Business & Tech
Public Hearing Tonight on Portsmouth Whole Foods Project
The development also includes a hotel, condominiums, and a public park.
A huge downtown development plan that includes a Whole Foods, hotel, condominiums, and public park will be subject to a public hearing tonight.
The Planning Board will hold the hearing during its 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall. Citizens will be allowed to voice their opinion on the project.
The developer is Harborcorp, the firm behind the Sheraton Harborside Hotel, which is located next to the proposed Whole Foods project.
"Our commitment to Portsmouth has been a real and long-standing one," Chris Thompson, of Harborcorp, previously told the board.
Thompson said the project will create "hundreds" of jobs. Located at the corner of Russell Street, Deer Street, and Maplewood Avenue, it will have a footprint of 72,680 square feet and a 5-story building. Plans calls for 14 condos. There will also be room for about 650 parking spaces.
Several residents previously told the board the project is too big.
"This building is the antithesis of the essence of Portsmouth," said Jerry Zelin. "This will be bigger than (the) Portwalk."
The hotel would have 98 rooms. The hotelier has not been announced yet.
"A 98-room hotel is much too big," said resident Christine Davidson. "It isn't 98 people that will be in those rooms. It's twice that."
Thompson argued the project represents "smart development." The builders will pursue LEED sustainability standards, he added. Construction would take two years.
The Portsmouth location would be Whole Foods' second in New Hampshire. The first is set to open next year in Nashua. The Portsmouth store is set to open in 2016. It would be 40,000 square feet.
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