Hallsville project heads to city ZBA for variances
A developer looking to convert a vacant 134-year-old Manchester schoolhouse into up to 40 units of affordable housing will go before the city's zoning board this week seeking multiple variances needed for the project to proceed.
York Hallsville Building LLC will request the variance for the proposed renovation of the Hallsville School building, 275 Jewett St., at Thursday's meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, slated for a 6 p.m. start at City Hall.
The Hallsville School has been closed since 2021, but Mayor Jay Ruais recently announced the city has agreed to sell the historic property to York Real Estate for $50,000.
The building would be fully renovated as part of the project, with the facade remaining. The renovations will create a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
The site around the building will be improved, including new landscaping, with the gym remaining and available to the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department for pickleball and other activities.
The sale won't become official until York is awarded funding from New Hampshire housing and historic preservation tax credits and other sources, a process which could take up to two years. During that time, York's team is working on permitting and design.
York expects to file the project's first pre-application in June, with full applications due in September. Award details are announced in January, with funding available the next spring for chosen projects. If unsuccessful during the first cycle, applicants usually reapply in year two.
The variances York is seeking are as follows:
• 5.10.A.6-Allowed uses — Multifamily dwellings are not permitted within the R-2 Zone;
• 5.10.H-5.2-Allowed uses — Gym/recreation centers are not permitted within the R-2 Zone. While the school itself is not currently being used, the existing gym is used as a pickleball center open to the public. The project proposes preserving the existing school gym with the intent to lease it back to the city to operate the recreation programs. The entrance and the lobby will be shared space between the residential and the leased gym.
• 6.03.A-Front yard setback — R-2 zone requires 15-foot front setback for principal use. The existing school and gym that occupy the site, currently exist in a configuration which violates current zoning front yard setbacks.
• 6.03.C-Side yard setback — R-2 zone requires 20-foot side setback for principal use.
• 6.04-Maximum lot coverage — R-2 zone requires 75% for principal use. As the three lots currently exist today, they combine for a 96.9% impervious cover. The project is proposing to increased greenspace on the lots by approximately 5,330 square feet.
• 6.06-Maximum floor area ratio.
• 8.04-Multifamily dwelling density -– The R-2 zone does not utilize multifamily dwelling density. The project involves a combined lot area of 55,000 square feet. Current density calculations allow for one unit per 1,525 square feet, and the project is requesting a variance to allow up to 40 units, resulting in a density of one unit per 1,375 square feet.
The final bell rang at Hallsville in June 2021, 130 years after it opened. In the 2022 fiscal year budget, former Superintendent of Schools John Goldhardt recommended that the school be closed.
The three-story structure was originally constructed as an eight-classroom building, four classrooms per floor, with each classroom about 900 square feet in area. The basement contained the boiler room and restrooms.
Two stairways, one on the east side of the building and one on the west side, connected the three stories. The stairways opened onto the center core of the building, measuring about 20 by 27 feet.
In 1908, the building was cut in half, with the eastern half rolled 40 feet to the east and the void infilled with three full stories, creating four additional classrooms to create a 12-classroom structure.
Various updates and renovations were made over the course of the building's history. In 1975, aluminum windows replaced the original double-hung units. In 1993, a gymnasium and lobby were added, along with an elevator, to make the building accessible.
The site measures 220 feet along Jewett Street, 250 feet along Merrill Street, 250 feet along Hayward Street and is fully paved with asphalt. The site includes 28 parking spaces on the north side of the parcel, 15 spaces to the west and eight spaces to the east, for a total of 51 off-street parking spaces.
Aldermen hit the reset button in 2023 on discussions about the future of the former school after plans to convert the vacant building into a mixed-use community center were scrapped.
A proposal from Southern New Hampshire Services and Granite State Children's Alliance was withdrawn because of inadequate funding. Plans included 20 units of affordable housing for seniors, an early childhood classroom and a Child Advocacy Center, operated by Granite State Children's Alliance, which would have offered services to children who have experienced trauma.
An architect hired to look at the feasibility of repurposing the vacant building into a community center estimated in 2024 that such a plan would require nearly $5 million in upgrades and $100,000 in annual maintenance costs.
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