State unseals competing bidders for State School property

LACONIA — Competing bids for the former Laconia State School property not selected by the committee included the creation of an athletic complex and multiple proposals to develop the parcel for mixed residential and commercial uses.

The state’s Department of Administrative released the bids, previously kept from public view, after the governor and Executive Council agreed to enter into a purchase-and-sales agreement with Pillsbury Realty Development, which offered to pay $10.5 million for the 217-acre property, at their meeting on Sept. 25. 

Pillsbury’s bid is contingent on the developer’s ability to secure necessary permitting to construct the more than 2,000 homes, along with commercial, retail and health facilities, their plan calls for. The contract gives Pillsbury two years to complete its permitting period before the final purchase price is due.

Chinburg Properties, a Newmarket-based developer, offered to pay $5 million for the property. Though much less than Pillsbury’s offer, it would have closed sooner, by the end of this calendar year according to their proposal. Chinburg proposed a “housing-centric redevelopment of the Lakes Region Facility,” including up to 1,000 rental apartments, 150 to 300 single-family homes or condominiums, 20,000 to 40,000 square feet of commercial space and the possibility of assisted living, hospitality, offices or nonprofit use.

AP Affiliates, a Nashua-based firm, offered $5.75 million for the land, and proposed building an agriculture research center for the University of New Hampshire, a corporate campus and conference center 200,000 square feet in size, 400 multifamily units and 100 single family homes. Closing would have occurred following the first phase of the construction schedule.

Hawthorne Development Corporation, based in Illinois, submitted two bids for the state to consider. The first offered $14 million, with a $140,000 deposit. The offer gave the purchaser 90 days to inspect the property and aspects of the transaction, then another 150 days to achieve all necessary approvals for construction and building. Closing would occur after those 240 days.

Hawthorne’s alternate offer was for $5 million with $100,000 down, and the deal would be finalized prior to the end of the calendar year. This alternative offer was for a much lower price but provided far fewer guarantees for the buyer.

Hawthorne envisioned an “accessible, and affordable, multi-generational, family-oriented, community destination” called in documents “Laconia Estates.” Residences would have been targeted at the median workforce price point, and would have included a mix of multi-unit buildings, single-family homes and senior housing — 1,655 homes in all — with surrounding development such as retail, services and recreation facilities.

Hawthorne also suggested a municipal government complex, a 100-unit “boutique hotel/conference center” and construction practices that used the latest technology in energy efficiency and renewable power.

Lastly, the state also received a proposal from a group calling itself the Lakes Region Athletic Advancement Complex, which urged the state to retain ownership of the property and to spend $16.5 million from tobacco revenue to construct a facility for indoor sports, a 175,000-square-foot dome structure that would include a full-size indoor turf soccer field surrounded by a four-lane running track, as well as similar facilities outdoor next to the “Lakes Region Super Dome.”