As Nashua OKs hundreds of high-end residences downtown
By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff | February 15, 2007
With nearly every available square mile accounted for and built out, Nashua is going the way of Lowell and Portsmouth and redeveloping the core of its downtown for high-end residences -- a bold move for a city better known for its suburban sprawl than urban luxury.
The city has approved construction of a record number of condominiums and apartments designed to lure empty-nesters and young professionals with yens for granite kitchen countertops, marble baths, and restaurants within walking distance. Many of the units are being created in rehabilitated mill buildings.
"A mini-Boston, perhaps," said Jay Minkarah, Nashua's economic development director.
The construction is poised to transform the downtown. The number of available housing units is expected to nearly triple -- from about 400 to 1,100. Some will be classified as affordable, but the bulk will go for market rate, at prices reaching $500,000. Developers, along with the city, also hope to revitalize the Nashua River with the completion of a 1.6-mile riverwalk loop, linking new condos to restaurants and to wooded areas.
City officials and developers say that Nashua is ripe for such residential growth as urbanites are priced out of places like Boston but still crave amenities such as restaurants, cafes, and galleries. Nashua, they say, is perfectly positioned to capture that market, with its growing number of trendy restaurants, proximity to Boston, and planned commuter-rail service.
To that end, the officials hope to attract more residents like Carrie Parker and Val Whitney. The couple moved to Nashua from New York this year to take up residence in Clocktower Place, a mill building redone in the early 1990 s as the first downtown residential development in decades. It is credited with emboldening the more ambitious development now planned.
"Nashua's not really fast-paced, but there's a lot to do," said Parker, 29, a native of Saco, Maine, who works in customer service for a marketing firm in Nashua. "To me, it's just like downtown Saco, but with more culture."
Whitney, 39, a financial analyst, said he wanted "urban, but not buzzing, buzzing metropolis. I could have had that in New York."
The couple looked in nearby Merrimack but decided the community was too quiet.
"Both of us were used to having a little more around," Parker said. "Here we are in walking distance of the stores and everything else."
The residential push has doubters. Some say that housing alone will not make Nashua an urban destination because the city lacks the high culture that other cities offer.
"You can shop, you can eat here," said one resident, Kirby Smith, "but there's no soul here." Smith, who is a spokesman for the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, said that he and his wife live in Nashua because it's close to their work, but that they travel to Cambridge and Boston for theater, art-house movies, and ballet.
A decade ago, "urban living" was not a term bandied about in Nashua. The downtown, planned by the Nashua Manufacturing Co. during the 19th century, had fallen into disrepair and disuse by the 1960 s. With the closing of major factories, downtown stores were shuttered. The construction of Route 3 in the 1950 s cemented the orientation of life and commerce away from the downtown.
In the late 1980 s and early 1990 s, merchants lobbied for city ordinances that encouraged downtown life, such as allowing sidewalk cafes. The opening of Michael Timothy's Urban Bistro on Main Street marked a turning point, some say, offering proof that Nashua could satisfy those looking for more than just convenient, fast food.
More upscale restaurants have followed, along with galleries and boutique stores -- additions that planners and developers say has allowed Nashua to find its rhythm again. But the missing piece, they say, is residential space.
There are four major projects underway or in various stages of approval that will create some 730 new residential units:
Jackson Falls Condominiums will offer 22 waterfront condos scheduled to open this month.
Cotton Mill Square will include three new buildings with 162 condos, of which 20 percent will be affordable; it also will feature 10,000 square feet of office space. It has been approved and construction is anticipated to begin in the spring.
The Harper project will offer 358 condo units and 37,000 square feet for retail; it will include 300,000 square feet of mill space as well as new construction. Its approval is still pending before the Planning Board.
The former Batesville Casket Co. factory will be converted to 180 apartments for the elderly and 15,000 square feet of commercial space; the project has been approved and construction has begun.
A key element to the success of the residential additions, some say, will be commuter rail. Currently, there is no commuter-rail access to Nashua; the closest stop is Lowell. City and regional planners say they are close to negotiating the extension of the rail line to Nashua, but it is contingent on a number of factors, including the needed state legislation. If all goes as planned, the commuter rail would be operating by 2010, said Steve Williams, director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission.
The endeavor is also reliant on another risky factor -- the fickle condo market, now in a downturn in Boston. Some real estate brokers say they still are hearing of a desire for condo living from clients -- particularly empty-nesters.
"Their lives are more centered around going out after work, and they want to be able to walk to restaurants and bars and then walk home. But they also want a certain caliber of home."
Ron Harper Jr., the San Diego-based developer of the largest downtown residential project, which is estimated to cost $100 million, said, "Lenders may not be looking at condos, but the market is still there."
He noted that Nashua's infrastructure and economy are strong, giving the new residential push a solid foundation. "If it can happen in Lowell," he said, "it could happen much more in Nashua."
