People and Property: Real Estate and Construction News From Around NH

Pinkerton project enders next phase of construction

Pinkerton Academy’s new building is one step closer to completion.

The final beam has been placed on the new building that will replace the old wing devoted to social studies and special education, Pinkerton Academy announced in a press release.

The building’s topping-off ceremony at the beginning of April was completed by Alex Flanders, a project manager at Eckman Construction and a member of Pinkerton’s 2009 graduating class.

“Having attended Pinkerton Academy as a student, it is very exciting to be back and to have the opportunity to help shape the campus and leave a lasting mark,” said Flanders.

The original building, the Robert Frost English Wing, was built in the early 1970s as a temporary building to meet the classroom needs of a growing student population. It had outlived its projected lifespan.

Demolition and construction on the $20.7 million project began in the summer of 2023 with expected project completion in spring 2025.

Pinkerton Academy Headmaster Dr. Timothy Powers said the new building will have half the footprint of the old one, and will include updated parking areas, as well as better interior design to help students, staff and those visiting better navigate the building.

With the structural steel section of the project complete, the next step is to make the building watertight, Flanders said.

Powers said this is an extremely important moment in the history of the school, and said he was proud the students – current and former – were able to participate.

“The placement of the final beam is a key milestone in this important project,” Powers said. “Having members of our board, staff, alumni, and student body sign the beam underscores the broad and lasting impact the project will have on our campus community.” — Katelyn Sahagian, Eagle Tribune

Old Homestead Farm in New Ipswich requests variance for short-term rental cabins

The owners of Old Homestead Farm in New Ipswich were back before the Zoning Board on Thursday seeking a new variance to expand a previously approved business on their farm by adding short-term rental cabins.

The farm, owned by Chelsea and Ben Hatcher, has already been approved for a variance to allow an event pavilion, where the Hatchers plan to host weddings, parties, dances and community events. The Hatchers have yet to complete the process of town approval by going to the Planning Board for a site plan review, and on Thursday, indicated they would hold off on that step until their proposal to expand went through the Zoning Board, so as to present a complete picture to the Planning Board.

Chelsea Hatcher explained that while preparing plans for the event space, they realized that they did not have an area for bridal parties to get ready. They proposed building five cabins, one about twice as large as the others to function as a bridal suite and the others to serve as potential lodging for wedding or other event guests on a short-term basis.

While that would be the main motivation, Chelsea Hatcher said the couple was attempting to make the rooms as “multi-functional” as possible, and were also seeking permission to allow short-term stays year-round, as potential lodging for visitors or people attending other events in town, such as the annual music festival Hillfest.

“People travel for that,” pointed out Ben Hatcher, noting that New Ipswich currently doesn’t have any inns or similar places to stay in town, and this would offer an alternative.

Chelsea Hatcher said the cabins would be pre-fabricated and delivered to the farm, and would be hooked into electricity and plumbing, but would not have a full kitchen. She argued that though the town’s ordinance does not specifically address the kind of model they are proposing, the zone the farm is in does allow both inns and campgrounds (although the campground ordinance specifies tents and campers, not cabins) by special exception, suggesting that the short-term stay cabins were in line spiritually with those allowances.

Chelsea Hatcher said the cabins would allow for the “creature comforts” of home, but with a focus on the surrounding farm for an “upscale glamping” feel. She said it was part of the farm’s continuing mission to support the working aspects of the farmland.

“The more people spend time at the farm, the more people care about the farm,” she said.

The board agreed that the Hatchers had included the information needed to accept the application and set a date for public hearing, but asked for some things to be included in the official presentation, including a fire plan, whether the buildings would or must have sprinklers, a restriction on the duration a guest could stay, a cap on the number of guests and any other restrictions the Hatchers would like to be taken into consideration.

The board unanimously voted to accept the application as complete., set a site walk of Old Homestead Farm for April 23 at 5 p.m. and a public hearing on the variance application for May 9 at 6 p.m. — Ashley Saari, Monadnock Ledger-Transcript

The Regal Cinema on Loudon Road will be closing for good, ending 28 years of multiplex movies on The Heights in Concord and marking the latest step in the redevelopment of the Steeplegate Mall.

Regal Theater in Concord is closing Thursday

After Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. showing of “Kung Fu Panda 4,” the Regal Cinema on Loudon Road will close for good, ending 28 years of multiplex movies on The Heights in Concord and marking the latest step in the redevelopment of the Steeplegate Mall.

What’s next for the building with its seven movie screens is uncertain. The owners, Onyx Partners of Needham, Mass., have plans to turn the 9-acre Regal Cinema site and the adjoining 50 acres holding the Steeplegate Mall into a huge retail and housing complex, with some 625 apartments. 

Onyx and the city are in negotiations over the plans. The most public stumbling block is parking: Onyx wants to include just over 2,000 parking spaces on the property but current city codes calls for 3,254 spaces, although those codes are under review by the city. Onyx is asking for a variance on the parking-per-housing-unit requirement, arguing that the mixed-use nature of the four- and five-story buildings, which would have retail on the ground floor, makes the current standard unnecessary.

The developers are proposing to take down the cinema and most of the mall, building a huge mixed-use complex with retail and some 625 apartments. Three mall tenants – JC Penny, Altitude Trampoline Park and The Zoo Health Club – would remain in stand-alone buildings because they have long-term leases.

Onyx has not applied to the city for a demolition permit to take down the Regal Cinema building, a necessary first step in those plans.

The movie theater dates back to 1996, when it opened as Canad Cinema with 10 screens, a half-dozen years after Steeplegate Mall opened as part of development of the city’s last large track of open pine barrens. The site changed owners several times over the years and was bought by Cineworld in 2017, which kept the Regal name.

Like many theaters, the Regal has struggled with declining movie attendance, a situation worsened by pandemic lockdowns. United Kingdom-based Cineworld went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy for a year, emerging last summer, and has closed some 150 Regal theaters throughout the U.S. as part of that effort.

The closing will leave the non-profit Red Rivers Theater on South Main Street as Concord’s only public viewing movie house.  The next closest theaters are in Hooksett, Tilton and Manchester. — David Brooks, Concord Monitor