MANCHESTER, NH – Mayor Jay Ruais on Tuesday announced a second round of surplus properties will be sold to benefit the city’s affordable housing trust fund. This latest initiative follows the successful auction of 15 vacant lots in May of 2024 that generated $1.13 million. The Board of Mayor and Alderman agreed to combine three vacant lots at the May 20 meeting – the first on Smyth Road measuring .70 acres, with the other two lots located on Sheffield Road for a combined 41 acres.
“I hear constantly from residents, businesses and others that affordable housing is the top issue in Manchester right now so bringing more units online has been a top priority since day one. But to accomplish this, we needed to be creative and that is exactly what these vacant lot sales are all about. The fact that 100 percent of the net proceeds are transferred to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a true game changer,” Ruais said.
“We conducted the inaugural vacant lot sales through a first-of-its-kind auction last year. It was a tremendous success, generating over $1 million dollars for affordable housing in Manchester. We learned a lot, too. The second round will be carried out using a broker. This made more sense given the size of the newly created lot is almost 42 acres and it will likely draw interest from developers, instead of the individual buyers who dominated the first round,” Ruais said. But whether it’s by auction, or with the help of a broker, the bottom line regarding these vacant lots is the same – we are making our lots available for new housing, raising significant funds for new housing and returning the land to the city’s tax roll all at the same time.”
Added City Tax Collector Brenda Masewic Adams, “The additional capital into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will allow the City to have a more robust funding to help improve the housing market, giving adults and families the opportunity to work, stay and play in Manchester.”