- Service Credit Union plans to build a mixed-use development with roughly 240 housing units in Portsmouth.
- The project will prioritize workforce housing, aiming to provide affordable apartments for employees and other workers in the city.
- The first phase includes 140 workforce apartments, with later phases potentially adding townhouses, veteran housing, and a childcare center.
- A community meeting is scheduled to discuss the proposal and gather feedback.
PORTSMOUTH — Service Credit Union is proposing a “multi-phase development” geared mostly toward providing workforce housing for their employees, along with other people who work in Portsmouth.
Michael Mulhern, who specializes in business development, housing and green energy for the credit union, said this week the mixed-use development calls for about 240 housing units in multiple new buildings.
Service Credit Union is partnering with Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) of Boston on the first phase of the development, he said.
The project is proposed to be built on roughly 26 acres of land behind its Lafayette Road corporate headquarters, on Lang Road, Mulhern said during an interview this week.
Housing costs for workers not sustainable
“Just under 85% of the units are workforce housing,” he said. “That’s what our conceptual design shows, it may change.
“We’re very passionate about providing housing for our employees and for other employees that work in the city of Portsmouth,” Mulhern said. “Right now they are commuting an hour, some with child-care needs, and 50% of their income is going to housing and utilities.”
“That’s not sustainable,” he added.
Service Credit Union officials, working with POAH, hope “to be in front of the Portsmouth Technical Advisory Committee in May" with the proposal, Mulhern said.
Community meeting
Service Credit Union, joined by representatives from POAH and the Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast, are hosting a meeting on the proposed development Thursday evening. It is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. at Service Credit Union’s corporate headquarters at 3003 Lafayette Road in Portsmouth.
The meeting is open to the public and attendees are asked to RSVP at seacoastwhc.org/design-charrettes/service-community-mtg.
Mulhern noted changes to the proposal could result from the meeting.
Phase 1 of development calls for 140 housing units
The first phase of the project calls for 140 workforce apartments in two buildings, Mulhern said.
He recalled from a charrette Service Credit Union held in June 2024 “what we heard … from the community is affordability was a huge priority,” Mulhern said.
“Right now the conceptual design shows two buildings. The reason for that is density equals affordability,” he said. “We need the number of units to make it affordable.”
Solar arrays are planned on the rooftops of both buildings, Mulhern said.
In addition to affordability, community members in 2024 talked about the need to create “a neighborhood,” featuring green spaces and renewable energy, Mulhern said.
Rent prices for the 140 apartments have not been determined, he said.
But Mulhern explained that the housing in the first phase is “really earmarked for firefighters, police, nurses, teachers, those people that work in the community.”
Typically, the apartments would rent for a family of four with an income just under $80,000, he said.
“That’s the occupants we’re looking to build for,” Mulhern added.
Townhouses, veterans apartments, child-care center could come in future
Additional phases of the proposed project include building 30 market-rate townhouses, Mulhern said.
Service Credit Union hopes that by offering the 30 market-rate townhouses for sale they will help “subsidize the affordability of the entire project.”
A proposed third building would feature 20 apartments to be rented to veterans, Mulhern said.
The credit union is also hoping to open a child-care center on the first floor of that same building, which he said is “important to the community.”
The fourth proposed building, according to their preliminary designs, would feature workforce housing units, Mulhern said. He estimated the building would include 50 to 70 units, noting the exact number hasn’t been finalized.
The project, according to its preliminary design, will feature about eight acres of green space in the roughly 26-acre parcel, Mulhern said, including the creation “of nature trials throughout the back portion of the development.”
They are also proposing a green center space in the heart of the development, he said.
One of the reasons the credit union and POAH hope to be in front of the city's Technical Advisory Committee with the proposal by May involves “the financing piece of it all,” Mulhern said.
“We want to (be) ready for the Low Income Tax Credits application by the summer of 2025 to try to get funding in 2026,” he said.
If the funding is in place, construction on the first phase of the project could begin “mid-year 2026,” Mulhern said.
He is hopeful for a strong turnout at Thursday evening’s community meeting.
“I think it’s another opportunity for us to present our conceptual design and get feedback,” Mulhern said.
He noted the roughly 26-acre parcel where the project is proposed to be built “has frontage on Longmeadow Road and Lang Road.”
“This parcel was part of Ralph’s Truck Sales beforeServiceCreditUnionpurchased the land,” he said.
