- The Portsmouth Housing Authority (PHA) and the city of Portsmouth have signed agreements to redevelop the former Sherburne Elementary School into affordable housing.
- The PHA will submit redevelopment plans to the Technical Advisory Committee in May and the Planning Board later this spring.
PORTSMOUTH — The city has signed off on two key documents with the Portsmouth Housing Authority as they move forward with plans to redevelop the former Sherburne Elementary School site into below-market-rate housing.
City Manager Karen Conard told the City Council this week she signed “the option to ground lease agreement and its accompanying land use compliance agreement with the Portsmouth Housing Authority.”
The agreements reached between the city and its development partner, the Portsmouth Housing Authority, mean authority officials are “now cleared to formally submit and present to the Technical Advisory Committee” the redevelopment plans for the project, Conard said.
After that, they are slated to move on to the Planning Board to present their application “later this spring,” she said.
“That is exciting news, and we’re proud to say we’ve achieved that hurdle,” Conard told the council.
What type of housing will be built at the Sherburne School?
The former school, which was built in 1930, is proposed to be part of a major redevelopment project at the site aimed at creating much-needed below market-rate housing in Portsmouth.
Reached Thursday afternoon, Craig Welch, PHA’s executive director, said “we been working hard on the project since December.”
“The agreement was more of a formality but it’s still an important step forward and we’re excited to be working with the city,” Welch said.
The documents lay out the timeline for the project to be presented to city land-use boards and the responsibilities on both sides.
Welch stated that the PHA is “right on schedule.”
“We’ll be submitting site plans to the Technical Advisory Committee in May and we hope to have a project that’s approved in July,” Welch said.
He added that the schedule was a “perfect time frame for us, we’re not worried about a tight schedule, we’re right on time.”
Best-case scenario for the project would have PHA have all its funding in place by the spring of 2026, so it can break ground then, Welch said.
That would be followed by PHA signing new leases in the summer of 2027, he said.
“Overall, we’re faced with the same challenges as every other affordable housing developer in the country,” Welch said. “Our priority is to keep moving forward.”
PHA’s redevelopment plan for the site, as outlined by Welch previously, is to convert what is now classroom space in the former elementary school into eight one-bedroom apartments, in addition to two new buildings with a total of 119 new units behind the old school.
Concerns over federal funding
Peter Britz, the city’s director of planning and sustainability, said he has concerns about how funding for the Sherburne School project could be hurt by federal cuts.
“We have federal grants in every department almost in the city that could be impacted,” Britz said in response to a question during a recent interview. “It’s early but what we heard at the federal level is there’s a lot of things that could be impacted.”
“That’s a concern,” he added.
Britz acknowledged Welch has not shared any concerns about federal funding for the project.
“But they do rely on tax credits to get their work done,” Britz said. “There’s going to be impacts from it. You can’t just pull all that money back and not have impacts.”
Asked if he had any concerns about funding for the Sherburne School project, Welch said “the erratic approach of the current administration makes things hard to predict.”
He stated that the “cost and availability of building materials” could be impacted by “a trade war.”
But he stated the PHA is “continuing to push forward aggressively with our projects, including the Sherburne School, while keeping a close eye on the risks.”
He added he believes the popular Low Income Tax Credit Program “will be maintained.”
“The elimination of that program would undoubtedly halt thousands of affordable housing projects, but we don’t anticipate that happening,” Welch said.
Deal clears the way for PHA to present plans
The Option to Ground Lease for the property at 35 Sherburne Road gives the Housing Authority “the exclusive option to enter a long term ground lease for the property” so it can develop the housing project.
The term of the ground lease will be “at least 65 years,” according to the agreement.
PHA, according to the Option for Ground Lease, has 60 days to deliver to Conard “for review and acceptance a timetable containing milestones for submission of applications for public and private capital to enable development of the project.”
In terms of the city’s responsibilities under the agreement, officials must provide the Housing Authority with “a single point of contact who shall be responsible for coordinating assistance.”
That assistance includes providing access to the property and assistance with public meetings, according to the agreement.
The city, under the agreement, shall also “provide guidance and non-monetary assistance to Portsmouth Housing regarding the submission of its site plan application.”
The Land Use Compliance Agreement, which was also signed by Conard and Welch, outlines the review process for the Sherburne School redevelopment project.
Timeline for Sherburne School housing
The review process for the project outlined in the Land Use Compliance agreement states that within 30 days after PHA submits its site plan application to the city, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) shall review the plan at a public meeting.
“TAC shall then provide non-binding comments … to the Planning Board for the Planning Board’s consideration,” according to the agreement.
Within 30 days of that, the Planning Board must hold a public hearing with PHA , the agreement states.
“The Planning Board shall then provide non-binding comments … to the city manager for final approval,” according to the agreement.
Conard then “shall accept or reject PHA’s proposal or request modification to PHA’s proposal within five days receipt of comments from the Planning Board,” according to the agreement.
“Acknowledging the short time period the city manager has to render a final decision regarding the applications for the PHA Project, starting on April 15, 2025, (Tuesday), PHA shall provide written updates to the city manager at least every 30 days,” according to the Land Use Compliance Agreement.
