper, in the Nissen building’s former loading dock beside Maine Mead Works in January. Dividing the bar from the cavern- ous production space is a wooden pergo- la made entirely from shipping crates that carried Milne’s custom-built still over from Germany. Copper chandeliers sparkle over- head. A retractable garage door hearkens back to the building’s original design. “The scale of this place is well-designed for manufacturers,” says the 32-year-old former investment banker. “It’s great for brewers and distillers. The more of us there are, the more of a destination we become. There’s a feeling of being in the right place at the right time.” Eyes On The Horizon Next door, Tandem Coffee co-founders Vien Dobui and Jessica Sheahan are busy polishing concrete walls and installing bar stools to complete the sleek facade of their new Vietnamese joint, Cong Tu Bot (Do- bui’s childhood nickname. “It literally means ‘powdered prince,’ someone who’s a bit of a dandy”). Dobui spent a stretch working at his un- cle’s noodle shop in Phan Thiet, Vietnam, in 2015, honing plans for his own fast-ca- sual Vietnamese eatery. This will include a traditional Vietnamese breakfast menu, with pho and congee. “Not brunch. Break- fast,” he insists. “It’s going to be a challenge, “We’re on the path to gentrification right now. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s successful.” Retail Details:Jacquelyn Pepice (left) of Hem & Veil began reworking vintage and custom wedding dresses in the space behind Fiore Design in 2016; Samuel Strickland and Michael Fortier (right) of Venn & Maker,the Nissen building’s newest retailer,specialize in fine art and handcrafted goods and furniture with an international aesthetic.“We’re going for ‘modern nautical,’’’ says Fortier.So no anchors and sailor stripes? “You said it!”