LEBANON — Plans to transform an old steel manufacturing facility into a 25-unit apartment building were OK’d by city officials last week as housing developers continue to express strong interest in downtown Lebanon.
The Lebanon Planning Board voted unanimously last Monday night to approve the renovation of 37 Spencer St., a nearly 16,000-square-foot building sometimes called the “K-Ross/Barker Steel” property.
The building is one of three industrial structures constructed in the 1960s in front of what is now the Emerson Place apartment complex.
The others — a 4,732-square-foot building and a 2,130-square-foot storage shed — will continue to be used for commercial purposes, according to plans submitted to the city.
Tenants inside the 37 Spencer St. building have included Monmaney Painters, Hanover Hardware, The Mosenthal Clinic, Mason Storage and Geokon.
However, the property has seen a “slow but steady decline” since its heyday, said Meg Carlton, the building’s current owner, in a letter to city planners.
“Even then, it was not considered a ‘pretty’ place, but not was it expected to be,” she wrote. “Post-industrial communities are struggling to move forward, and have had to abandon buildings that have become obsolete to their original purpose.”
The building’s future design is intended to “preserve the essential character of the industrial buildings” that have called Spencer Street home.
“Great pains have been taken to repurpose and highlight the steel superstructure into the common areas of the building,” Carlton wrote in her letter to the city.
She proposes renovating the building’s interior to fit 13 studio apartments on the bottom floor and loft-style apartments on the second floor.
All first-floor units will have a “semi-private” porch shared with one other neighbor that serves as a direct entrance to the apartments, while second-floor units will have decks and balconies.
Hallways will be offset from a first-floor lobby and doorways will be recessed to allow tenants to personalize them and reduce a “bowling ally effect,” according to the plans.
The project marks Carlton’s second attempt to renovate the building. In November, she obtained city permission to convert the building into 11 apartments, with the remaining units planned for a future, second phase of construction.
However, she said, it wasn’t feasible to recoup investments in infrastructure, sprinklers and septic with just those units.
“That’s when the money piece didn’t work,” Carlton said via phone on Wednesday.
But renovating the entire building “in one go” also will improve tenants’ experience, Carlton added. For instance, what was once a hallway to office space will now become a “large and welcoming lobby,” she said.
“As a hub, tenants will have a cozy area to wait for their ride, sort through their mail or do the laundry,” Carlton wrote in her letter to the city.
Outside, the building and its neighbors will share 44 parking spots, with about 20 specifically designated for tenants.
Plans also include curbing striping and a new sidewalk along portions of Spencer Street.
But the city hopes to reconstruct the street in 2021 as part of an ongoing sewer project, and planners asked that Carlton contribute to that effort to “avoid any redundancy.”
The city also hopes to see its former Public Works property across the street developed in the coming years. It’s in discussions with Stowe, Vt.-based The Braverman Co. to allow for the construction of 94 apartments, a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, at 20 Spencer St.
Carlton said it’s unlikely construction will start on the building until at least fall.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.