Philippe Saad of DiMella Shaffer, a subcontractor for Pennrose, presented two options for redeveloping the former Elm Street Middle School into a housing complex. Courtesy photo/Nashua GTV

NASHUA – The Lansing Melbourne Group and Pennrose recently emerged as the two finalists competing for the task of converting the former Elm Street Middle School into a housing complex.

During the first of two public information sessions, Mayor James Donchess said the city received four proposals with Lansing Melbourne and Pennrose coming out on top.

Timothy Engelbert, a director at Randall-Paulson Architects, a subcontractor of Lansing Melbourne, said residents should have the choice of either renting or buying.

“We can’t only have apartments,” he said during the April 10 meeting. “We need to have townhouses.”

Engelbert said the school building would be demolished with the exception of the Keefe Auditorium.

Timothy Engelbert of Randall-Paulson Architects, a subcontractor of the Lansing Melbourne Group, described his company's plans for converting the former Elm Street Middle School into a housing complex. Courtesy photo/Nashua GTV

“We’re keeping that memory in place,” he said. “We’ve used it as an anchor for our design.”

The development would include 59 units of affordable housing, 237 units at market rate and 413 parking spaces. A series of townhouses would be situated along the perimeter of the property as well as two buildings with affordable housing. The center of the property would feature two apartment buildings and a village center, giving a nod to what was once the South Common.

“Walkability is extremely important and we need to be thinking about it from day one,” said Engelbert.

In addition, he said there would be a community childcare center as well.

“Childcare is huge,” he said, adding that the service would benefit the growing number of traveling nurses with children.

Philippe Saad, principal of DiMella Shaffer, a subcontractor for Pennrose, presented two options.

The first concept features 168 units, 158 of them would be one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. There would also be 230 parking spaces.

Saad said the front of the building would be renovated, while the back would be removed, although the Chestnut Street Gymnasium would remain.

“The classrooms are somewhere between 600 and 700 square feet, they lend themselves really well to one-bedroom apartments,” he said.

The first concept would also feature two townhouses and three courtyards.

The second option would largely mirror the first option with the removal of the Chestnut Street Gymnasium as the only major difference.

“The gymnasium is large and is not conducive to being transformed into housing,” said Saad.

The additional space would allow for 184 units, 176 of them would be one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Parking would also be bumped up to 262 spaces.

Regarding the landscaping aspect, Michelle Crowley, co-owner of Crowley Cottrell, said the project would have a playground and a pergola as well.

“There would be areas for community gardens, outdoor terraces as well as dining terraces,” she said. “We are really preserving the South Common.”