Portsmouth meeting with GSA about McIntyre redevelopment plan
PORTSMOUTH — City administrators are scheduled to “check in” Tuesday with federal General Services Administration officials about the progress they’re making on redevelopment plans for the Thomas J. McIntyre federal building site.
City Manager Karen Conard said officials will meet with the GSA, which owns the 2.1-acre property, after recently signing a 90-day extension of the license agreement between the two parties.
“One of the requirements of that license agreement extension was to submit a series of milestones that will serve to track our progress through the 90 days,” Conard told the City Council Jan. 23. “The GSA has to approve where we stand within those milestones in order to keep moving through the process.”
Their first check-in meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Conard said.
The news comes after the City Council earlier this month voted to spend as much as $150,000 more on McIntyre related expenses.
The vote came after a group of people showed up at City Hall urging councilors not to appropriate the money, with the exception of one person who spoke in favor of it. The critics called on the council to end their relationship with Redgate/Kane, the city’s development partners.
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The approved funds will be used “for the design and engineering of alternate plans for the redevelopment of the McIntyre federal building.”
Conard asked for the additional $150,000 after the cost estimates for developing the so-called Community Plan design with development partners Redgate/Kane came in at a low of $74 million and a high of $147 million.
Since that vote on Jan. 9, “the city is currently under contract with two expert financial firms,” Conard told the council Monday.
“One is in charge of examining the developer’s construction cost estimates that were presented to us, and the second will examine the various ways in which this project can be financed to identify the best possible financial arrangement for the city,” she said.
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The city has been trying for years to acquire the 2.1-acre McIntyre federal building property – which is located in the center of downtown near Portsmouth’s popular waterfront – for $1 through the Historic Monument Program.
The program is administered by the National Park Service, which must approve a variety of design and financial components of the redevelopment, including the amount of profit for Redgate/Kane, which also operates as SoBow Square.
Conard signed the extension agreement, along with John Kelly, the director of Real Property Utilization & Disposal for the Public Buildings Service of the GSA.
The city has agreed to complete a series of “primary tasks” and “deliverables” for the GSA during the length of the 90-day extension, according to a copy of the license agreement.
They include, according to the document:
Conducting a financial analysis of the developer’s preliminary pro forma.
Reviewing the construction cost estimates for the project.
Working with developer’s representatives “to evaluate design modifications, including but not limited to programmatic changes to land use, value engineering … phasing and/or physical design changes to the Community Plan.”
Studying “alternative scenarios” to “improve the financial viability” of the project.
Receiving final City Council approval.
The Community Plan redevelopment design includes a Market Hall center supported by two new buildings, 44 high-end apartments and a public viewing deck.
Developers have said they plan to renovate the existing McIntyre building so it can be used for office space.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Next step in Portsmouth NH McIntyre redevelopment is meeting with GSA
