NEWBURYPORT — The downtown might soon have its first sky-scraping penthouse.
Stonehaven Realty Development is proposing to add a sixth floor to its five-story brick building on State Street, topping it with a 2,185-square-foot penthouse with a 1,356-square-foot deck that would look out on downtown Newburyport and the Merrimack River. Architectural renderings show the penthouse having mostly glass walls with steel frame.
The circa 1850 building, known as the Bracket Heel building, is one of the tallest in the downtown. It houses the Port Tavern and sits across Prince Place from the Newburyport Public Library.
City zoning laws don't allow for such tall structures — the building would be 62.5 feet tall while 40 feet is the maximum. The existing building is 50 feet tall.
The developer, Newburyport resident Christopher Horan, bought the building last year. He could not be reached for comment. Horan is the owner of the Boston-based realty firm Symphony Properties.
The plan also includes adding two residential condos to the building and six parking spaces inside the building that will be accessed from Prince Place.
The plan goes before the Newburyport zoning board tomorrow at 7:15 p.m.; the meeting is at City Hall. It requires a special permit from the zoning board.
Lisa Mead, former Newburyport mayor, is acting as lawyer for the firm. In her letter to the city, she argues that the city could find that the project isn't "substantially more detrimental to the neighborhood than the existing nonconforming structure or use. Certainly by adding three residential units there will be no negative impact on the neighborhood which already includes a mix of residential and commercial as well as governmental uses."
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