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MY QUESTIONS:
WHAT IMPACT FEE(S), IF ANY, WILL THE TOWN COLLECT FOR THE BELOW 2025 PROJECTED DEVELOPMENTS?
WHO ELECTED JOHN NYHAN?
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Hampton development 2025: Casino makeover, Liberty Lane housing, rail trail and more
Portsmouth Herald
January 2025
Hampton Beach could soon be getting a major makeover with the redevelopment of the Hampton Beach Casino
Whether the finalized plans for the project will go before the town planning and zoning boards in 2025 has still not been determined.
Majority owner Sal Lupoli could not be reached for comment. However, the owner of Sal's Pizza is scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce's annual awards ceremony on Jan. 23. The topic: his vision for the future of Hampton Beach.
Other projects coming in 2025 include Al Fleury's expansion of Bernie's Beach Bar and a new Mexican tequila bar on L Street called Luchos.
Work on a new Hampton Harbor Bridge continues while the Hampton rail trail project is set to break ground.
Here is a look at some of the big developments coming in 2025.
Redevelopment of Hampton Beach Casino property still in the works.
The redevelopment of the Hampton Beach Casino complex is still in the works, with an estimated cost ranging from $400 million to $600 million. The vision for the project has evolved since it was first presented to town officials, as it will no longer include the closure of a side street.
Originally, the project could have spanned three blocks uninterrupted, had it included the closure of D Street as proposed by owner Sal Lupoli’s team. Earlier this year, they presented a conceptual plan to town boards that included a hotel, an expanded concert venue, a convention center, additional stores and restaurants, and a parking garage in the center of the property.
In October, town officials learned that the plan to close D Street was no longer being considered. Town Manager Jamie Sullivan had been directed by the board to determine a suitable cost to lease or sell the property to Lupoli, which would have required voter approval.
Sullivan met with Lupoli and Casino co-owner Fred Schaake on Oct. 22 and was informed that D Street was "off the table." Instead, they expressed interest in building a new parking garage separate from the Casino property, possibly through a public-private partnership on the town's parking lot on Ashworth Avenue.
Since Sullivan announced the change to the Select Board, Lupoli has not commented further.
Hampton Selectman Chuck Rage mentioned the project might still need height and setback variances from the town's Zoning Board or could be addressed through a warrant article at the March Town Meeting.
“I was hoping they would have a warrant article in for this year for something, but we didn’t see that,” Rage said.
Lupoli is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce's dinner in January. Chamber President John Nyhan anticipates Lupoli will discuss the upcoming project as well as share insights about his background and upbringing.
Nyhan said many on the beach are watching to see the timeline of construction, projected by Lupoli to take place over the course of several years, working around the tourist season. He said the project will also have a big impact on how property owners improve their own lots on the beach.
“The anticipation is there,” Nyhan said. “Sal is an influencer that’s going to hopefully make more new development happen over the next couple of years with this development that he’s proposed.”
Hampton Liberty Lane major housing development clears key hurdle.
A 248-unit apartment complex planned for One Liberty Lane cleared a significant hurdle at the Zoning Board this year.
Now, owners Kane Company and Tidemark will seek approval from the Planning Board in the new year. The developers are scheduled to meet with the town Planning Review Committee Jan. 2.
The project calls for transforming the existing 100,000-square-foot building on the property that once housed the headquarters of Wheelabrator-Frye and later Fisher Scientific into an apartment complex.
Two additional apartment complexes are also planned on the 104-acre site for a total of 248 apartments.
Voters approved a new zoning overlay district specifically for the property in 2023 to allow residential development and other uses previously not allowed. Kane and Tidemark received several wetland buffer variances from the Zoning Board in September.
The developers told the Planning Board in September that the project features amenities such as walking trails, a pool and an amphitheater but would no longer include a restaurant space and dog park. However, “dog park” is still listed as one of the proposed uses under the project’s listing on the Jan. 2 PRC agenda.
Ron’s Landing site gets green light for new residential development.
The site of the former Ron’s Landing restaurant is one step closer to being demolished to make way for a new residential development.
The town’s Zoning Board granted variances in October for the project at 379 and 387 Ocean Boulevard that calls for 13 units in two residential buildings.
The development will feature 10 three-bedroom units in a five-story apartment building on the former parking lot site and three, three- to four-bedroom units on the former restaurant site. There will also be two 24-foot driveways on both sides of the lot to accommodate the right-of-way to an existing hotel parking lot.
Sea Ketch plans major expansion
One of the beach’s most popular restaurants is looking to expand as the owners of the Sea Ketch have plans to build an addition next door to extend two of its decks.
The northern corner of G Street and Ocean Boulevard is currently a brick lot known for its retail tent market next door to the Sea Ketch. The restaurant owners bought that lot and are looking to build retail space on the first floor with the extended decks above.
The owners have already received Zoning Board approval and are scheduled to go before the town's Planning Board on March 5.
The property next to the Sea Ketch has been vacant since a fire destroyed the hotel that once existed there in the 1970s, according to beach business owner and Selectman Chuck Rage. Since then, retailers like jewelry and clothes sellers have used the space to do business with beachgoers.
Liquor Commission moves forward with I-95 redevelopment
The New Hampshire Liquor Commission is moving forward the sale and redevelopment plans for 88 acres along Interstate 95 in Hampton, currently the site of two NH Liquor & Wine Outlets and rest areas.
The commission announced in June it was considering four companies that had bid to develop the property. The goal, officials said this week, is to bring forward a proposed contract and related agreements for state approvals in 2025.
The commission is looking to construct two state-of-the-art liquor stores and sell the remaining surplus property at the sites — 64 acres of land on the northbound side and 24 acres on the southbound side.
Global Montello Group Corporation, Nouria Energy Corporation, Petrogas Group US Inc. and the owners of the Common Man Roadside each submitted proposals to purchase the land and develop it for highway-oriented services such as fueling & EV charging stations, restaurants, informational, and other travel-related amenities.
EJ Powers, spokesperson for the commission, previously said the bids were not being made public.
Bernie’s Beach Bar gets expansion, Luchos tequila bar coming soon
For the past 11 years, Al Fleury has been enhancing Bernie’s Beach Bar at Hampton Beach, which he opened at the former La Bec Rouge location.
Now, he's expanding even further by adding a new bar section right on Ocean Boulevard, complementing the existing two floors of restaurant seating, bars, stage, and dance floor.
Until recently, the upper deck seating area at Bernie’s Beach Bar was above a first-floor ice cream and pizza shop. With those businesses now closed, Fleury has decided to transform that space into a new 200-seat section of Bernie’s. He also plans to serve his own ice cream and pizza, each on opposite sides of the new seating area.
“We have a specialty ice cream shop which is going to have customizable waffle cones made to order, stuff like that,” Fleury said. “It’s got a cool vibe.”
Fleury said he plans to name the new pizza place Al’s Late Night Slice, serving what he described as a different kind of pizza than is found on the beach currently.
Around the corner from Bernie’s, on L Street, Fleury said he hopes to start work on his tequila bar Luchos.
The town Planning Board approved a site plan for Luchos at 16 L Street in 2021, but Fleury said he has been busy with other projects.
He hopes to finally get work done on Luchos, which would make his fourth business within a block. In addition to Bernie’s on the corner of L Street and Ocean Boulevard, he also owns the Goat on L Street’s corner with Ashworth Avenue, as well as Wally’s close by on Ashworth Avenue.
Fleury also finished work on new double-room master suites at his Surf House hotel on Ashworth Avenue.
The high-end suites were finished at the end of the summer, and he said they are now available for booking for 2025.
Fleury has been looking to construct 94 apartments and a new hotel at the former location of H.G. Webber Antiques and Auctions on Route 1 in Hampton. He pulled the plug on the project earlier this year, saying the “writing was on the wall” with Zoning Board members concerned about the 4½ story structure.
Fleury said he is still going to pursue the project, but possibly not until at least 2026. He said his hope is for the town’s zoning to change so it matches Hampton’s master plan, which has called for more housing.
Hampton's rail trail set to break ground in 2025.
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Concord is in on it.
More history on Impact Fees in Hampton
NOTE : HAMPTON TOWN CHAPTER 247 (IMPACT FEES) IS NOW NAMED CHAPTER IM. https://ecode360.com/45495285#45495320
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