PORTSMOUTH — Developer Mark McNabb is proposing to renovate the former home of the J.J. Newberry department store and turn the downtown property into a major mixed-use project, including innovative “high density co-living” spaces.
The first story spaces at 15 Congress Street – the one-time home of J.J. Newberry’s – will continue to feature the existing commercial spaces, according to documents filed with the city, which are the Thirsty Moose Taphouse and Tres Diana salon.
But the existing office spaces above the ground floor retail will be converted into all residential uses, according to the preliminary project plans.
“The proposed residential use of the upper floors of J.J. Newberry is high density co-living, which will require a zoning change to allow for that use,” John Chagnon of Ambit Engineering stated in project documents filed with the city. “In the event the applicant is not successful with creating a Co-Living Use, then the proposed use of the upper floors of J.J. Newberry will be a mixture of micro apartments, studios, one-bedrooms and a boarding house, all permitted by the zoning ordinance.”
Plans feature penthouse for co-living tenant use
The proposed redevelopment project will require a conditional use permit (CUP) for parking, Chagnon said.
A rooftop penthouse and secondary egress stairs are proposed to be built on the existing roof at the J.J. Newberry property, Chagnon said.
“The existing flat roof will accommodate a roof deck with extensive green scape plantings for residential use, solar PV array, and mechanical equipment,” Chagnon said.
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What is co-living?
McNabb’s development team describes high-density co-living as a residential use “providing a private or shared sleeping unit and access to communal areas for cooking (kitchen), bathroom, laundry, living, working, arts, recreation and wellness spaces,” according to the project documents.
“The sleeping unit may or may not include a private bathroom or cooking facilities. There are no defined rental periods, thereby allowing people the ability to rent, lease or otherwise make available on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, or longer,” the development team said.
The team stated the most well-known type of co-living housing in the United States is “single-room occupancy units (SROs), which have historically served as cities’ lowest-cost, permanent form of rental housing.”
Examples include rooming and boarding houses and congregate housing facilities, according to project documents.
“Most higher education colleges in America use co-living to house students,” the development team said.
The proposed zoning change sought by McNabb’s team also wants to eliminate the parking requirements for the downtown property, they said.
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No parking equals lower rents
Development team members contend that “smaller living spaces that do not require a parking space dramatically reduce the capital cost of building and owning property, and lower the operating costs associated with managing and providing utilities and maintenance, which collectively contribute to providing more affordable options for living.”
They reported that “a typical parking space occupies approximately 225 square feet (including 25% for travel ways),” while “a micro-apartment can be constructed in less than 500 square feet.”
That fact, the development team states in support of the proposed zoning change, “brings clarity to why some people find sleeping in their car or on a friend’s sofa as their only affordable option.”
“Portsmouth’s Zoning Ordinance can and should do a better job of providing sheltered housing by allowing co-living choices,” they said. “Further, approximately 30 percent of Americans do not drive in urban areas and those numbers are increasing.” Others, “either out of necessity or choice, utilize eco-friendly scooters and/or bicycles,” according to the development team.
Team members stated that “adoption of new and modified language will directly enable the redevelopment of J.J. Newberry, repurposing underperforming upper-story office uses to much-needed housing.”
“Where the J.J. Newberry building is a downtown building occupying the majority of its site, unbundling parking from residential uses is essential to achieving redevelopment and the creation of more affordable housing options,” development team members said.
Project to be combined with 1 and 3 Congress Street redevelopment
The development team has asked the Planning Board to recommend that the City Council approve the zoning change they’re proposing.
The mixed-use redevelopment proposed for the former J.J. Newbury building seeks to be built in conjunction with a previously approved McNabb project at 1 Congress Street, which the development team is referring to as One Market Square.
“The proposal is to merge the lots and re-develop the combined lot,” Chagnon said.
That previously approved project includes the renovation of existing commercial buildings located at 1 and 3 Congress Street, demolition to portions of existing buildings and the construction of a new 3-story addition at the rear of the existing buildings, Chagnon said.
The area behind the existing building is now a surface parking lot.
The One Market Square project will also include one level of underground parking, Chagnon said.
That redevelopment will feature retail or commercial on the ground floor with residential above, he said.
Land swap and utility upgrades proposed
The proposed new addition at 1 Congress Street “will extend and attach to the existing J.J. Newberry building,” Chagnon said.
McNabb and city officials are working on a land swap that would allow the developer to own all of Haven Court, which he is planning to pay to upgrade, along with High and Ladd streets, and the utilities underneath the roadways.
McNabb reached out to the city recently about the proposed deal after one of his LLCs entered into a purchase and sale agreement to purchase the former J.J. Newberry property, he said in a letter to city officials.
“While completing due diligence on the J.J. Newberry parcel, we discovered that the High-Hanover parking garage has been built onto land” owned by his One Market Square company, McNabb stated in the letter to City Manager Karen Conard.
To resolve the issue, McNabb proposed giving the roughly 800 square feet of the garage land that sits on his property in exchange for a portion of city land adjacent to Fleet Street, which would give his company title to the “entirety of Haven Court,” according to Deputy City Attorney Trevor McCourt.
McNabb previously offered — and the city agreed — to pay potentially “several million dollars” to beautify and dramatically upgrade the area around the city’s High-Hanover parking garage, which is adjacent to his One Congress St. and J.J. Newberry’s projects.
McNabb is proposing to change the name of Haven Court to Newberry Way, according to Chagnon.
In addition, the “existing grade of Newberry Way will be lowered from High Street to Fleet Street to create an ADA-compliant walkway open to the public,” Chagnon said.
HDC, planning board to view proposals Wednesday and Thursday
The redevelopment project also calls for changing the existing first-floor space along Fleet Street “from office to retail and restaurant uses,” according to Chagnon.
“An egress stair tower, accessible elevator, and main entrance for the upper floors of residential use will be accessed from Newberry Way, in the vicinity of the One Market Square building connection, with the J.J. Newberry building,” he said.
The existing brick facade on Congress Street “will be repaired and restored according to historic photographs,” as part of the J.J. Newberry project, Chagnon said.
“The existing brick facade on Fleet Street will be repaired, with proposed awnings at storefront windows and entrances,” Chagnon added. “Along the existing southerly 10-foot-wide alley off Fleet Street, the project will cut vertical entrances, windows and recessed balconies in the brick façade to allow for retail entrances with upper floor covered recessed balconies for residential tenants.”
McNabb’s J.J. Newberry project is slated to be discussed during a workshop session at Wednesday’s Historic District Commission meeting.
The development team is slated to introduce the proposed redevelopment project to the Planning Board Thursday during a preliminary conceptual consultation.
“The preliminary conceptual consultation phase provides the Planning Board with an opportunity to review the outlines of a proposed project before it gets to detailed design (and before the applicant refines the plan as a result of review by the Technical Advisory Committee and public comment at TAC hearings),” Peter Stith, the city’s planning manager, said. “In order to maximize the value of this phase, board members are encouraged to engage in dialogue with the proponent to offer suggestions and to raise any concerns so that they may be addressed in a formal application.”
The HDC’s Wednesday meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. and will be held in City Council Chambers.
Thursday’s Planning Board meeting is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and will also be held in City Council Chambers.
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