fb-pixelRockingham Park developer completes land deal - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Rockingham Park developer completes land deal

<?EM-dummyText [Drophead goes here] ?>

Grass grew on the track near the finish line at the Rockingham Park race track.Keith Bedford/Globe Staff

Plans to turn the old Rockingham Park in Salem, N.H., into one of New England's biggest mixed-use development took a significant step forward this week, when Tuscan Brands founder Joe Faro closed on his purchase of the shuttered race track.

Faro hopes to launch construction next spring on a 170-acre complex of retail, restaurants, housing, and hotels that he calls the Tuscan Village. The first phase would include "an innovative supermarket and retail village" built in partnership with Market Basket, as well as a 100-unit luxury condo development and a 256-unit apartment building. Eventually, the project would include more housing and entertainment, office space, and a high-end hotel, designed around a "classic town center" designed to attract nearby residents to events.

Advertisement



Faro's development firm paid $40 million to Rockingham Ventures for 120 acres of the site, according to the Eagle-Tribune. It then sold nearly 27 acres to Demoulas Super Markets Inc. for $15 million. Faro bought another 50 acres 2 1/2 half years ago. Tuscan Brands operates the Tuscan Kitchen and Tuscan Market eateries.

A horse-racing track dating to 1906, Rockingham Park closed in August.


Tim Logan can be reached at tim.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.