After decades of planning, drafting, preparing, partnering and navigating the twists and turns along the way, the city of Dover, N.H., broke ground on the long-anticipated Cochecho River Waterfront Development project in June 2023.

“It was so gratifying when they did the groundbreaking on June 20,” said Dover Deputy City Manager Chris Parker. “I think there were a lot of people in disbelief that something we’ve been working for and planning for was finally coming to fruition.”

Embracing the vision

          Talk of redeveloping the waterfront had been considered since the 1970s. In 1984, the parcel was dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers to improve boat access. Four years later, the city’s master plan identified the waterfront as a key component of the downtown core with a Land Acquisition Protection Study in 1989. In 1990, the Dover City Council formed the Cochecho Waterfront Development Task Force and asked the group to draft a concept plan.

          In 1996, Parker was an out-of-state college senior who returned to his hometown to write his capstone thesis on the proposed project, which was still on the drawing board. The following year, he returned to Dover to join the team and help to turn the waterfront project into a reality.

          Naturally, there were fits and starts along the way. At the time, the city still had its school bus maintenance/repair shed, public works and recycling center located on the land; however, they were moved in the early 2000s. An RFP process initiated in 2005 culminated in the designation of Dickinson Development to finance and develop the public and private improvements for the entire site; however, Dickinson withdrew from the project in July 2014, citing the Great Recession of 2008, upfront costs and an inability to identify additional investors and development partners.

          “I applaud Dickinson for sticking it out as long as they did,” Parker said in a podcast interview with Roger Wood on InDepthNH.org.

          Undeterred, the city and the Cochecho Waterfront Development Advisory Committee reassessed their project to make it more attractive for development — notably, the undertaking, planning, permitting and construction of public improvements to make it CAD-ready. This approach minimizes the need for front-loaded private investment, the lead time between development agreement and construction, as well as creating the possibility that multiple builders may be involved under a master developer.

          That same year, the CWDAC hired Abramson and Associates Inc. to conduct a market, financial feasibility and tax increment financing study to find out what types of developments could be best supported on the site. The report found that there was a large market for residential units with a smaller desire for retail, restaurant and office space — all of which would be necessary to get the site started. Finally, the study also showed that there may be room for a larger commercial or hotel use in the future.

          “The biggest key to success in this endeavor was building a partnership with a company that was focused on trust and that would look at every issue as a problem-solving opportunity,” Parker said. “Luckily, we found that relationship in 2019 with Cathartes.”

Prepping for the future

          A 2019 Land Disposition and Development Agreement laid out the perimeters for the public-private partnership, which included the same of the property to the Boston-based Cathartes for $3,372,500 to be purchased in phases. There would be a mixed-used development comprising 420 residential units and 20,000 to 25,000 square feet of commercial space with more in reserve in case a hotel space is necessary in the future. The city promised $6.6 million in TIF funding to complete public improvements, including bluff excavation, site work, a waterfront park — complete with a two-story pavilion, a public boat dock and kayak launch — utility infrastructure and streets.

          “The total costs will be above $30 million, which includes upgrades to the River Street Pump Station, the roadways, the utilities … Cathartes is obligated to pay back up to $20 million because we had to do the wastewater treatment upgrades anyway so it did not make sense to add them or add some responsibility to them for that,” Parker said.

With the groundbreaking in the rearview mirror, workers have cleared the shoreline vegetation to prepare for the shoreline stabilization work required prior to building and park construction. Once that was out of the way, they began grading the site so Cathartes can start its work this spring. If the production schedule holds, the community should see the outlines of buildings by the end of the year.

Parker said that when completed, the Cochecho River Waterfront Development will be a seamless extension of downtown Dover rather than a replacement for the existing downtown area.

          “We want this development to succeed, and we want our waterfront area to be a vibrant spot in the city,” Parker said. “There is a lot of history associated with this site over the past 400 years, so we feel that coming up with and honing this vision to make it reasonable and realistic is setting it up for the next 400 years.”

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