Three years after the city first approved the idea, Bow-based Pitco asked for and received another extension on its proposal to build a huge manufacturing facility off Manchester Street in Concord, saying it needs the time to place a conservation easement on 15 acres of the property.
The manufacturer of commercial fryer equipment wants to build a 365,000-square-foot facility at 15 Integra Drive, combining the company’s three existing locations in Bow, Concord and Pembroke into one complex with offices, manufacturing and warehouse space. It would build fryers and other restaurant equipment there.
The proposal was conditionally approved by Concord Planning Board in September 2021 and the project has received two extensions since then.
“We just ran into some problems we could not control,” said Daniel Luker, an attorney with Preti Flaherty, during a hearing last week at the Planning Board. The board unanimously approved a one-year extension of the project’s site plan and architectural design review.
Luker said the bulk of the delay has been caused by the state permitting process to obtain an alternation of terrain permit, under which state agencies analyze changes in drainage, erosion and wildlife management caused when a large amount of land is disturbed through development.
“It took forever to get that done,” Luker told the board. As part of the process, the state will get a conservation easement on 15 acres of the 54-acre property. The company proposed building on 23 of the acres.
Conceptual drawing of Pitco Frialator facility at 15 Integra Drive in Concord. (Courtesy of Warrenstreet Architects)
Luker said he hoped the project would be moving ahead later this year or early in 2025. “We don’t think it will be another year. We’re really close,” he said.
Even with city approval, however, the project will need corporate approval and financing, he said.
“New Hampshire is a tough place to operate in, because you can’t get tax relief and there’s not a lot of financing available,” Luker said. But the company is optimistic that it will be able to keep the manufacturing facility, with some 400 related jobs, in the region.
Pitco, owned by global food service giant Middleby Corp., dates back to 1918 when J. C. Pitman and Sons Hotel & Restaurant Equipment Manufacturers in Boston developed a new method of frying food. That led to the Pitco Frialator, which remains a dominant player in commercial restaurants.
The company moved to Bow in 1950. It has a 200,000-square-foot storage facility on Sheep Davis Road in Pembroke and a smaller facility in Concord.
The announcement to consolidate operations was hailed as a huge economic win for Concord, even though it came at the expense of neighboring Pembroke and Bow.
— DAVID BROOKS/CONCORD MONITOR
