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Fair point, and one worthy of serious consideration if things fall the right way. I have no idea whether DiLorenzo (Key Auto) might be one of the donors tied to MS7, but if he is, then he's worth watching as he's apparently settling down in Portsmouth, and might be focusing more on legacy issues at this point in his life. A few million for his private residence on Belle Isle, then $4.0MM on the Key Auto Group Complex (or whatever?) at The Whitt, and I believe $9.0MM on his high bid for the McIntyre federal property smack-dab in the heart of Downtown Portsmouth, sounds like a man on a mission? I visited downtown with my better half this weekend, and it's crazy the amount of development that's going on still in that area, even with the economy in a not-so-good place. Joe Faro (Tuscan), whom we discussed on here during the summer, has expanded his own footprint right around the corner. And they're far from alone, but those are two UNH guys with big dreams and big money, and a guy like Souza could literally make them his full-time job. The amount of capital pouring into Portsmouth over the last generation or so is stunning, and with the State U literally 10 minutes away (plus public transportation for others of lesser means), there is ample opportunity to "do business" on a scale that would probably be unparalleled in the recent history of our state.
I took a look at the McIntyre property during our stroll around town - one of the adjoining properties is owned/occupied by Bill Binnie, who is another deep pocketed guy who was in the bidding for McIntyre until he backed off at the end. DiLorenzo has been pretty vague about his plans for the property, but with Portsmouth not being short of small artsy venues, and with DiLorenzo's more sports-related giving history at UNH, it's hard not to think of a slightly smaller SNHU Arena fitting comfortably on that site, geared more towards Hoops and bigger arts performances than the Music Hall or other area venues can currently handle.
Key Auto Group owner is high bidder for McIntyre federal building in Portsmouth | New Hampshire Public Radio (nhpr.org)
Hard to believe there are that many two acre parcels in the state where spending $9.0MM to buy it and the existing structures on it would see the structures demolished, and then turn a profit on the subsequent development ... but this might be one of those few opportunities? The City literally tried for decades to buy the property for $1 from the GSA, but the hitch was that the Feds insisted on preservation of the structures (one of which houses a post office branch), and I doubt DiLorenzo has any affection and/or use for an outdated mid-20th century relic as part of his plans. This will no doubt once again become a political football - FWIW Redgate/Kane (which I believe features Ralph Cox of UNH Hockey fame) were the last developers to take a swing at this project, and that ended up in litigation. Someone at some point - whether it's DiLorenzo or one of his development partners - is gonna have to "sell" his plans to the community to some degree in order to get the City to issue the permitting to make this into what he wants to make it into. One of the things he did say after he was disclosed as high bidder was that he didn't want to watch another developer working on that property. So it sounds pretty personal to him. It'll be interesting to eventually see what his plans are.
In the meantime ... back to UNH Hockey, and the upcoming visit of the defending national champs. What do folks expect when the D-1 champs face off (twice) against the daunting force of the "Champions of October"? Will any enterprising USCHO poster(s) hang out the welcome mat for Quinnipiac assistant coach Joe Dumais?? I think that should happen ...
