Commerce Avenue in Portsmouth could see housing development along with existing offices. (Photo by Deb Cram/Seacoastonline)
The City Council took a crucial step this week in its efforts to encourage the development of new housing in Portsmouth.
The council voted unanimously to pass second reading of a Gateway Neighborhood Overlay District (GNOD) along stretches of Commerce Way and Portsmouth Boulevard for parcels that are now zoned office-research, according to city Planning Manager Peter Stith.
The vote on the third and final reading of the zoning ordinance change is scheduled for Nov. 18.
If it passes, the new GNOD will allow for the development of “higher density housing and additional work-force housing,” where mostly office buildings are located now, Stith said.
City Manager Karen Conard noted that “through various bonus incentives, property owners can construct multifamily housing up to six stories and 120 dwelling units per building,” in the GNOD.
Several city councilors also pointed to the prime location of the district, which is located near grocery stores, along with a variety of other retail locations and restaurants.
Proposed new regulations
Stith explained key provisions of the proposed new district allow developers by right to build a four-story housing development with as many as 24 units.
“If you want to go to five stories or 80 units, the requirement you have to provide (is) public realm improvements, which will be approved through the director of planning and sustainability,” Stith told the council. “If you want to go above that to six stories, or 120 units, that kicks in the workforce housing requirement.”
There are three options a developer can choose from to meet the workforce housing requirement, according to Stith and a draft of the proposed ordinance.
They can build the workforce units themselves, they can “make a payment to the city in lieu of providing work-force housing in an amount based on the particular makeup of the development” or they can transfer a parcel of land to the city, which can be developed for below-market rate housing, according to the draft ordinance.
Any proposed land transfer to get the density bonus “has to be approved by City Council,” Stith said.
The proposed new GNOD came out of decision by city officials and The Kane Company to stay lawsuits they filed against each other in exchange for the new zoning, officials have acknowledged.
A “good portion” of the parcels in the GNOD are owned by Michael Kane or his companies, City Attorney Susan Morrell said previously.
Kane is the chief executive officer of The Kane Company. Redgate/Kane operated under the SoBow Square name when it worked with the city in the failed attempt to try to redevelop the former 2.1-acre downtown McIntyre federal property.
A ‘wonderful location’ for additional housing
City Councilor Kate Cook shared “two years ago, when we started to address our serious shortage of housing, we were talking a lot about where do we locate additional housing.”
“What’s intriguing to me about this space we’re talking about, putting in the GNOD, is that it is underdeveloped, it’s an ideal location for additional housing, because it’s walkable to two grocery stores (and) several restaurants, it’s easily accessible,” Cook said during this week’s council meeting.
She added that the proposed new GNOD offers “easy access to bike routes to downtown, it’s easy access to transit.”
“This is a wonderful location to be considering for additional housing,” Cook said. “This is the next opportunity we have to look at even more dense housing development in an area that’s adjacent to housing, but also adjacent to a commercial area that offers a lot of opportunities for new residents.”
Value of office space in decline
Mayor Deaglan McEachern stated one of things he learned from the city’s ongoing property revaluation is what commercial properties were “at the bottom of the list” in terms of value and “what was at the top.”
Office research, he noted, was at the bottom, and represented the reason “why commercial (values) didn’t keep pace with residential.”
The proposed GNOD gives the city “the opportunity” to develop the “most desirable,” use for the properties, McEachern said, which is residential.
“These parcels used to be Mariner’s Village, and now it’s a lot of office space and the market is not necessarily there for that,” McEachern said. “I’m excited about this, I’m excited to move it forward, I think it will build more housing, it will get affordable housing.”
A land transfer option
City Councilor John Tabor said “regardless of how it got here, the discussions led to a lot of innovative ideas and innovative zoning that’s going to allow us to boost the city housing stock in a location that’s not going to have a lot of neighborhood impact.”
The proposed GNOD is about 23 acres, Tabor said, that’s walkable to downtown and grocery stores.
“The introduction of the land transfer option could create new places for the Housing Authority or similar nonprofit developers to give us at least 80 units,” said Tabor, who co-chairs the city’s Housing Committee.
Tabor maintained Portsmouth needs “both below market housing and … market rate housing.”
“We need 1,500 units in the next two years to balance our market. This could really give us a giant step,” he said.
City Councilor Beth Moreau said she’s heard “a lot of pushback that we’re trying to rush this.”
Housing: ‘Stop talking about it and start doing it’
“I believe it was two years ago when someone actually spoke at a Planning Board meeting and actually asked us to allow housing in this zone,” said Moreau, who is also a long-time Planning Board member. “This has been a request that has been on our radar for a long time.”
She reminded the council about last year’s Portsmouth Listens session when residents “told us to go out and create more housing, to stop talking about it and start doing it.”
“I believe this is a great step forward in this direction,” she said and added that the proposed GNOD is located “in a great place to have some residential development.”
The city’s Planning Board also recently held a discussion on the proposed new overlay district.
Board member Anthony Coviello stated he thought the proposed GNOD would create more housing, but questioned whether it would result in more below market-rate housing.
“It is so tenuous right now in the market place trying to build just market rate housing. We have approved market rate housing in this city, that’s not being built, and that’s a sign of how tenuous it is,” he said.
He believes “we’re kind of kidding ourselves if we think we’re going to provide a carrot for them to build more and make it affordable, while it would be great, really we’re just going to stop it at whatever line we have the affordable at.”
“It’s traditionally what’s happened, it’s going to happen now,” he said, while encouraging officials to allow taller buildings in the district without the additional requirements.
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