Construction begins on Goffe Mill Plaza
ProCon, TFMoran team up on Whole Foods-anchored development in Bedford
Construction has begun on the new Goffe Mill Plaza, which is being built on the site of the former Wayfarer Inn and Convention Center in Bedford.
The new retail development will be anchored by a 48,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market and includes the proposed development of a 73-unit residential apartment building, a bank and two restaurants.
The historic site occupies 16.2 acres across Bowman Brook between South River Road and the F.E. Everett Turnpike in Bedford.
Hooksett-based ProCon is the architect and construction manager for the mixed-use development and TFMoran of Bedford is the civil engineer.
The project is being developed by HIR Realty, LLC.
The site was originally developed in 1744 by Colonel John Goffe. The Goffe family constructed two stone dams and a mill pond, where they operated a gristmill and a sawmill for over a hundred years. In 1939, George Woodbury, a descendent of the Goffe family, built the last of a series of water-powered mills on the property.
In 1961, the Dunfey family purchased the property and opened the Sheraton Wayfarer Inn and Conference Center in 1962. The hotel complex included a pedestrian covered bridge over the Bowman Brook, and the original mill building was the location of the hotel gift shop.
The Dunfey family sold the hotel property in 1986, and the current owners closed the hotel in 2009.
For many years, the inn served as the unofficial headquarters for both politicians and news outlets during the New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary season.
The town of Wentworth has agreed to take ownership of the historic Goffe Mill Bridge, a pedestrian bridge on the property that was slated to be removed. The town intends to use the Goffe Mill Bridge as a replacement for the town’s existing 97-foot bridge, which spans the Baker River and was closed in 2014 because of unsafe conditions.
To transport the bridge, ProCon, the town and TFMoran developed a plan to ensure that the 107-foot-long bridge, which weighs 72,000 pounds, could be successfully disassembled and then reassembled in Wentworth.
