Several multi-family housing projects and subdivisions of single-family homes in the works throughout Concord promise hundreds of new units that could finally ease the city’s housing shortage by supplying more inventory.
City planners say this is the most residential development projects Concord has seen at one time in over a decade.
One of the biggest new developments expected to begin taking shape this construction season is on Langdon Avenue, where 192 apartments are planned. The Rail Yards development in the South End will include six residential buildings, a clubhouse and two commercial units. Situated between South Main Street and the railroad, the complex will feature affordable apartments spread out between four larger buildings and two smaller, three-story buildings.
The project has cleared Planning Board approval and developer Dakota Partners has put the construction of the project out to bid, with financing expected to close at the end of May, said Mark Pillote, Dakota Partners’ vice president of development. Pillote said construction will likely take between a year to 18 months.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited sale of the former Employment Security Building from the City of Concord is set to close in the coming months. At Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting, the John J. Flatley Company’s application to build a six-story building with 64 housing units and a first-floor parking garage was accepted and a public hearing was set for April 20. The plans call for the demolition of the existing asbestos-riddled structure and replace it with a new building, which will be one of the most visible changes to the city.
A workforce housing development near Pembroke Road and Sheep Davis Road received major site plan approval from the Planning Board in December. The complex will include three buildings and 123 two-bedroom apartments that must be rented below a certain threshold to be designated “workforce housing” under state law. Developers Brookline Opportunities LLC received a conditional use permit that allowed them to forgo commercial development in their plans.
“Currently, we are working with our partners at New Hampshire Housing to secure some of the funds that will allow the Pembroke Road project to be built,” Jake Tamposi of Brookline Opportunities wrote in an email to the Monitor. “We are very eager to start construction and create additional, much-needed affordable housing in Concord.”
No date has been set yet for breaking ground, but Joe Tamposi estimated in December that construction could take between 16 and 20 months.
Over in Penacook, The Caleb Group will add 20 more apartments at an affordable housing complex at the site of the former tannery where 34 apartments opened in 2020. The Caleb Group President Debbie Sawyer Nutter said they are aiming to begin construction on the remaining Penacook Landing units later in the summer. “We’re in the process of pulling everything together,” Sawyer Nutter said. It will take about a year to build the second phase of apartments along the banks of the Contoocook River.
Nearby, CATCH Neighborhood Housing recently opened 42 units of affordable housing at 95 Village Street in Penacook. Rosemary’s Way has 10 one-bedroom apartments, 23 two-bedroom apartments and nine three-bedroom apartments, and applications are still being accepted for some of the units.
On the horizon, the city is expected to hear more from the Brady Sullivan company, which owns the former Department of Transportation buildings off Stickney Avenue and the former Lincoln Financial property, including one of two commercial buildings and 181 acres of land in the center of the city. The Stickney Avenue property would be another highly visible project as it would be visible from Interstate 93 and is located in one of the “gateways” to downtown.
Carlos Baia, deputy city manager for development, said the city continues to see interest from developers in new projects, including for conversions and “greenfield” construction, which is building on vacant sites that haven’t seen previous structures.
“We anticipate that we’ll continue to get applications in for housing,” Baia said. “I feel pretty positive.”
Public hearings for two proposals for single-family subdivisions were also held Wednesday, one to include 20-units on Shaker Road and another on Abbott Road with 16 single-family lots. The Abbott Road project was approved as long as it meets certain conditions and construction is expected to begin this summer once the parcel is formally subdivided into .3 acre lots. The Shaker Road project, which includes some single-family homes and duplexes on common land in a condominium style, was met with concerns about runoff and still needed a review from the city’s conservation commission. That public hearing was continued until the Planning Board’s next meeting on April 20.
Plans for a massive mixed-use development off Exit 13 of I-93 are in the early stages and still need the sign-off of the Planning Board.
For years, the land between Black Hill Road and the Merrimack River was the site of a homeless encampment at the former Concord Drive-In Theater.
Advocates have said many of the people who lived there have been displaced to other encampments or found new locations to camp.
According to plans for the first phase of the project, that 22-acre parcel will eventually house 266 residential units in five buildings and a combined gas station, car wash, sandwich shop and convenience store.
Downtown residents and shoppers will be seeing construction soon for a new restaurant and a drive-through Starbucks at the end of Pleasant Street.
Brixmor Capital, which owns the Capitol Shopping Center that includes the downtown Market Basket, plans to add a 5,810 square-foot chain restaurant called 110 Grill, next to a 1,800 square foot Xfinity store and a 1,600 square-foot Playa Bowls, which sells food featuring tropical ingredients like acai. Brixmor required a variance from the city to build a drive-through for the Starbucks, which will occupy 2,411 square feet.
The three buildings facing Storrs Street will be connected by a courtyard with landscaping, walkways and outdoor seating. Brixmor spokesperson Maria Pace wrote in an email to the Monitor that construction is set to begin in early April, after permits are finalized with the city.
Work also continues at the shopping center off Exit 17 of I-93 that will include a Market Basket, a New Hampshire Liquor Store, a Wendy’s and a Homegoods store. Market Basket has not yet announced an opening date, but has already begun soliciting applications for store employees.
Other planned commercial projects include a Popeye’s Chicken along Loudon Road, a proposed car wash near Dairy Queen, and a new Mazda dealership across from Banks Chevrolet.