Portsmouth to discuss legal opinion McIntyre building must go to city
PORTSMOUTH – The City Council has scheduled a special meeting to discuss a legal opinion contending the city can still acquire the Thomas J. McIntyre federal building property for free through legislation that was passed in 2004.
The Washington, D.C. law firm of Holland & Knight stated in a June 28 letter that the federal legislation drafted by former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg “has not been repealed or superseded by any other legislation and therefore it remains the law.”
The letter states the law requires the General Services Administration to “convey, without consideration, the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Office Building to the City of Portsmouth, New Hampshire for economic development purposes.”
The special meeting is slated for 6 p.m. Monday, July 17 in City Hall.
The special meeting comes as the McIntyre property is up for auction by the GSA this summer, which seemed to be the potential end of a two-decade saga. Portsmouth and its private development partner Redgate/Kane failed to agree earlier this year on a proposal to acquire the property and are now suing each other.
Gregg uncertain if Portsmouth could claim McIntyre now
Reached Tuesday, Gregg, who also served the state as governor, acknowledged he didn’t know if his 2004 legislation is still valid.
“I don’t have the answer to that question,” he said.
But when the legislation was passed, “we had all the ducks in a row” for the existing federal building to be demolished and the property to be turned over to the city for free, Gregg said.
The General Services Administration, which owns the building at 80 Daniel St., was supposed to move to the Pease International Tradeport and build a new building there with the $22 million that was included in the legislation, he said.
“They bought the property but they never built the building,” Gregg said. “I’m not sure what happened to the money.”
In terms of the intent to demolish the
McIntyre building, Gregg said, “Obviously when I was involved the McIntyre building was an eyesore. It’s inconsistent with the architecture in the downtown.”
“I still think it is an eyesore,” Gregg added.
The plan to redevelop the property called for “a lot of open space” with a couple of smaller buildings in the Federalist style that was “consistent with the downtown Portsmouth area,” along with on-site parking, he said.
He stressed the redevelopment plan, agreed to by the city, called for razing the McIntyre.
“Absolutely, that was the essence of the agreement,” he said. The city “was on the hook for a fairly big number” in terms of asbestos removal, he said.
“Maybe it was an opportunity lost,” he said about the legislation. “It’s too bad it didn’t happen, but maybe it can be resurrected.”
GSA didn’t want to move to Pease, and they “slow walked the process for sure,” Gregg said.
“I’m surprised that nobody pushed the issue on the city side and forced a decision,” he said. “The GSA is a bureaucracy and bureaucracies function
through inertia.”
Portsmouth council to open up discussion
The City Council voted late Monday night to approve a motion made by City Councilor John Tabor to schedule the special July 17 meeting.
“That would be an open meeting for a discussion of the topic of the Holland & Knight letter,” Tabor said.
The council also voted to release the minutes from a nonpublic meeting councilors held Monday on the topic.
Attorneys Robert C MacKichan Jr. and Joel E. Roberson from Holland & Knight stated that “while Section 408 (of the legislation) states that GSA is required to relocate the federal tenants in the McIntyre Building into a 'new Federal Building' and GSA ultimately relocated the federal tenants into existing buildings, we believe that GSA has met the requirements necessary to trigger the conveyance without any cost to the city of Portsmouth, by moving the existing tenants into a 'new location' even though that location was not a 'new Federal Building,'” they wrote.
The city tried for the past several years to secure the 2.1-acre McIntyre property, which is located in downtown Portsmouth near the city's popular waterfront, through the federal Historic Monument Program for $1.
But the GSA dropped the city from that program earlier this year when Portsmouth and Redgate/Kane couldn't agree on a redevelopment plan.
The federal agency put the property up for sale through an online auction and it received a $5 million bid for the site on July 1. The auction is still accepting bids.
Portsmouth council doing due diligence
Mayor Deaglan McEachern said the City Council met with Holland & Knight attorneys via a Zoom conference during Monday's non-public meeting.
“We'll share what we learned in that meeting at Monday's special meeting,” he said during an interview Tuesday.
The opportunity to get the McIntyre property for free through the 2004 legislation requires the City Council to “do our due diligence on this,” McEachern said.
That means finding out if the legislation is still valid, he said.
He understands that some city residents want to move on from the controversy around the McIntyre.
But McEachern stressed, “I think we have a responsibility … to have a conversation about this parcel once again.”
At some point, McEachern said, the council “will have to balance whether or not it would be better to allow the building to go to the highest bidder or better to deliver the building under the original intent of Congress.”
He added that “while I believe it's important to take this seriously,” it's also crucial to understand “nothing in life's a sure thing.”
“This is as far from that as it can be,” McEachern said.
'Let's keep fighting,' former Portsmouth official says
City officials learned about this potential opportunity when former deputy city manager Ted Jankowski hired the law firm to evaluate the status of the legislation.
During the public comment portion of Monday's council meeting, he expressed how “really glad” he was that the city “is considering pursuing the acquisition of the McIntyre” through Gregg's legislation.
“This is a bill that never, ever could happen again. You had a Republican president, Republican Senate (and) Republican House,” he said. “That was a gift to Portsmouth. Let's not let this disappear. Let's keep fighting for it.”
The city has not yet reached out to the current congressional delegation for help on the issue, McEachern said.
But they have shared information with them about the redevelopment process, he said.
“First the council has to decide what it wants to do, then we can ask for help,” he said.
Senators say they are keeping tabs on McIntyre
Ty McEachern, the press secretary for U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire issued a statement on her behalf.
“Sen. Shaheen has long been engaged in efforts regarding the McIntyre Federal building,” he said Tuesday. “Her office has been in touch with the city and other stakeholders and will continue to be.”
Sahil Mehrotra, a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, said the senator “has been following the developments regarding the McIntyre building and will continue to engage with the General Services Administration, the city of Portsmouth, and all parties involved.”
Bill Downey is a co-founder of Revisit McIntyre, a local group that opposed the initial redevelopment plan for the federal building property.
He credited Jankowski for his work to continue to push the issue forward.
He believes the City Council should hire Holland & Knight “as swiftly as possible and without hesitation” to try to acquire the McIntyre property.
“Only a fool would miss this opportunity,” he said Tuesday. “History will not look kindly on anyone who doesn't move this badly needed acquisition forward.”