MANCHESTER, N.H. – Until recently, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen have given out several 79E property tax relief grants, including one for the Dunlap Building intended to help transform a former office building into new housing. However, there is now a possibility that tax relief could potentially not happen.
Located at 959-967 Elm St., the Dunlap Building is perhaps best known for its first-floor restaurants: Campo Enoteca and Taj India. However, it also held four more stories of office space that has been vacant for several years, a trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Dunlap Building owners North Street Properties LLC, received approval in 2024 for 79-E relief, a type of temporary property tax relief that can be given by local governing boards to revitalize underutilized downtown buildings.
North Street Properties LLC eventually sold the building to Project Elm LLC although the covenant paperwork between the city and North Street Properties LLC that would have transferred the 79-E relief had never been completed.
During the March 3, 2026 Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, Devine Millimet attorney Garth Corriveau spoke on behalf of Project Elm LLC and told the board that the new owners had submitted an application for the 79-E relief in January. Corriveau noted that the situation with the building itself and its renovation plans were almost identical, although now only 27 units would be renovated rather than 36.
However, now the building is located within a tax increment financing (TIF) district intended to help finance the construction of new housing and a parking garage at what is now the Pearl Street parking lot. With approval of the TIF district by the board on March 3, property taxes in district connected to the increased property values from the Pearl Street improvements would go toward paying off those improvements. For reasons not released, the board was scheduled to vote on Project Elm LLC’s request at their March 17 meeting, and if approved, the tax relief would be taken away from funding earmarked for replaying the Pearl Street improvements.
Although Corriveau understood that the board has the right to schedule items as it wants, he requested that the 79-E relief be granted despite the TIF district given that it would have been in place if not for the uncompleted covenant paperwork.
“In recognition of the past 79-E approval of this redevelopment project by this board and these unique scheduling circumstances beyond the control of my client, we request the 79-E relief to be granted, or regranted depending on your perspective, at a fair hearing on March 17th, regardless of tonight’s vote on adopting the TIF district,” said Corriveau.
When asked by the board about the covenant paperwork, Manchester Economic Development Office Director Jodie Nazaka stated the city did not receive communication from North Street Properties LLC regarding completing the covenant paperwork after the original 79-E request was approved.