Portsmouth development plan revised: 4 buildings with 48 housing units

PORTSMOUTH — The developers of a proposed housing project at a historic downtown site off Hanover Street have revised their plans in response to community concerns .

Attorney John Bosen, who represents Steve Wilson and Hampshire Development Corp, said since introducing their initial plan in April, “we have listened to the comments and concerns of this board and the abutters, and redesigned the site to include four buildings in order to allow more light and air into” the development “and give it an overall neighborhood look and feel.”

The historic site at 361 Hanover St., first built in the 1800s, was formerly home to the Portsmouth Steam Factory. It was most recently the headquarters of the Heinemann Publishing Company.

The revised redevelopment plans call for 48 housing units, including three work-force units rented at reduced rates, in four buildings.

The new site plan, Bosen wrote in a letter to the city Planning Board, features Building A, a four-story building with a penthouse and 34 total housing units, including three work-force units. Building B is proposed to be a 2½-story structure with four dwelling units. Building C is proposed as a two-story duplex with two dwelling units. Building D is proposed as a 3½-story building with eight dwelling units, according to Bosen.

The site would include 69 parking spaces, he said.

How changes were made after criticism of first plan

The initial plan proposed by the development team called for 36 units. They were proposed to be located in the renovated and expanded existing commercial building on site, and a new 3½-story building that would have been located along Hanover Street.

The initial redevelopment proposal included a plan for a 20-foot tunnel entrance from Hanover Street to a central courtyard between the new building and the existing 361 Hanover St. commercial building.

The alternative plan now being pitched by the development team is being called the “conditional use permit plan.”

The revised plan, developers say, will “better addresses your comments, suggestions, and the many issues and concerns expressed by members of the public during the preliminary conceptual and design review meetings.”

Developers will seek a conditional use permit — which, if approved by the board, would allow them to build higher than zoning allows, if they provide community space and some work-force housing.

The new alternative plan “seeks to redevelop the property by employing a context-sensitive approach that steps down and transitions from a high-density newer development along Foundry Place and Hill Street to a moderate density along Hanover Street and lower density along Rock and Sudbury Streets,” according to the development team’s submission to the city.

Developers are proposing to increase the height of the existing building, which they are calling the Kearsarge Building.

It is located adjacent to Foundry Place. The increased height, they say, will be done “in a historically sensitive manner – to reestablish the volume, height, and historic character of the building.”

The other three smaller buildings, Building B, the Rowhouse Building, Building C, the duplex building and Building D, the apartment building, would be located along Hanover Street, according to the revised proposal.

“All four buildings have been redesigned to be more consistent with the historic character of the surrounding neighborhood,” the development team said in documents filed with the city. “Understanding this property is located outside the Historic District, we have intentionally redesigned these buildings to reference the historic elements in the surrounding context versus the more contemporary buildings being constructed along Foundry Place and Deer Street in the North End.”

Community space is part of plan

Developers are proposing under the new revised plan to create a 4,500-square-foot “shared multi-modal way” as community space, which would connect Rock Street to Hill Street.

“The shared street would include formal landscaping, lighting and street furniture,” developers said.

Ten percent, or at least 3,853 square feet, of the site is required to be community space under the developer’s plan to seek the conditional use permit.

“As required under the CUP, at least 10% of the proposed dwelling units would be deed restricted as rental workforce housing units and be rented to a household with an income of no more than 60% of the median family income for a three-person household,” developers said in their submission to the city.

The units are proposed to be located in Building A, because it’s the only building located on the site that’s in the North End Overlay District, developers said, where the work-force units would be required.

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Those units would be at least 600 square feet and are proposed to be located either on the first or second floors of Building A, developers said.

Developers stated, “given the questions of economic viability and the potential for adverse impacts on the surrounding neighborhood -- i.e. spillover parking, noise, and light pollution - the (conditional use permit plan) proposes a residential ground-floor use in all four buildings,” rather than commercial on the first floor.

Developers push for Portsmouth board to support new plan

“We would respectfully request the board consider an informal vote in support for the (conditional use permit plan),” the development team stated. “Doing so would not only acknowledge our collective efforts to address the concerns raised during the design review process but also right-size this development and demonstrate our common goals to make this project a success for urban infill and redevelopment in downtown Portsmouth.”

The team also acknowledged such an informal vote “would also be likely to have a positive effect on the (Zoning) Board of Adjustment’s review and provide them a deeper appreciation and understanding of how these design changes were collaboratively developed.”

Developers have said the revised plan would need to receive variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to move forward as proposed.

Developers are slated to hold their second preliminary conceptual consultation with the Planning Board at Thursday’s meeting.

The phase of the land-use board’s review process “provides the Planning Board with an opportunity to review the outlines of a proposed project before it gets to detailed design (and before the applicant refines the plan as a result of review by the Technical Advisory Committee and public comment at TAC hearings),” according to city planning manager Peter Stith.

“In order to maximize the value of this phase, board members are encouraged to engage in dialogue with the proponent to offer suggestions and to raise any concerns so that they may be addressed in a formal application,” he said in a memo to the board.

The preliminary conceptual consultation does not include a public hearing.

The board meeting is slated to start at 7 p.m. Thursday in council chambers at City Hall.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth development plan revised: 4 buildings with 48 housing units