50 condos proposed for Union Ave

LACONIA — The owners of the T-BONES and Cactus Jack’s restaurants on Union Avenue are planning to build a five-story condominium building on an adjacent lot.

The building, as proposed, would contain 50 residences, largely with views of Paugus Bay. Most would be sold as condos, though their plan also reserves 10 to be rented to either restaurant workers or city employees.

Tom Boucher, CEO-owner of Great NH Restaurants, which includes the restaurant brands T-BONES, Cactus Jack’s and Copper Door, said he and his business partner Bill Greiner purchased the 1.1-acre property at 1160 Union Ave. a year ago. The Friendly’s restaurant that was located there closed in 2019 and the property has been vacant since.

“We bought it specifically to expand our parking for our employees and customers, we didn’t know what we were going to do with the actual building, so we just let it sit there for a year until we figured out what we wanted to do,” Boucher said. Greiner has developed residential properties in the past, including large apartment buildings in the southern part of the state, which have provided housing for the local workforce.

Boucher said he liked the idea of using the Union Avenue property to alleviate the housing “crunch,” as he called it, in the Lakes Region.

Their plan was presented to the Laconia Planning Board earlier this month, which referred the proposal to the city’s Technical Review Committee, a study team including representatives from each major department. The review committee met Wednesday, made suggestions for the applicants to consider, and will again review the plan when it meets in May. If the committee is satisfied with the proposal, the Planning Board could consider the site plan as early as its meeting on June 4.

“What we intend to do is build 50 condos,” Boucher said, explaining the 10 units on the bottom floor would be held by him and Greiner. Of those, seven would be offered on month-to-month leases to their restaurant employees, and the other three would be leased to city workers.

Reserving units for municipal employees, he said, was “to show the city and the Planning Board that we’re good neighbors, we’re part of the community. We’ve been there for 17 years, we’re going to be there a really long time and we’re committed to the city.”

All units would be between 1,000- and 1,200-square-feet, and would include two bedrooms and two bathrooms each. The roof of the building would feature space for residents to enjoy the fresh air and views of Paugus Bay.

The condos would likely sell in the $500,000 range, Boucher said.

“We tried to have a blend where we weren’t going to build giant, million-dollar condos,” he said. Given the views of the lake, he said the building could easily have been designed to offer fewer condos with larger price tags, but he and his partner wanted to provide units at a more accessible price. “We think it’s a great project. ... We wanted to be able to develop more housing that’s desperately needed.”

Boucher said the timing of the project will hinge on when approval is granted by the Planning Board, but that it’s possible the condos could be constructed and occupied by the end of 2025. The building construction would likely coincide with a planned re-paving of the parking lots of both lots.

Boucher said he never anticipated he’d be developing residential properties, especially for his own employees.

“It’s the world we live in right now. If we backed up five years ago, I wouldn’t even be talking about workforce housing. It’s gone crazy, it’s absolutely bonkers,” Boucher said.