Committee will recommend State School site developer to governor next month

LACONIA — The name of the frontrunner to develop the former Laconia State School complex is expected to be announced by mid-October.

A timeline spelling out the steps leading to the eventual sale of the 225-acre property states the “selected top proposal” is to be “presented publicly” no later than Monday, Oct. 10, according to the outline presented to the Executive Council, which has the final say on the sale of any state property.

The goal is for the five-member Executive Council to authorize the sale of the complex early next year.

An ad hoc committee will soon review the four proposals that are now regarded as finalists. That committee is expected to meet in a non-public session during the week of Sept. 26 to evaluate, score the proposals and recommend its top choice to Gov. Chris Sununu.

Members of the committee include Laconia Planning Director Dean Trefethen and Meredith hospitality entrepreneur Rusty McLear, who has served on the Lakeshore Redevelopment Commission, which in 2017 was tasked with recommending future uses for the site.

Others on the nine-member review committee include Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, and Charlie Arlinghaus, who heads the state Department of Administrative Services, the state’s landlord and the agency responsible for the State School complex.

Once the choice of the top development candidate is announced, there will be a one-week period for the public to submit written comments on that developer’s plan.

The review committee is then scheduled to hold a second, non-public meeting no later than Nov. 1 to make any adjustments based on the public comments and other factors and submit its final recommendations.

Following that, the governor is expected to place the approval on the Executive Council’s agenda.

The Department of Administrative Services could then take up to two months to negotiate and finalize the purchase and redevelopment agreements.

The memorandum of the timeline anticipates a complex agreement, “covering not only purchase and contingencies, but also redevelopment obligations and performance guarantees.”

City officials, including Mayor Andrew Hosmer, have long advocated that the property be transformed into a multi-use development, with commercial and retail uses, with housing that people who work at jobs in the city can afford included in the mix.

The city has also pushed to ensure that it will be involved in the process of reviewing the proposals from the four developers that have been selected as finalists.

The seven-member Lakeshore Commission, which recently became inactive, engaged a consulting firm, which prepared plans for constructing the infrastructure to support a mixed-use development on the site, including residential and commercial uses. The commission also arranged for land and wetlands surveys as well as studies on the presence and removal of any hazardous substances buried on the property and environmental hazards in the buildings on the site.