A big, three-building project to transform empty lots in downtown Portsmouth now has a chance to try its luck in a better financing environment.

Developers Ocean Properties and Two International Group haven’t yet been able to line up enough financing to break ground on their project on a parking lot nestled between Maplewood Avenue, Deer Street, Russell Street and train tracks despite getting their development OK’d by the same board in 2022.

But the city’s Historic District Commission unanimously granted a second one-year extension for the project’s approvals last month.

The 80-unit project, which will have retail space on the ground floor and a 4-story office component, is the largest undeveloped lot left in the city’s downtown. It received site plan approval from the Portsmouth Planning Board in December 2022.