Old Foster's building project changes coming

DOVER — The owners of the old Foster’s Daily Democrat building in downtown Dover have a change in plans.

Next week, the Kostis family, who have been breathing new life into the building, are scheduled to appear before the city Planning Board’s Technical Review Committee seeking to construct two additional floors on the backside of the building that borders Henry Law Avenue. This expansion of the plan would add 14 additional residential units.

The plan conditionally approved in March 2018 called for 18 units. If the revised plan is approved as submitted, it would bring the total to 32 units. The original plan also called for 16,100 square feet of commercial space with a mix of retail, office and restaurant space.

According to a letter included in the packet for the TRC meeting next week, the commercial space would be reduced by about 1,500 square feet and the retail space would be eliminated. Instead, the plan is to have three restaurants totaling 9,500 square feet and office space totaling 5,100 square feet.

Assistant City Manager Christopher Parker said changes in the plan would require traffic impacts studies, which are included in the proposal, as well as an adjustment of impact fees related to the project.

Parker said it is common to see minor changes in a project as it goes along. The Planning Board approved a minor revision to the project last December. However, he said, it is uncommon to see significant changes in a project already underway. Attempts to speak with members of the Kostis family about why they were making the changes were unsuccessful.

The building once housed the editorial, advertising and production departments of the Foster’s newspaper. However, it hasn’t been used by the newspaper since 2006, when the remaining departments relocated to Venture Drive. The newspaper has since been sold and became part of Seacoast Media Group.

The Kostis family are the third buyers of the downtown property since the Foster family sold it in August 2016 for $1.5 million to The Fosters Building LLC. That entity sold it to Horizon Trust of New Hampshire LLC in June 2017, which sold it to Kostis family’s Hellenic Realty Partners, LLC on Oct. 31., 2017 for $2 million. Hellenic Realty includes brothers Nick, John and George Kostis, and their father, Dennis Kostis.