Salem To Receive $38 Million In Tuscan Village Agreement

SALEM, NH — As part of its agreement with Salem Selectmen, Tuscan Development has agreed to contribute $38.5 million to the town in the next several years, as it proceeds with the biggest development project in Salem's recent memory. The funds are to mitigate the impacts of the 170-acre Tuscan Village project, including the expected increases in traffic and public safety problems. The company's financial contribution is part of the negotiated memorandum of understanding between the town and Tuscan Development, said Selectmen Chairman James Keller.

The Tuscan Village plan includes restaurants, grocery stores, homes, a hotel, a five-story medical building, cafes, a gas station and grocery store, among other amenities, in the former Rockingham Park. It is a project of Tuscan Brands, an Italian restaurant company that owns four restaurants in New England and two grocery-style markets in Salem and Portsmouth. The company will soon open a cafe in downtown Portsmouth.

On Monday, the selectmen approved Tuscan's design plans for road improvements on Rockingham Park Boulevard and Mall Road. Rockingham Park Boulevard will have five lanes of traffic as part of the plan and the median will be removed. Mall Road will get a new median, new curbing, a new intersection and new traffic signals.

Keller said the selectmen and Tuscan Development have agreed that the company will contribute roughly $38,588,413 to the town of Salem as part of the legally binding memorandum of understanding. He said Tuscan Development is required to address and mitigate all infrastructure and traffic-related impacts of the project, and to eliminate as much risk for the town as possible. The document also aims to provide the planning board and the selectmen a set of improvements to facilitate plan reviews, and to try to build certainty of what the project will look like, while knowing that plans will change over the next four or more years.

As part of the agreement, Tuscan Development will be required to make road and infrastructure improvements valued at $14.2 million, including improvements to Main Street, Broadway and Veterans' Memorial Parkway. In addition, Tuscan Development will cover the costs of improving the portion of the Bike-Ped Corridor in the Tuscan Village, at an estimated cost of $1 million.

Tuscan Development will also contribute to the Depot Road reconstruction project as part of the memorandum of understanding. The project will require the town to purchase land, and Tuscan Development will contribute $700,000 to $800,000 for a portion of that land, said Keller.

Also part of the agreement, the town would lease about 750 square feet of space in the village for public safety. The market value of that property is $37,000 per year, but the town will only pay $1 per year, said Keller.

Tuscan Development will also contribute millions of dollars in impact fees, which will be paid at an accelerated schedule, said Keller. These include about $7.2 million for traffic, $2.3 million for public safety, and $450,000 for recreation, he said. Other Tuscan contributions include $5.8 million in application and permitting fees and $8.6 million in demand and betterment assessment fees.

The Planning Board is currently reviewing several site plans for Tuscan Village, including a five-story medical building with urgent care, as well as Pressed Cafe and 740,000 square feet of mixed-use development, including restaurant, retail, residential, office and hotel space. The board recently approved plans for a mixed-use building at the intersection of Mall Road and Artisan Drive that will house a gas station, convenience store, car wash and a cafe.