Developer resolves issues involving necessary walkway, traffic light in order to begin project

By TOM WEST, Telegraph Correspondent
Published: Saturday, Sep. 16, 2006

NASHUA – As many as 162 condominiums may be built along the Nashua River now that a developer received the go-ahead to purchase and demolish two unused buildings.

The planning board Thursday unanimously approved the proposal by the Stabile Cos. to build the project, which will be called Cotton Mill Square.

The board tabled the plan two weeks ago, saying issues involving traffic improvements and the long-planned riverfront walkway still needed to be resolved.

Since then, developers and planning officials agreed on a traffic light and how the walkway will be constructed.

The condos Stabile plans to build are only part of a larger plan to redevelop the riverfront. Harper Nashua has purchased buildings on Franklin Street from Grace Fellowship Church and along with another developer, Nashua River Mills, could build up to 600 condos and 30,000 square feet of retail on the site, officials say.

Stabile wants to put three five-story buildings on Front Street on the north bank of the river, across from the Clocktower Place apartments.

An industrial facility and old cotton storage building, which officials say is of historical significance but unfit for rehabilitation, would be destroyed under the Stabile plan. The buildings are owned by Nashua Corp.

Stabile wasn’t at the meeting Thursday, but deputy planning manager Mike Yeomans said the details of the plan had been worked out to the satisfaction of the city.

There was some confusion previously about role Stabile would play in construction of the walkway that will lead to the old cotton mill transfer bridge, which the city plans to reconstruct at a cost of $600,000.

According to a letter to Stabile from community development director Kathy Hersh, the site of the walkway will be prepared by Stabile, but the city will be responsible for the design of the structure and lighting.

She said the project was “important to the city’s growth and sustainability.’’

The developer has also agreed to pay for design of a traffic light at Fairmount and Amherst streets, while the city will pick of the cost of easements and land acquisition that would be needed for the light, Yeomans said.

Stabile plans to build one 40-unit building first, and if those condos sell, he will construct a second building, then a third. He also plans to build a 10,000-square foot office building on the site. That structure would provide an elevator and stairway to get pedestrians and bicyclists from the bridge, which is about 16 feet above the river, back to ground level.

Red brick will be used to construct the condos, so they’ll resemble the old mill buildings they’re replacing, according to project architect David White.

Twenty percent of the condos would be affordable housing managed by the Southern New Hampshire Services..

Tom West can be reached at news@nashuatelegraph.com