Dover's Town Council has approved a redevelopment plan allowing up to 141 homes on the roughly one-acre site of the former Harry Loory Furniture Store at 1 Towpath Square, a property that sits near downtown and the town's train station at the intersection of Bassett Highway, Prospect Street, East Blackwell Street and Dewey Avenue. The vote came down 4-3.
The approval, reported on October 13, 2026, scales back a project that has been in the works for years, according to Jersey Digs. The new plan splits the site into two sections: a larger portion that could become a six-story building with up to 136 apartments and ground-floor businesses, reaching as high as 65 feet, and a smaller portion set aside for five townhouses of up to three stories each.
That represents a significant reduction from what Dover previously approved. An earlier proposal from 2022 called for a nine-story building with 95 apartments and seven townhouses, and while that version received approval that year, it had not been built by 2023. The latest plan trims the maximum main-building height from nine stories down to six and cuts the townhouse count from seven to five, per the same outlet's report.
Commercial Space Requirements Along Bassett Highway
The redevelopment plan comes with specific commercial requirements baked in. The larger building must include at least 4,200 square feet of commercial space, while the townhouse section needs at least 1,500 square feet, bringing the total for the entire property to a minimum of 5,700 square feet, the report notes. That space could be used for stores, restaurants, cafés, offices or other businesses, and at least half of the building frontage along Bassett Highway must be reserved for commercial uses.
The project will also need to account for parking for residents and businesses, along with bicycle spaces and electric-vehicle charging facilities, according to the same account. No construction schedule has been announced.
Affordable Housing and a Long History at the Site
Dover's 2025 housing plan identifies the property for 17 affordable homes, according to Town of Dover Planning Board, but the redevelopment plan itself leaves the final affordable-housing requirements to be worked out in an agreement between the town and the developer, including any changes permitted under state law. That agreement is one of several steps still ahead before shovels could hit the ground.
The site's redevelopment saga stretches back to 2018, when Dover conditionally selected Towpath Realty LLC to pursue the project, as reported by Town of Dover. Dover Town Council's agenda for the meeting listed Ordinance 21-2026, adopting the redevelopment plan for the 1 Towpath Square / Harry Loory Redevelopment Area, for a second reading, public hearing and adoption, according to dovernow.com.
What Happens Next
Before any construction can begin, the developer must complete an agreement with Dover and obtain Planning Board approval covering building designs, parking, landscaping and other details. Because the property sits within Dover's historic district, the project also requires review by the Dover Historic Preservation Commission.
With the redevelopment plan now adopted, the next steps shift to those design and preservation reviews, along with the affordable-housing agreement that will determine how many of the 141 homes are set aside for income-restricted residents. For a property that has sat in redevelopment limbo since the previous nine-story proposal stalled out, the scaled-down six-story version marks the furthest the project has moved in years.
