Torrington Properties and Waterstone Properties Group plan a 250-unit, 12-acre complex dubbed “West Side Yards” near a busy arts and entertainment district near Portsmouth’s Route 1 Bypass. Image courtesy of Torrington Properties.

A mixed-use project planned for a disused Portsmouth convention center took a significant step forward on Sept. 3 when it received approval from a key city committee.

The Portsmouth Technical Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend the city’s planning board approve the West End Yards development.

The Torrington Properties project would feature 250 apartment units split between two buildings, 23 condominium townhomes, 22,000 square feet of office space and 22,000 square feet of retail space, including a “food and beer hall” that opens onto a plaza facing one of the rental buildings. 

The site is near Portsmouth’s Music and Arts Center and the retail center along the southern end of Portsmouth’s Islington Street as it approaches the Route 1 bypass. 

With support in hand from the advisory committee, the project still requires site plan approval from the city planning board.