Image courtesy of Redgate/Kane

The new Portsmouth City Council voted recently to reject an agreement the previous council had inked with developers behind a hotly contested revamp of the city’s former federal building.

The city is seeking to redevelop a former post office and federal building in its downtown, which the federal government is seeking to dispose of, but the current 2.1-acre proposal has met vocal opposition from residents concerned about its scale.

The councilors were told by the deputy city manager the previous council had only approved a draft ground lease agreement between the city and development team Redgate/Kane, not a final document.

However, Mayor Rick Becksted said ­– and many public officials had previously stated ­– he believed the council was locked into an agreement with the developers, the Portsmouth Herald reported. A lawyer for the development team had warned earlier in January the city would be risking a lawsuit for breach of contract if it rejected the deal.

The November 2019 city elections were widely seen as a referendum on the previous council’s handling of Redgate/Kane’s proposal, and many councilors who had supported the project were not returned.

Councilors said they hoped the move will cause the development team to seek negotiations with the new council over the project.

Redgate/Kane had proposed to renovate the existing, landmarked McIntyre building for office space and build two new buildings containing 76 apartments and 92 covered parking spaces on the site’s current parking lot. The development already has an anchor tenant signed up, the marketing agency Hubspot.