Here's what apartments at old WHEB site in Portsmouth will look like. Approvals needed.
PORTSMOUTH — Developers proposing a 72-unit apartment project at the former site of the WHEB radio station are slated to discuss the major redevelopment project at a city committee meeting Tuesday.
Prospect North 815 LLC, the owners of the property at 815 Lafayette Road, are also the developers of the project, according to documents filed with the city’s Planning Department.
They are proposing to demolish “the existing building along Sagamore Creek” and construct three four-story, 24-unit multi-family buildings (72 total units) with first floor parking,” according to Patrick Crimmins of Tighe & Bond Inc., which is working for the developers.
Project needs approvals from Portsmouth boards
The WHEB radio station, which no longer operates at the site, according to the new owners, was a longtime landmark on the heavily traveled section of Route 1 where the building is located.
As proposed, the redevelopment project “will require relief from the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) for efforts to develop the front lot line within the limits of the usable front yard,” Crimmins said.
“In addition, this project would require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for improvements within the 100-foot wetland buffer,” he added.
Details of plans for apartments
Preliminary plans filed with the city show that each of the three apartment buildings proposed for the site would have a 9,750-square foot footprint and 24 parking spaces for each building.
There also is a much smaller proposed office building, located adjacent to one of the apartment buildings, with a footprint of 1,200 square feet, according to the plans filed with the city.
The developers are also planning to feature a waterfront park area at the site, located next to Sagamore Creek.
Access to the 19.6-acre site would come from the existing driveway off Route 1, Crimmins said.
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The property is also located next to the Lafayette Plaza shopping center and to the east by Winchester Place.
The developer’s plans feature eight apartments on the second, third and fourth levels of each of the proposed apartment buildings, all of which would have parking on the first level.
All of the units shown in the initial plans feature two bedrooms with a living/dining room, along with one or two bathrooms.
Developers make case for project
The developers contend that the proposed redevelopment project “will be an environmental improvement from the existing condition and eliminates approximately 9,600 square feet of existing impervious surface that is located in the 100-foot wetland buffer by removing the existing building and pavement located along Sagamore Creek.”
“These previously disturbed areas will be reestablished with vegetation to provide buffer enhancement,” Crimmins said. “In addition, the project will enhance the quality of runoff discharged to Sagamore Creek with the addition of stormwater treatment practices that do not currently exist on the site.”
The property owners, Prospect North 815 LLC, bought the property for $2.1 million on Sept. 30, 2022, according to the assessor’s website
The former owner was Clear Channel Broadcasting Inc., which bought the site for $3 million in January 2001, according to assessor records.
The redevelopment project is scheduled to be discussed at Tuesday’s meeting of the Site Review Technical Advisory Committee, which is slated to begin at 2 p.m. and will be held in Conference Room A in City Hall.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth WHEB site: Apartments proposed at 815 Lafayette Road
