Process begins to find alternatives to $500K parking lot

ROCHESTER — The city of Rochester’s plan to market 38 Hanson St. to developers could take up to a year, although city officials hope the process to fill the vacant building will move much more quickly.

During a City Council workshop Tuesday night, Economic Development Manager Karen Pollard gave councilors a brief overview of the city’s one-year marketing contract with Keller Williams Coastal Realty.

After the workshop, City Manager Blaine Cox said he will execute the contract Wednesday morning and that it’s entirely possible Keller Williams could find a developer in less than a year.

The city has owned 38 Hanson St. and the one-story building on it, a vacant structure that last served as an auto parts store six years ago, since purchasing it in the summer of 2017.

In August 2017, city councilors approved a roughly 30-space parking lot for the downtown parcel. The project was later tabled following public outcry over the $500,000 total price tag, the lack of transparency and the lack of Rochester Planning Department involvement prior to its approval.

Following several additional delays on a decision, councilors were slated to potentially vote again on the parking lot last month. That didn’t happen due to councilors’ concerns the city hadn’t been proactive enough to spark alternative proposals.

Pollard said Keller Williams is “very enthusiastic” that it will be able to find alternative options for 38 Hanson St. and that the firm would leave “no stone left unturned” in its efforts to do so.

To accomplish that, Pollard said Keller Williams will reach out to investors with whom they’ve partnered on mixed-use projects in Dover, Portsmouth, Exeter and elsewhere. She said the firm will also create a special website just for the property as part of the “very robust” marketing plan, among other things.

The city won’t sell 38 Hanson St. at auction because doing so would strip some of the city’s control over the building’s redeveloped use, according to Pollard.

City Council did have a nonpublic session regarding land near the end of Tuesday’s workshop, although it was unknown whether the session pertained to 38 Hanson St. in any way because councilors sealed the minutes after coming out of nonpublic. Sandra Keans was the only councilor to vote against sealing the minutes.

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