Hundreds of more apartment units planned for downtown Manchester
Apr. 16—Hundreds of new apartments are under construction all around downtown Manchester, and hundreds more are in the pipeline.
One of the latest proposed projects will bring 250 units next to the SNHU Arena on Elm Street. Grand Maison, as it will be called, received needed variances, including one for density, from the Manchester Zoning Board of Appeals last week.
Another project involves converting the upper floors of a five-story brick office building at 959 Elm St., known as the Dunlap Building, into 36 apartments. The project also received a density variance last week.
Eli Leino, an attorney representing Grand Maison, told the board more density in the downtown business district is called for in the city's master plan. The properties on Elm and Auburn streets are in the Arena Overlay District.
The six-story building is expected to have commercial space on the ground floor and "quality market-rate housing" units, according to the plans.
"It's a great opportunity for the city to add a significant number of housing units," Leino told the board last week.
The projects joined the fray of thousands of units being developed across the city in the past three years, including 250 units expected to open across Auburn Street from Market Basket.
The Grand Maison project proposed for 501 Elm, 533 Elm and 30 Auburn streets calls for redeveloping a long-vacant building, Meineke Car Care Center and the Granite State Fruit Co. warehouse, which has not been acquired by the developer. The project will take up 100% of the footprint, according to the proposal.
Bridgewater Co., with offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, is building a smaller apartment building on Central Street at the spot of the former Athens Restaurant. That building has been branded as Grand Central Suites.
Attorney John Cronin said North Street Properties' Dunlap project is similar to others downtown "as the demand for office space wanes and the demand for residential explodes."
The company was expected to seek a tax break before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday night.
The market-rate units, between 315 and 530 square feet, likely will offer lower rents than others because of the size. The plans call for 30 one-bedroom units and six studio apartments, with rents ranging from $1,500 to $1,700, according to documents submitted to the city.
"My understanding in the downtown is that there has been a cry for a lot more one-bedrooms," Cronin said.
An atrium will be constructed to make sure all units have windows. New windows will be cut into the brick exterior in some parts of the building.
Manchester Economic Development Director Jodie Nazaka said the vacancy rate for apartments remains below 1%, which has caught the attention of developers, both locally and from outside the state.
"We are continuing to see the trend that there is a want and a need for multifamily units within our downtown," she said. "This has been a steady trend for the last three years now."
A growing bio-fabrication and bio-manufacturing industry is bringing more workers to the Millyard. United Therapeutics plans to hire 100 workers in the future.
Part of the discussion on Grand Maison revolved around parking. Bridgewater plans 115 garage spots but could double the number with a stacking system, such as those used in larger cities.
Possibilities for the commercial units include a cafe or yoga studio.
The "live, work, play dream" is also driving some of the demand, Nazaka said.
The city is working with developers to ensure a good mix of uses downtown.
"We want people to come and live in our downtown, but we want to make sure we have the amenities to support their lifestyle," Nazaka said.
The department also is recruiting shops and other businesses to move to the city, which includes grants and low-interest business loans, she said.
