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PORTSMOUTH — The plan for the Hodges Badge Co. Inc. manufacturing plant is to divide the roughly 47,000-square-foot building into separate units that could accommodate a variety of commercial uses, including marine storage, research and development, and manufacturing.

For the plan to move forward, the Zoning Board of Review must approve two special-use permits, one for a “composite research and development center” and one for an “indoor/outdoor boat storage facility.” The panel is scheduled to take up the matter at its meeting Thursday.

Last November, Hodges Badge stopped making prize ribbons and trophies at the building and consolidated production at its second location in Missouri. Forty-five jobs were affected by the closure. The company moved from Boston to Portsmouth in 1974.

Hodges Badge still has about 30 administrative staff in Portsmouth, including half the company's customer service team, marketing personnel, the creative department, and accounting and financing staff, Rick Hodges, the company president and CEO, told The Daily News on Monday.

The property is still owned by Hodges Realty Holdings LLC, whose registered agent is Rick Hodges. He said a deal is pending to sell it to 1170 East Main Road LLC — the entity that is applying for the special-use permits. Its listed manager is Nick King, the vice president of Bristol Marine, which has locations in Bristol, Somerset, Massachusetts, and Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The company performs boat repairs, “from washing to waxing, custom enclosures and towers, painting and engine repairs.”

When asked for the sales price, Hodges referred the question to King, who did not return a message Monday seeking comment.

According to a proposed layout of the building, Hodges Badge would continue using a 10,650-square-foot space at the southern end of the building. The rest of it would be divided into three additional units, with two measuring 13,000 square feet and the third totaling 10,500 square feet.

One of the spaces would be reserved for an “advanced materials innovation center,” and the other two would be open to a wide array of uses, such as manufacturing, storage and marine trades, among others, according to information in the application file at Town Hall.

A second building measuring about 5,400 square feet at the back of the property would continue housing boat storage/marine trades, according to the file. Maritime Solutions has leased the space since a fire destroyed its headquarters in 2016. The company, which is located on East Main Road, rebuilt its facility, but still uses that part of the Hodges Badge property, Hodges said.

Because the plan is to lease the units and turnover is possible, the applicant is arguing that it would be an “undue burden” to require prospective tenants to appear before the Zoning Board of Review before signing a lease. The applicant is asking for approval to allow the types of uses that are typically found in a “multi-tenant commercial rental facility,” the application said.

The property, which is about 8.5 acres in all, is zoned light industrial. The units available for lease are listed by Collins Commercial Real Estate LLC. The property does not include the Visiting Nurse Home & Hospice offices next door.

The total assessed value of the Hodges Badge property is about $2.1 million, according to the town’s online real estate records.

dgomes@newportri.com