City's plans to purchase portion of antique center moving forward

LACONIA — The Laconia Antique Center is back on the market less than a year after the city signaled its interest in purchasing a portion of it, potentially to enhance the Colonial Theatre next door, but city leaders say the original deal is still on the table, and expected to move forward this year.

The commercial property, located at 601 Main St. downtown at built in 1950, and was the original home of a Newberry’s Department Store. Charlie St. Clair owns the parcel and operates an antique consignment store with a lunch counter in a nod to another time.

The building was initially marketed for sale at $1.2 million. A current Roche Realty listing sets the new building price at $1.5 million.

The city is working through an agreement, between the municipality, restaurateurs Melissa Darling and Tyler Hooff, and St. Clair, who serves the city in the Statehouse as a Democrat. Despite the listing price having increased, City Manager Kirk Beattie said the city won’t be paying the $1.5 million price, and the original $1.2 million offer is still in play.

Once a purchase and sale agreement is reached, potentially as early as this spring, the parties will have to work to "condominiumize" the property, creating distinct entities. The city will not be going into partnership with the restaurateurs, Beattie noted — they’ll be completely separately owned. 

“We’re not going into partnership with the restaurant,” Beattie said.

Last year, city councilors explored purchasing the back two-thirds of the building in order to expand the Colonial Theatre, which is in need of extra room for storage and dressing rooms. The front third of the building was, at the time, floated as the potential location of a new Italian-American restaurant — the darling — to be operated by Darling and Hooff.

Attempts to reach Darling for comment were not successful. 

Initially, city leaders anticipated paying $700,000 for their portion of the building, with the restaurateurs paying the other $500,000 for theirs, according to discussions regarding the development in April 2024. Those figures are likely to change, Beattie said Friday, as both the city and the restaurateurs work through a purchase and sale agreement: the city will likely pay less than the original figure and purchase a smaller portion of the building than was originally discussed, though details on the difference are not yet available. The restaurant would, in turn, purchase a larger portion.

“It’s just one of those things that takes time,” Beattie said. 

City councilors originally discussed either using an $800,000 grant from InvestNH to fund their portion of the purchase or, alternatively, bonding the purchase out over time.

Theater organizers described their need for an expansion of the 750-seat theater, noting the backstage area is small and access to the stage is only available on one side. Hopes are that by purchasing part of the building at 601 Main, traffic congestion on Canal Street could also be alleviated to some degree.

An inspection report for the building shows its age. There are doubtless aspects of the property in need of renovation or repair once a purchase is complete.  

In an email, Beattie noted “although the city will have some repairs/updates to make, we will not be responsible for the entire building, and many of the noted deficiencies would be replaced and updated as part of the new restaurant renovation.”

Conducted by Jared Dassler of Alpha Home & Commercial Inspections on April 24, 2024, the inspection report is 43 pages long and describes the property in great detail. Some aspects of the building are in fine condition, while others are in need of repair. Dassler includes recommendations as part of the report.