Expected Taco Tour crowd pushes city planning board meeting to Wednesday

Apr. 29—With thousands expected to descend upon downtown Manchester on Thursday for the city's annual Taco Tour, officials have moved this week's Planning Board meeting at City Hall to Wednesday.

The agenda includes a change-of-use site plan application for a well-known downtown property, along with requests for extensions for two prior-approved projects. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

North Street Properties LLC has submitted a change-of-use application for a project involving property at 959 Elm St., also known as the Dunlap Building.

City aldermen recently approved a tax credit for the project under the RSA 79-E tax credit program, which lets developers who improve blighted properties in downtown areas delay paying property taxes on the value of the improvements.

North Street wants to change the property's listed use from commercial to mixed-use. Currently, 959 Elm St. is five floors of commercial space, but only the first floor is occupied. "Floors two to five are currently underutilized and unlikely to be rented as commercial space because of the decline in demand for office space," according to paperwork filed by North Street Properties.

The applicant plans to retain the existing commercial tenants and add an additional commercial tenant to occupy three commercial spaces on the first floor. The remainder of the building will feature 36 apartments — 30 one-bedroom units and six studio apartments.

According to paperwork filed with the city, the applicant will "update the existing building to meet the needs of residential tenants."

"This will include adding individual bathrooms, kitchens, and living spaces in each unit," according to North Street Properties' application. "The outside of the building will maintain its historic look, but the inside will be updated to ensure the comfort of future residents looking to live in Manchester's downtown."

The building was constructed in 1879 for Thomas Dunlap on the site of one of Manchester's first large commercial buildings, dating to the early 19th century. It was designed by local architect and engineer George W. Stevens, and the fourth floor was originally occupied by the meeting hall of the International Order of Good Templars, a fraternal society.

The building's 1908 alterations were designed by locally prominent architect Chase R. Whitcher, introducing structural steel and styling derived from skyscrapers in major cities.

The property received $950,000 in City/Manchester Development Corporation (MDC) loans for rehabilitating the property in 2002 and 2010.

The first loan was for $450,000 at 7% interest (15-year term) to rehab the office and retail space, and the second loan was for $500,000 at 5% interest (15-year term) to demolish and construct a new section of the building.

Both loans have been paid off in full.

Also on the agenda Wednesday is a request from Torrington Properties for an additional one-year extension of conditional approval — originally granted on June 16, 2022 — for three apartment buildings with a total of 305 residential units, in an R-1A Zoning District.

The project involves approximately 80 lots located between Smyth Road and Radburn Street.

The plans call for three buildings at the site, located north of Radburn Street and north and east of Fox Hollow Way. Some of the property needed to be separately purchased from the city, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester and the Kirk Group.

The project includes 15 studios, 83 one-bedroom, 182 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom units, according to the application.

The Planning Board granted a one-year extension for the project last year after it took 18 months to secure titles for 81 lots between Smyth Road and Radburn Street. The board also agreed to reduce school impact fees from $953,125 to $708,125.

As part of the project, Torrington must build a public street with sidewalks and bicycle lanes to provide a second access to the Wellington Hill neighborhoods.

At the time, attorney John Cronin told the planning board the project will likely cost $300,000 per unit to build.

Developers are also asking for a one-year extension of conditional site plan approval granted on April 20, 2023, for three multi-level mixed-use buildings, with up to 366 residential units, 654 vehicle spaces in a parking garage, and approximately 3,000 SF of commercial space in the Central Business District.

The property in question is located between Orange and Pearl streets.