A private developer presented plans Aug. 6 to convert the long-vacant Hallsville School at 275 Jewett Street into 36 affordable housing units while preserving the school gymnasium for Manchester Parks and Recreation use.

The developer plans to partner with the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority and apply for 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credits. If awarded credits, the team expects to begin construction next summer and finish about a year later.

The project would reuse the school building’s main structure and keep the gym available for community athletic uses, including continuing pickleball programs, officials said. The proposal calls for 47 on-site parking spaces; board staff and the applicant said that number is far short of the 118 spaces that the current zoning would nominally require, so the applicant submitted a conditional use permit seeking reduced parking.

“We have 47 parking spaces. We have a secondary entrance on Jewett Street and then we kind of end at a dead end,” said the project engineer. The redevelopment team told the board they had discussed parking and shared-use arrangements with Parks & Rec and expect peak parking demand to be manageable because the gym’s highest use (about 12 cars) and residential demand will not conflict, the applicants said.

Applicants also described a landscaping plan to remove a 10-foot band of pavement around the perimeter of the existing paved schoolyard and replace it with trees, planted rain-garden areas and sidewalks to reduce impervious cover and improve site aesthetics and drainage.

Staff reports show only routine engineering comments remain; fire and DPW signoffs were discussed and the applicant said they will supply additional details on sewer and utility upgrades. The project team also said it is pursuing historic tax credits in addition to LIHTC to make preservation of the building financially feasible.

Why it matters: The Hallsville School has been closed since 2021. If converted as proposed the project would add 36 income-restricted units near transit and community amenities while retaining a city-owned recreation resource and re-using an architecturally significant building.

Next steps: The Planning Board kept the public hearing open and will take a final vote at its Aug. 21 business meeting. The development team said it will submit final technical responses to city departments while it waits to learn whether it receives tax-credit allocations in December.