Development Updates
September 2024
The Cochecho Waterfront Development Advisory Committee endorsed a ground lease with Great Bay Rowing, which will now go to City Council for approval. It also endorsed location, massing and height of Great Bay Rowing's boathouse. CWDAC's Park Subcommittee continues to work with Great Bay Rowing to refine the design.
The city released the bid for the public waterfront pavilion building on Sept. 17. Bids were due Oct. 24, 2024.
August 2024
Contractors for private developer Cathartes continued building out new building foundations along the River Street loop and related utility work.
City contractors continued the installation of electrical and telecommunication duct banks along Payne Street (formerly River Street) towards the project limit. The granite toe wall construction from the Makem Bridge to the proposed pavilion area is complete, with the contractor installing elements to create a shoreline vegetated wall.
July 2024
The Cochecho Waterfront Development Advisory Board's Park Subcommittee unanimously endorsed the pavilion building design at its July 23, 2024 meeting.
- View the design concept presentation slides presented July 23, 2024
- View agenda, minutes from July 23, 2024 meeting
June 2024
Cathartes began its construction on its private development on the site. The city's contractor put a base layer of pavement on the newly constructed waterfront streets.
May 2024
City sells three waterfront parcels for development's first phase
In another milestone in the long-planned Waterfront Development Project, the City of Dover sold three waterfront parcels to the developer, Cathartes, on Friday, May 31, for $1,316,751.58, as part of the first phase of the site's development.
The parcels are Lot 1-4, Lot 1-5, and Lot 1-6 and encompass more than five acres of 29-acre site. These parcels include the property within the River Street loop road and one parcel on the other side of River Street that borders Seaport Way, noted on the plans as buildings C, D and E.
The sale allows Cathartes to begin constructing its buildings, working alongside the city's contractor making the public improvements to the site. The city is responsible for creating streets, installing utilities, getting sites ready for development, and making the public park.
The private development plan includes constructing three mixed-use buildings, two multi-family buildings, and three clusters of townhouses. The Planning Board approved Cathartes' site plans in June 2022, which include mixed-use developments with approximately 26,000 square feet of commercial space and 418 residential units.
The money from the land sale will be used to pay the bond payment of the Waterfront Tax Increment Financing District (TIF), along with increased valuations from the private development improvements. The bond is funding the public improvements to the site, including roads, utilities and the public park.
Sale process began in 2017
Selling the city's waterfront property is decades in the making, with many steps along the way to make the sale possible, such as relocating the wastewater treatment plant from the site to Middle Road.
The sale of land last week began in September 2017 when the Cochechco Waterfront Development Advisory Committee (CDWAC) sought to identify developers qualified to construct a mixed-use development at the waterfront. The committee then sent a request for proposals to the six qualified developers in March 2018, receiving two responses. After CWDAC held a public interview process, the committee voted in June 2018 to designate Cathartes as the preferred private developer of the project.
After an initial agreement, the City Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate a Land Disposition and Development Agreement with Cathartes, spelling out plan details and sale of properties, which was signed on Sept. 30, 2019. Since then, four amendments were made to the agreement, including extending deadlines after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The sale of the property is recorded in the Strafford County's Registry of Deeds in Book 5188, Page 21.
February 2024
Mild winter accelerates site work for waterfront development
The transformation of land into the Cochecho Waterfront Development at Washington and River streets continues at a rapid pace, and the building of the first phase of private developments is on the horizon.
The relatively mild winter and lack of snow have helped these efforts, with crews from Northeast Earth Mechanics working on multiple fronts daily at the site: stabilizing the shoreline, building the public roadways, and installing the associated utilities, while also readying Pad C and D for private developer Cathartes to begin its construction, anticipated to start this spring. The installation of utilities includes water, sewer and a drainage system that includes a bioretention system that treats stormwater in its place, as well as installing electrical conduit and duct banks.
Shoreline stabilization
The shoreline stabilization is time-sensitive, as this work needs to cease by mid-March so as not to interfere with the spring salmon run. The stabilization requires crews to build a toe wall that borders the Cochecho River, which will retain soils from flowing into the river when completed. To build the wall, crews utilize metal sheathing to build a coffer dam to protect works from the river’s tidal waters. Much of the stone utilized for the wall is repurposed from the old stone wall by Fish Ladder Park, rebuilt in 2018. Once completed, the toe wall will extend to near the Makem Bridge on Washington Street.
September 2023
The Cochecho Waterfront Development Advisory Committee, at its Sept. 26 meeting, voted unanimously to give the green light to its design consultant, CJ Architects, to finalize pavilion plans and ready them for construction bidding.
At the meeting, Carla Goodnight, principal of CJ Architects, gave a presentation about the park pavilion, providing an overview of the design and the different elements incorporated. The renderings of the design can be reviewed below.
As of now, the pavilion design includes space for boat storage and a vendor, such as for kayak rentals. There would also be a public gathering space, recreation spaces, and bathrooms. CWDAC’s park pavilion subcommittee has been working with CJ Architects for the past year on what elements to be included in the final design and the site work and the foundation for the park pavilion would be included in the ongoing public improvements to the waterfront site.
To review the presentation from CJ Architects, click here.
The CWDAC also received a presentation at their Sept. 26 meeting from Cathartes, the private developer, about the minor adjustments they have made in their plans, and an update on the ongoing public improvements at the waterfront site since construction began in June 2023.
Click here to watch the meeting.