Public can weigh in on Cotton Mill Square tax freeze on Feb. 5

NASHUA – The public will get to weigh in on whether the city ought to give a five-year tax freeze to a 109-unit mixed-income apartment project coming to downtown Nashua. The development, known as Cotton Mill Square, is nearly a decade in the making by prominent Nashua developer John Stabile and The Stabile Cos. Stabile is the first to apply for the city’s Community Revitalization Tax Relief Incentive Program –  approved by aldermen in 2011 –  which supports rehabilitating blighted areas of downtown into useful projects that benefit the public. The program adopts a state law that encourages investment in downtowns and village centers. To qualify, a property’s rehabilitation costs must be at least 15 percent of the building’s pre-rehab assessed value or $75,000, whichever is less. The $26 million Cotton Mill Square project would convert a 160,000-square-foot historic  cotton storage warehouse between Front Street and the Nashua River into one- and two-bedroom apartments, more than half of which will be affordable for people making 50-70 percent of the median income for the area. If the Board of Aldermen approves tax relief for the development, its property value increase, caused by structural improvements, wouldn’t be charged in taxes possibly for five years. Once the rehabilitation is complete, however, the board could choose to extend the tax relief for a number of years, as it qualifies for extensions by building residential units and affordable housing, and rehabilitating a historic structure. The Nashua district eligible for the tax relief program blankets most of downtown, including the French Hill and Tree Streets neighborhoods, the Millyard and parts of Canal Street. The hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday as part of the aldermen’s Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting, is required of applicants for the program. Also on the committee agenda is a tabled bill to establish a “Focus on the Tree Streets” day in Nashua. Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashua telegraph.com. Also, follow Gill on Twitter (@Telegraph_MAG).