Portsmouth council authorizes negotiation to evaluate unsolicited city hall and County Street parking garage proposal

Portsmouth City Council on March 10 authorized the city manager to negotiate an interim agreement with an unsolicited developer team to study a proposed new city hall and a County Street parking garage and to pursue a 35% design and related due diligence.

Dan Heatw, representing Ripley Heatwell Company and partner firms, presented the conceptual plan and stressed the council was being asked only to allow negotiation and evaluation. "This is not an approval to build the project or to proceed with a binding comprehensive agreement," Heatw told the council during a public hearing. He described the proposal as an opportunity to relocate City Hall, consolidate departments on accessible ground-floor space and free waterfront land now owned by the city for taxable redevelopment and public activation.

City Manager Steven Carter clarified the scope for council: approval tonight would allow staff to negotiate an interim agreement that funds due diligence and work up to a 35% design, at which point the council would again review costs, financing options and any proposed changes. "This is not an approval to finance anything. This is only approval to work on getting to the point where we have enough information to make a good, sound decision," Carter said.

Public commenters offered both endorsements and cautions. Longtime developer Gary Beina told council the city's negotiating team should resolve land-ownership and bond-financing questions before committing to an interim agreement. Citing a 2018 unsolicited offer as precedent, Beina said the city should avoid a structure in which a private partner owns waterfront land and later leases it back to the city at market rates. "What I personally would ask you to do is to not move forward with the interim agreement until this issue is worked out," he said.

Other speakers raised transparency and equity concerns. A resident who reviewed the posted unsolicited-proposal documents said portions of the submission were redacted, limiting public review of schedules, financial assumptions and developer qualifications. Council members — including Councilman Tilly — emphasized that any negotiated agreement must include meaningful minority- and women-owned business (MWBE) participation goals; Heatw said his team will hold outreach sessions and can provide records of past MWBE participation.

Technical elements described in the presentation include reuse of a near-complete city CIP parking-garage design, a proposed extension of the Middle Street pedestrian plaza and a plan to program ground-floor public services for accessibility. The proposer team said the interim agreement would allow the partners and city staff to develop cost and financing options and report back to council; it would not commit the city to build, finance or convey property without a future council vote.

The council voted to adopt the consent agenda including the authorization to negotiate the interim agreement; the item passed unanimously. The city manager will return with any negotiated interim agreement for council consideration before any binding commitments are made.

What happens next: staff will pursue due diligence under the interim agreement if negotiations succeed, produce a 35% design and provide the council detailed cost, ownership and procurement recommendations for a future decision.