A Village Takes Shape on Technology Hill as First Residents Move In

LONDONDERRY, NH – There are apartment complexes that are fit into empty urban spaces, and then there is what is taking shape on a hill overlooking Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

The first residents have begun moving into The Village on Technology Hill, an ambitious mixed-use development in north Londonderry that will eventually include 440 apartments, businesses, an Easterseals NH early learning center, recreation areas and workplaces arranged around a three-acre village green.

For now, it remains very much a community under construction.

During a recent tour, I watched as construction crews were working throughout the property while residents were settling into the first two apartment buildings, which opened Aug. 1 and Sept. 1. A third building is expected to become available in early October.

A new tenant had just arrived from Arizona – returning to New Hampshire after a few years away. The oppressive heat of The Grand Canyon State, and missing the four seasons of New England, along with family, is what brought her back. She had flown in with her cat and was too busy to chat in the moment, as she was off with Property Manager Erika Frett who was helping her settle in.

But she did say in passing she was excited for the move, and had found the complex to fit all their needs after downsizing from her former New Hampshire home.

Frett says eventually the residential portion will include nine buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. But the larger idea behind the project is to create something resembling a neighborhood rather than a collection of apartment buildings, part of the appeal for those like the refugee from Arizona .

The layout is intended to encourage residents to encounter one another, Frett said – walking through the green, exercising, taking children to the playground or child care center, or eventually stopping at the planned retail center.

Interior view of The Village on Technology Hill in Londonderry. (Photos/Carol Robidoux)

“You can live here, but be outside. You can enjoy the space. You can talk with your neighbors,” Frett said. “You can go down to the market, get a coffee, run into another neighbor, have a quick conversation before you drop your kids off at the child care and go to work.”

That planned-community concept becomes more apparent while moving through the property, as we did, by way of a golf cart.

A large dog park and basketball and pickleball court are already visible from the apartments. Plans also include a children’s playground, a large outdoor chess board, seating and picnic areas, walking and jogging trails and an outdoor exercise course.

Easterseals NH announced this week that it plans to open the Technology Hill Early Learning Center at the development in January 2027.

The center will provide child care and early learning for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, with standard hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and extended care available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will be led by Dr. Lisa Ranfos, Easterseals NH’s senior director of Early Childhood Centers of Excellence and former executive director of the Child Study and Development Center at the University of New Hampshire.

The center adds a practical piece to the live-work concept developers have described for Technology Hill, particularly for families working at businesses on the property or in the surrounding airport area.

Families who register by Nov. 13 will be eligible for free extended care for one year, according to Easterseals NH. Enrollment information is available at earlylearningcenternh.org.

Also on site, a 15,000-square-foot retail center. Developers are still seeking businesses for that space, with possibilities including a small market or cafe and fitness-related businesses.

The project also connects housing with employment. Technology Hill includes Envision Technology and OnPoint Systems, companies owned by Ken and Grace Solinsky, while other major employers are clustered around the nearby airport area.

The Solinskys are behind The Village on Technology Hill, with Manchester developer Dick Anagnost’s Metropolis Property Management Group managing its residential component. Anagnost has previously compared the concept to the communities that grew around Manchester’s mills, where housing and employment developed in close proximity.

During my tour it struck me that all this was a little reminiscent of where I grew up, in Levittown, Pa., a post-World War II suburban community that had everything you needed within walking distance. The difference was the Levitt brothers built houses, not apartments, at a starting price of about $10,000 per home. Such housing projects – targeting middle-class families with a small down payment and a piece of turf – are rare these days.

The Londonderry Planning Board approved the project’s master plan in 2024, and construction began in early 2025, although the plan has been percolating for years, said marketing consultant Debbie Day. She and I talked about the changing housing market – and that for some tenants, the prospect of downsizing from a house in need of upkeep to a maintenance-free unit in a community setting is desirable.

Inside the residential buildings, apartments range from one-bedroom units to three-bedroom, two-bath units. Two- and three-bedroom apartments include laundry, while laundry rooms are available in each building for residents of standard one-bedroom units. Apartments are also wired for residents to activate internet service without waiting for an installation appointment.

Current advertised rents start at $2,400 for a one-bedroom, $2,800 for a two-bedroom and $3,200 for a three-bedroom. There are also one-bedroom units with a “den” which creates flexibility – as a work/office space or second bedroom for a single parent with a child.

Frett said the three-bedroom units are in highest demand, featuring two bathrooms and three decent-sized bedrooms. 

Rendering of an aerial view of The Village on Technology Hill.

At the time of the Ink Link tour, only a small number of households had moved into the first two buildings, meaning much of the development remains unusually quiet — and new residents still have considerable choice of apartments and floors. That will change as additional buildings open and the unfinished pieces of the village come online.

It also means that if tenants ask whether there will be fire pits installed in the outdoor community space, management takes note and adds it to the list, Frett said.

For now, walking through Technology Hill offers something slightly unusual: the chance to see a neighborhood being created almost from scratch, with construction continuing on one side of the road while people are already making homes on the other.