Image courtesy of Embarc Studios

A former municipal public works garage next to downtown Lebanon could become 80 units of affordable housing under a plan proposed by a Hollis-based development team.

Brothers Stephen and Jake Tamposi were selected by city officials to redevelop the lot earlier this year after an RFP process that also drew submissions from experienced Boston-area affordable housing builder-operator Penrose.

The brothers presented their plans to the city Planning Board Sept. 9 for 80 apartments affordable to households earning an average of 60 percent of the Grafton County area median income – several of which would be set aside as live-work units for artists.

Funding is expected to include low-income housing tax credits allocated by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority and other public sources.

The artist space, in particular, was a key ask from city officials when hunting for a developer given the shortage of affordable housing in the Upper Valley and a lack of artist studio space. Filings with the city say the building – to be called “The Muse” – will also contain street-level gallery exhibition space for resident artists.

The project backs onto the Norther Rail Trail, and will offer residents a direct connection and both ground-floor, indoor bike storage for 80 bikes and a bike repair station. The building, a representative of the Tamposis wrote in a project filing, will lean on this bicycle infrastructure to propose a low parking ratio: only 87 car spots, instead of the 120 required by city zoning for an 80-unit building.

Other than makerspaces on the second, third and fourth floors and an outdoor patio with four barbecues and three picnic tables, floorplans filed with the city identify no amenities. Laundry is proposed to be handled in a dedicated laundry room. The unit mix indicated on the floorplans is 42 one-bedroom units, 27 two-bedroom units, eight three-bedroom units and four studios.