Developers behind the reinvention of the Steeplegate Mall are looking to move forward with their plan within the next two years, starting by building a Costco and additional retail and then moving on to 600 apartment units.
Property owner Onyx Partners aims to tear down the mall “as soon as possible,” Ari Pollack, an attorney for the firm, told the Concord Planning Board on Wednesday. That means reapplying for a demolition permit with the city sometime this year.
The approvals process, as well as negotiations with the city about a potential public investment in the development, is ongoing. The Planning Board will take up the project again in July.
A timeline broadly laid out by Onyx’s Executive Vice President of Development Doug Richardson would put prioritize construction on the commercial components of the plan, the most prominent of which is a Costco. Construction would carry a nine to twelve month timeframe once it begins, he said.
Apartments would follow, and take longer to build. The plan shows three apartment buildings on the side of the property closer to Sheep Davis Road, one of which would have ground-floor retail.
“To build even 200 of the 600 units is an 18-month project that won’t be starting until March of next year,” Richardson said, which would put first occupancy out about two years.
The timing matters to the city because of an ongoing upgrade to the sewer system on the Heights. It includes a sewer main replacement and a new pump station at the mall, both approved in 2024.
Little residential expansion is possible on the Heights until the project is online, Deputy City Manager Matt Walsh noted.
“We’ve been withholding certificates of occupancy and connection permits until the capacity is there,” he said.
The question is how sewer construction and the residential buildings at the mall might line up. The city also wants more details about traffic circulation around the development – officials are hoping that as much vehicle flow as possible will come in from the Sheep Davis Road side, not Loudon Road.
At this stage, the Planning Board is reviewing the overall development plan rather than its granular specifics. The project still retains the variances previously approved by the zoning board.
Broadly, the board upheld its praise for Onyx’s direction.
“I appreciate the company sticking with this project because I know it’s been – there are a lot of hurdles here,” said board member Matthew Hicks. “We definitely need the housing, and I know a lot of people want the Costco.”
JCPenney’s lawsuit against the developer remains open in court records, but the retailer is no longer part of plans for the mall’s future.
