Image courtesy of EMBARC Studio
A large development planned for one of Dover’s most stubbornly vacant parcels got a key approval from city officials last week.
The city’s Cochecho Waterfront Development Advisory Committee voted on Aug. 31 to give conditional approval to a 410-unit, six-building, mixed-use redevelopment planned for an area next to the city’s downtown. The developer, Boston-based Cathartes, had won a competition to turn the city-owned land – which has functioned as a port, industrial space and home to the city’s sewage treatment facility over the years – into a vibrant, new addition to Dover’s downtown.
Cathartes had won approval for the general development concept in January, but last week’s decision means it can formally begin the permitting process with applications to the city Planning Board.
The move came despite concern from some rowers and other recreational users of the Cocheco River that the development would mean they could lose access to the river. In a statement announcing the vote, city officials said city officials and the developer will “work diligently and closely with the paddlesports community to ensure cooperation in any future plans for the design, permitting and construction for a paddle sports facility” as a condition of the Aug. 31 approval.
The city also needs state permits to do its share of site preparation to get the site pad-ready in order to meet its agreement with Cathartes. A bluff on the site, located next to downtown on a bend in the Cocheco River, will be flattened and the site graded to protect against sea level rise, and roads and streetscape enhancements must be built.
The 23-acre development includes four apartment buildings facing a riverfront park and screening parking lots, a condominium building and 23 townhomes. The project will also include 28,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space fronting on the riverfront. The design, by Boston-based architecture firm EMBARC Studios, is anchored by a public plaza connected to the riverfront park.
Officials hope the project could break ground as early as 2022, Foster’s Daily Democrat reported.
