Phenix Hall redevelopment plan gets Concord Planning Board signoff

After years of trying, Mark Ciborowski’s plan to save the Phenix Hall Theater and redevelop a stretch of downtown got a major green light from the city of Concord.

The project — a mixed-use plan that would both salvage the Phenix Hall theater and bring more housing, retail and restaurant space to the heart of downtown — received approval from the Concord Planning Board last week. It came after a circuitous route through city boards, complicated by the project’s height.

His plans still have hurdles to clear, however.

The next horizon includes talks with the Concord City Council. Ciborowski is asking the city to allow him to fold a side street into his project. He also hopes they’ll agree to a public-private partnership.

“I’ve been trying hard for a long time do what I think will be a generational project for downtown,” he said Tuesday. “The planning board was an important step.”

The Phenix Hall vision and revival of the theater check a lot of boxes that local leaders say they want. It would provide the aesthetic and retail offerings of a traditional downtown that Concord prizes, while also adding housing and a second rooftop bar or restaurant to Main Street’s portfolio.

The Hall itself is a historic, second-floor theater and event space. Creating an accessible entrance isn’t feasible, so Ciborowski’s plan is to build a new structure across Phenix Avenue, allowing for a connection to span across the upper floors, joining the two buildings. Behind a brick facade, matching the look but adding height compared to other main street frontage, the new building would stack street-level retail, offices, 36 rental units and a rooftop restaurant into eight floors.

Administratively, the project has already overcome obstacles. Most significant among these was Ciborowkski’s successful push over the last few years for the city to relax its rules on height limits on Main Street. The planning board’s signoffs now included both the typical approvals and special permissions needed to exceed the 80-foot Main Street height maximum and partially block views of the statehouse dome from the interstate.

Ciborowski will need the council to sign off on a privatization of Phenix Avenue. The street, currently a narrow slope from Main Street to Low Avenue, would go from a public route to an open-air pedestrian pass-through within the Phenix footprint. An easement would maintain public access via both a set of stairs and an elevator.

For a proposal as ambitious as Ciborowski’s, however, the hurdles go beyond the regulatory, especially given high construction costs and interest rates. He intends to approach the city about a public investment in his plans. According to comments from city staff at the planning board meeting, that request will likely include help routing the utilities and a tax-break program, named after its enabling state law RSA 79-E, that incentivizes the rehabilitation or redevelopment of historic buildings.

“The numbers are extremely challenging on paper,” Ciborowski said.

Such talks with the city will be complicated. Ciborowski is a longstanding figure in downtown Concord and its revitalization, and his vision has been praised broadly by city leaders. At the same time, the city is facing choppy budgetary waters, with slow growth and rising costs pressuring its balance sheets.

“This project comes at a time when Concord is struggling to build a tax base, to protect residents from new assessments that are in the pipeline and, frankly, just offer more to residents,” said Ari Pollack, a lawyer representing the project. “We’re proud to put this in front of the board and will be in front of the City Council.”

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