MANCHESTER, NH – With little fanfare, property at 571 Holt Ave. owned for more than 40 years by the Daniel Webster Council of Scouting America was sold in December to the owner of cleaning company Servpro.
The council had been trying to sell the property that had once been its headquarters since 2021 in order to meet its obligation for the national Boy Scouts of America sexual abuse settlement. It looked like they had a buyer last year, to Dismas Home, which planned a congregant care center for women in recovery, but the agency stepped back in the face of unrelenting opposition by area residents.
The 2.5-acre property in the city’s far-east side was sold by for $1.03 million in December, according to online property records, slightly less than the $1.3 million Daniel Webster Council listed it for in July 2023.
The council’s board agreed to list the property, as well as another one in Unity, in December 2021 to help meet its $3.5 million obligation to the national Boy Scouts of America, which has to cover a $2.46 billion settlement related to sexual abuse lawsuits, which began payouts in September 2023. Boy Scouts of America changed its name to Scouting America last month.
Servpro’s site plan for the property, including addition of a 6,624-square-foot garage, met with no opposition from abutters, in contrast to the previous plan by Dismas Home, which hoped to locate a transitional center for women on the site. The site plan, including the garage construction, was approved by the planning board Nov. 21.
Jonathan Fox, who owns Servpro franchises in Massachusetts, bought Servpro Manchester, as well as the Hooksett/Raymond/Epping and Hollis/Peterborough/Weare branches late last year, according to a January LinkedIn post. The Manchester operation also includes a location on the West Side, at 497 Hooksett Road.
The company plans to use the 10,000-square-foot office building on Holt Avenue for offices, and the new garage will hold the company’s service vans and other equipment, according to comments made to the Planning Board by Paul Chisolm, of Keach-Nordstrom Associates, at a Nov. 7 public hearing. He told the board that, after discussions with abutters, the new owners agreed to add stormwater mitigation, plant a large buffer of arborvitae, and angle the new garage more toward the highway so they could add better drainage.
Fox told the planning board that about 20 employees would use the building, all of whom would likely drive their own cars there. Customers don’t generally come to Servpro’s location, the company’s service vans, which would be housed in the new garage, go out to jobs. He said there would be about half a dozen service vans on site. The company operates 24 hours a day, responding to emergencies at homes and businesses from water and fire damage, and other cleanup and property restoration issues.
Unlike Dismas Home, Servpro did not need a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to locate on the property, because the lot is zoned for industrial use. Dismas Home’s congregant care center didn’t meet industrial use qualifications. When the Daniel Webster Council bought the property and built its headquarters in 1982, it also needed a variance, but that doesn’t carry over to a new property owner.
The lot juts into two residential zones, with the only access through two residential neighborhoods, which include large condominium complexes. It is also bordered by Interstate 93 and an industrial zone that provides no access to the property. The lot next to 571 Holt Ave. was also an industrial zone into the 1990s, when it was rezoned to residential to make way for one of the condominium development.
Most of those who spoke against Dismas Home variance request in January 2024 said that they support the mission, but the use was not the right fit for the neighborhood. They said they were concerned about property values, and many implied that Dismas Home residents would be a danger or nuisance in the neighborhood. They also cited traffic concerns, given the narrow streets and a truck prohibition on Holt Avenue.
No one from the public spoke at the planning board hearing on Nov. 7, and there was no record of neighbors voicing concerns about traffic or truck use on the street. Stormwater, buffers and concerns about the buildings lights were the only concerns Chisholm, the engineer, referenced when he spoke to planners in November.
Dismas Home has operated a recovery center on Fourth Street, on the West Side, since 2016. The Holt Avenue center would have been a transitional home for women who have completed the 90-day program on the West Side. The women living at the Holt Avenue residence would have been sober, learning life skills, and finding employment and a place to live.
Dismas Home had proposed to renovate the interior of the 10,800-square-foot building with offices and living space, with 20 beds for residents, five staff offices, and conference, treatment and meeting spaces.
The ZBA approved Dismas Home’s variance after a contentious three-hour meeting in January 2024, and an appeal opponents was not approved by the board. Opponents then filed another appeal with the city. Dismas Home withdrew it’s plan and has found a new location for its congregant care center in Rochester, Cheryll Adams, executive director, told Ink Link.
The Daniel Webster Council had been seeking a buyer for the property since mid-2021. The 43-year-old office building was constructed for the council, which also had to seek a variance to locate on the wooded lot.
The sale of 571 Holt Ave., as well as the Daniel Webster Council’s property at 275 Mica Mine Road in Unity, was necessary as part of the BSA’s bankruptcy proceeding as it pays a $3.5 billion lawsuit to settle sexual abuse claims.
The council’s board approved listing both properties in late 2021, but had to wait until the national BSA settlement was agreed to and its Chapter 11 bankruptcy resolved, which happened in March 2023, with the bankruptcy was settled in April that year. Marketing of both DWC properties began in May 2023, with the listings made public in July of that year.
The $625,000 listing for the Mica Mine Road property, which includes five acres and a two-story building, is still active. The lot abuts Unity Mountain Trail Conservation Area. The Boy Scouts bought it for $23,100 in 2006 for outdoor and camping activities.