Housing for workers in Portsmouth part of 72-apartment project

PORTSMOUTH — A major redevelopment project proposed for Lafayette Road featuring 72 new apartments — including 20% that will rent at work-force rates — received a key approval.

Portsmouth developer Mark McNabb is proposing to construct two additions to the existing Tour restaurant building, featuring the new apartments with the work-force housing.

The city’s Technical Advisory Committee recommended site plan approval for the mixed-use project this week, and sent it to the Planning Board, which is anticipated to discuss it at its April meeting, Tracy Kozak, the architect on the project, said Thursday.

The apartments would feature of a mix of bedrooms and sizes, according to plans filed with the city.

The condition that 20% of the 72 new apartments be rented at work-force rates will be “written into the legal documents (for the project) that requires the rent be controlled in that manner for 30 years,” Kozak said.

“If the property were ever transferred, the legal requirement would go with the property,” she added.

The project will also feature an outdoor dining spot, a landscaped pocket park and a connection from Ledgewood Drive to Portsmouth High School, Kozak said.

Housing for city workers

McNabb’s willingness to include work-force units in the redevelopment project at 581 Lafayette Road demonstrates he understands the importance of creating housing that city workers can afford, Kozak said.

“Mark lives in Portsmouth, and he does a lot of business in Portsmouth. He’s a commercial property owner and he also owns several restaurants,” she said. “The health of the work-force economy is crucial to him, and he fully understands how difficult it is to hire employees who need work-force housing in Portsmouth.”

McNabb believes “business owners in Portsmouth have to step up to the plate” and create housing that their employees can afford.

McNabb “wants to set an example of how to create work-force housing” for other business owners and developers who work in the city, she said.

Kozak, who is the founding principal at Arcove Architects in Portsmouth, said the lack of affordable housing in the city is a “huge deal for me.”

“I’ve lived in Portsmouth for more than 30 years and I’ve seen people, family and friends, had to split apart from each other because they can’t afford to live here anymore,” Kozak said.

As a downtown business owner, she too knows what it’s like to have important employees “who can’t afford to live here,” Kozak said.

The zoning for the Lafayette Road property, which used to be home to the Jerry Lewis Cinemas, allows for four stories and 48 units.

McNabb, by providing work-force housing, is allowed to build the two additions five stories high with a total of 72 units, Kozak said.

New sidewalk leading to Portsmouth High School

That density bonus also includes a community space requirement and a public realm requirement, Kozak said.

To meet that public realm requirement, the redevelopment will feature improvements to “a pedestrian connection from Ledgewood Drive to the high school,” she said.

“There’s kind of a secret footpath that high school kids take now, but it’s not safe, it’s not well lit and it’s not a good experience,” she said. “Mark is paying to have that improved so it's a safe and well-lit walking surface.”

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McNabb is also installing a new sidewalk on the north side of Ledgewood Drive, Kozak said, and paying for improvements to an existing basketball court at the end of Ledgewood Drive, “including benches and a new play area.”

Community space that will be open to the public includes a “courtyard dining area” that connects to a “small pocket park that’s heavily landscaped,” Kozak said.

Parking on site

McNabb’s project “will have more parking than is required” by city zoning, Kozak said.

“In addition to that we’re providing more than the required bicycle parking, along with scooter and motorcycle parking,” she said.

The project will have 181 parking spaces, where 177 are required and 88 bicycle parking spaces, Kozak said.

The parking spaces will be located around and inside the building, according to documents filed with the city.

If the Planning Board approves the site plan for the project in April, Kozak estimates construction could start midway through 2025 and take a year and a half to finish.

Kozak said the project will end with a “super sustainable building.”

“It’s not quite net zero, but we’re getting there,” she said. “There’s a huge amount of solar on top.”

“This building is 92% more energy efficient than the typical building,” she said.

McNabb considers working with Cross Roads House

McNabb is “also working with Cross Roads House to provide transitional housing in some units,” Kozak said, referring to the shelter located nearby on Lafayette Road.

He has had “preliminary talks” to decide exactly what that would entail, she said.

“I know the conversation has started,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth 72-apartment project features housing for workers