How Al Fleury hopes to revitalize Hampton downtown with 94-unit apartment building, hotel

HAMPTON — Seacoast entrepreneur Al Fleury has filed plans with the town to build a 94-unit apartment building in downtown Hampton along with a boutique hotel and space for a store or café.

Fleury, who owns Bernie’s Beach Bar, Wally’s Pub and numerous Seacoast properties, submitted plans to the town earlier this month for the multi-use development. The project would merge the former Webber Antiques property at 495 Lafayette Road, 48-52 High Street and 6 Dearborn Ave. It would include a 4½-story, 59.75-foot L-shaped apartment building on Route 1 across from the Old Salt with one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

Three-dimensional renderings included in the application show the L-shaped building, as well as the boutique hotel along Route 1 that would have 18 rooms. A commercial space is shown on the corner of High Street and Dearborn Avenue next door to the TD Bank with people enjoying outdoor seating with green umbrellas.

The plans are in the hands of the Zoning Board, which will decide whether to grant five variances sought by Fleury. The variances address height, maximum number of units, square footage, and foregoing non-residential use on the first floor as required by zoning.

Fleury, partnering with his brother Adam on the project, argues in his application the variances are in the public interest. He hopes to help revitalize Hampton’s downtown by bringing more people to enjoy its restaurants and shops. He said the plan aligns with Hampton’s recently updated master plan to improve the downtown.

“If Hampton really does want this, if they really do want what the master plan’s asking for,” Fleury said, “This is where it starts.”

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Fleury’s project aims to revitalize downtown Hampton

Fleury has been working on this project for almost four years, having purchased the High Street properties in early 2020. The project was delayed by the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Fleury added to the scope of the project in 2022 when he purchased the former Webber Antiques property.

When Fleury goes to the ZBA, he will need to convince board members to grant a variance for a 94-unit building in a zone that typically permits only eight per structure. The footprint of the 94-unit building is also 27,000 feet. The zoning district states buildings on a lot larger than one acre may not exceed 7,500 square feet. The apartment building’s height will also need a variance, as the limit in the zoning ordinance is three stories at 35 feet.

Fleury appeared before the Planning Board in November 2022 with preliminary renderings of the proposal. He also met with abutters at a meeting he organized in August of this year to hear their thoughts.

Traffic, he said, was one of the biggest concerns of abutters, which led his team to conduct traffic studies. The application states a traffic assessment done by the firm Tighe and Bond shows traffic is already at or above capacity at the intersections near the development. However, they determined the new project would not have a “significant impact” on vehicle delays.

The application states Fleury and his team are prepared to be flexible to improve traffic safety. Additions to the plan could include signage, speedbumps and lane adjustments, according to Fleury’s application.

“The Applicants are happy to entertain various potential mitigation measures,” the application states.

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ZBA recently rejected 103 apartments in downtown Hampton

Fleury is going before the town after a similar apartment proposal was effectively rejected by the ZBA earlier this year. Developer Tom Moulton had wanted to bring 103 apartments to a lot across the street from Fleury’s. ZBA members told him they could not grant variances on height and parking. He withdrew his application and said it would take zoning amendments to make a project like his work in town.

Fleury said he is aware of the challenges that Moulton faced. He believes his project has some advantages, in that his property has a different elevation and is on a different side of the street.

Fleury says he has doubled down on his Route 1 presence, having moved his Fleury Group headquarters to 418 Lafayette Road, the former space of Pick’n Cousins. He said he has seen a lot of business turnover in the units on and near Route 1. He hopes new residents in his proposed building will enjoy walking to shops like Blue Harbor Coffee and bolster the local business community.

“I think we check a lot of the boxes for what the master plan asks for,” Fleury said. “Let’s see if we actually institute a project that fits into it.”

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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Al Fleury plans 94-unit apartment building, boutique hotel in Hampton