Image courtesy of Redgate/Kane
Facing “millions of dollars” in legal liabilities, Portsmouth city councilors have voted to undo their predecessor’s termination of a development agreement with a local development team over a controversial downtown project according to meeting minutes.
The City Council unanimously backed a motion on Feb. 10 to rescind a Nov. 18 vote where former Mayor Rick Bedsted and four allied city councilors pushed through a vote to terminate the city’s agreement with Redgate/Kane to develop the former McIntyre Federal Building property. The five, who all won election in 2019 on their opposition to Redgate/Kane’s plans, had been soundly beaten in the municipal election just days before their vote.
Redgate/Kane, a partnership of Boston developer Redgate and Portsmouth developer The Kane Co., has a pending lawsuit against the city saying actions by Becksted and other city leaders violated the development agreement, signed in August 2019. The city is also facing a lawsuit from a group of residents who claimed the Nov. 18 vote violated the state’s Right to Know law.
While Redgate/Kane is reportedly in closed-door settlement negotiations with city leaders, it’s not clear if they still hope to develop the McIntyre property. The Modernist property has sat largely vacant for years while locals argued over how to turn the landmarked building and its parking lot into a valuable part of the city’s largely-19th century downtown, itself a major tourist attraction.
Redgate/Kane’s 154,000-square-foot plan would add two new buildings with 76 apartments and 92 covered parking spaces on the site’s current parking lot, renovate the existing office building and add retail space throughout the site. Meanwhile, in Becksted’s two years leading Portsmouth the city hired a design firm to come up with a concept featuring much more open space in response to public outcry over the Redgate/Kane design, and local developer William Binnie pitched a similar, retail-focused design when the city issued an RFP for the McIntyre site following the Nov. 18 vote.
What is clear is that the McIntyre saga is far from over, with city councilors emphasizing to the Portsmouth Herald that their vote doesn’t mean Redgate/Kane will automatically be able to resume seeking approvals for its design.
