The Portsmouth Planning Board gave local developer Mark McNabb a long-awaited go-ahead for a major redevelopment project near the city’s downtown.

McNabb had proposed to rebuild what’s currently a Citizens Bank branch at 134 Pleasant St. as a combination co-living multifamily building and new branch for Kennebunk Savings Bank.

The project sat in limbo for months, however, after city zoning officials balked at McNabb’s inclusion of a new drive-through in his designs, despite the current property also possessing a drive-through.

That impasse was solved by redesigning the project to keep the current drive-through location in place in the middle of the lot, splitting the proposed development into two buildings.

Now, the ground floor of a new, 2.5-story structure that will rise on what’s now a parking lot will become general office space, separated by the old branch building with a driveway and drive-through ATM.

The existing branch building’s ground floor will become the Kennebunk Savings branch and gain 1.5 stories of housing Is basement will be expanded to cover much of the site, and will house underground parking according to plans filed with the city.

The branch will also serve as Main-based Kennebunk Savings’ headquarters for New Hampshire.

The 22 apartments in the revised development have been designed as traditional rentals, not co-living units where tenants trade smaller individual units with limited facilities for much larger common areas. McNabb has proposed co-living developments elsewhere in Portsmouth, citing their appeal for younger residents who spend less time at home and more time studying, working and socializing in the city.

The Planning Board gave its unanimous approval May 21, but as of publication time McNabb still needed to secure a deal with the city to use a driveway in an adjacent municipal parking lot to provide site access.