As one of Concord’s key pieces of downtown real estate continues to be demolished to make way for housing, another Main Street eyesore quietly disappeared.
In a rare act of authority, the city of Concord tore down a condemned house at 107-109 South Main Street after several years of turmoil between city officials and the homeowner.
“We asked the owner to secure and repair the building so it was habitable or to remove the building and the property owner became unresponsive, which forced us to go through this court process and appropriate the funds which gets leaned against the property,” said Matt Walsh, interim deputy city manager of development. “This is the second property where we’ve gotten to this particular point. It’s rare.”
The city first issued a hazardous building order on the structure in 2016 after a resident reported homeless people were squatting on the property. The City’s Code Division then conducted an inspection of the interior which revealed that the structure had been vacant for more than 180 days.
As a result, the City’s Housing Inspector deemed it uninhabitable and attempted to make contact with the property owner, CoMain LLC, which were ignored.
Throughout the beginning of 2017, Concord police and fire were called to the property several times for reports of illegal activity and a fire that was caused by a homeless person who burned a wooden pallet underneath the back deck.
“They were lighting fires inside of it, stashing stolen property inside of it and other inappropriate and illegal activities were happening inside and on that property,” Walsh said.
By July 2017, the city had made contact with Timothy Boisvert of CoMain LLC who said he was deciding whether to demolish the building or renovate it. Over the next several months and into 2018, the city attempted to work with Boisvert, who promised a plan of action and variance requests to renovate the property into a two-family residential home.
The city granted Boisvert several extensions to file the correct paperwork first for the renovation and then for a requested demolition and by 2021, a new notice of violation was issued stating that Boisvert had one month to file the correct documentation or the home would be demolished.
A year later, it was torn down by Defranzo Demolition and cost the city $34,000, which was attached to the property through a lien. If the property is sold, the city will get its money back.
The debris was dispersed between disposal facilities throughout New Hampshire and New England, Walsh said.
According to the city’s assessing website, the three-story home, which was originally built in 1900, featured five bedrooms and two bathrooms and was appraised for $87,800 just last year. Boisvert was unable to be reached by the Monitor.
Additionally, the former Department of Employment Security building continues to be torn down after months of preparing the asbestos-infested structure for demolition.
The John J. Flatley Company plans to raze the South Main Street building to facilitate the development of a six-story apartment complex with 64 housing units, a first-floor parking garage, a fitness center, a pool and a pergola.
City planners expect the apartments to be ready by the end of 2023.
The city purchased the building from the state in 2014 for $1.575 million. The sale and development process has since proceeded in fits and starts.
A previous deal with Dol-Soul Properties fell through, and last fall, contractors discovered more asbestos on the building’s exterior which delayed the closing date with Flatley.
In all, Concord has poured more than $2 million into the property. After fees, grants and a final sale price of less than $300,000 from Flatley, the city’s net investment was $1.6 million.