A developer that had looked to demolish most of the Steeplegate Mall to make way for 625 apartments, first-floor retail and a stand-alone Costco is now seeking to lease the property to retail tenants as it currently exists.
The lease listings for “Steeplegate Crossing” include eleven retail and office spaces in the full mall, which includes the occupied Altitude Trampoline Park, JCPenney department store and the Zoo health club. The former Regal Cinemas theater next door, which is owned by the same real estate group, is listed for sale or lease. It had been in talks to become a Whole Foods.
The listings cast doubt on a proposal that has been the largest housing project in Concord’s pipeline. It represented more than a quarter of the roughly 2,300 units that city officials said were in some stage of development across the city.
Doug Richardson, executive vice president of developer Onyx Partners Ltd., declined to comment.
City leaders have recently faced criticism from developers who said Concord is a difficult place to do business.
Over the last year, Onyx and the Concord City Council have been in talks about some kind of partnership, or city investment, in the project. Those conversations have been held behind closed doors without public access.
A request by the Monitor for related records was declined. Interim City Solicitor John Conforti said Tuesday that negotiations are ongoing.
The Concord City Manager’s office declined to comment.
Meanwhile, one of the mall’s remaining tenants filed a lawsuit that jeopardized demolition, and by extension, the logistics of the full proposal.
Onyx bought the properties in the fall of 2023 and tenants with short-term leases departed in early 2024. A few long-term tenants, including JCPenney, the Zoo Health Club, and Altitude Trampoline Park, remained.
The reimagining of what was a largely vacant mall included a flush of one- and two-bedroom units alongside two popular grocery giants.
The project received variances from the Concord Zoning Board last year. Pointing to crime and trespassing concerns, Onyx also received planning board permission last summer to demolish most of the existing mall, which had been boarded up and fenced.
A lawsuit was filed by the owner of the neighboring TD Bank’s building, and that property was bought by Onyx at the end of last year.
Almost simultaneously, JCPenney filed suit, claiming that tearing down the mall violated the terms of its lease, which extends through 2030.
Lawyers for the national retailer argued that sections of the lease promised not only the ability to freely use the shopping center space but also that the mall would remain a mall.
The suit remains pending in Merrimack County Superior Court.
Matthew Johnson, an attorney representing JCPenney, declined to comment, saying he hadn’t seen the real estate listings.
The lease listings show renderings of the existing mall building and state that spaces are “available immediately.”
Side-by-side screenshots of project plans show both the existing building with what would have been left standing after demolition, and what Onyx proposed to put on the property later. Credit: Courtesy— 
Side-by-side screenshots of project plans show both the existing building with what would have been left standing after demolition, and what Onyx proposed to put on the property later. Credit: Courtesy