Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building

80 Daniel Street, Portsmouth, NH

PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS TO BEGIN ON FEBRUARY 3RD

The City of Portsmouth’s McIntyre Steering Committee has met and established the initial “Stage 1” steps in the public input process for the future of the McIntyre Federal Building site. Two Informational and Idea Gathering Sessions with the public will be sponsored by the McIntyre Steering Committee. The first will be held on Saturday, February 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to noon in City Council Chambers at Portsmouth City Hall, and include dialogue sessions in coordination with Portsmouth Listens. The second will be held on Thursday, February 8th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., also in City Council Chambers. The second session will be offered as a convenience to those who cannot make the Saturday event.

For more information, please go to the Public Input page of this site.

The City Council selected the Redgate/Kane team to be its preferred partner in seeking to acquire and reuse the McIntyre site. Go to the Request for Private Partners for more information.

The Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building has been home to several offices of the Federal government for over 50 years. Located on Daniel Street, the building has supported offices of the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Service. Since 2004, the General Services Administration (GSA) has been planning to relocate the functions from this property to another location in Portsmouth. In fall of 2016, the GSA officially began its disposal process, declaring the building to be surplus to its needs.

The City of Portsmouth has been invited to submit an application pursuant to the Historic Monument Program in order to request that the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal building be transferred to City ownership under the General Services Administration's Surplus Property disposal regulations.

Constructed in 1967, the Thomas J. McIntyre Building is a contributing structure to the proposed Portsmouth National Register Historic District. For more information on its architectural style and significance, please refer to the Architectural History Resources.

The City will seek out private partners to preserve the historic elements of the property while returning it to an active, integrated part of the downtown. It will do so by requesting development teams submit their qualifications for the City's review, and then invite selected teams to submit more specific proposals outlining how they intend to marry the City's goals for the site with their team's proposed reuse. The City Council will seek public input and participation as it chooses a partner to assist in a successful application to the Historic Surplus Property (a.k.a. Historic Monument) Program.

Through acquiring the site and subsequently leasing it to a preferred developer, the City hopes to:

  • capitalize on the rare opportunity to shape redevelopment of a downtown block in the City’s best interests by promoting public/non-profit/commercial use of its ground floor;
  • re-connect the site with Daniel, Penhallow, and Bow Streets via new pedestrian ways, introduction of open space and public parking uses, and revitalize the area with new uses;
  • ensure redevelopment/reuse of the site that meets the city’s economic development goals; and
  • accomplish the above in a fiscally prudent manner, through a public-private partnership.