The starting gun has fired for two very large mixed-use projects in Concord following initial hearings before the Planning Board this week, but the biggest presence in the room wasn't really the projects themselves it was the state's housing crisis.

A proposed development at Sewall's Falls in north Concord has grown to 944 apartments, condominiums and townhouses, an increase of almost 50% since it was informally presented last summer. The project, called Monitor Way because much of it would be built on land alongside the Concord Monitor building on Sewalls Falls Road, seeks to build 151 workforce housing units, 327 market-rate apartments within a mixed-use retail center, 223 standalone market-rate apartments, 71 townhouses for sale and 172 condominiums for sale and rent. It would also feature over 100,000 square feet of commercial retail space and another 100,000 square feet of self-storage space.

A developer looking to construct hundreds of new housing units near the former Concord Monitor site presents updated plans to the planning board Wednesday, including nearly 300 more housing units than first proposed around 14 months ago.

A proposal to create as many as 625 units in five buildings to replace Steeplegate Mall is the latest in a series of large, multi-use developments proposed for Concord that could bring well over 1,600 apartments and condominiums to the city.

For three decades economists have signaled that New Hampshire has a “housing mismatch” – or an Econ 101 issue where demand supersedes supply of available houses. But new numbers released by New Hampshire Housing illustrate what a vast discrepancy this has become. Estimates say that the state will need 60,000 units by 2030 to meet current demand. By 2040, that number will grow to 90,000.

Monitor Way, a proposed mixed-use project in Concord with about 650 housing units, is set to get bigger.

The development team behind a plan to construct some 650 housing units on 95 acres in Concord has grown by one partner and taken an option to purchase 40 more acres of abutting property.

Developers hoping to build about 650 housing units on 95 acres near the Concord Monitor building have taken an option on 40 more acres located between the project area and the new Merchant’s Way development and Wheelabrator trash-to-energy plant.

The day Kate West’s landlord gave 30 days’ notice to vacate her apartment, she went online to look for a new place to live. Immediately, she knew she was facing a problem.

Finding a new job in New Hampshire is often easier than finding an affordable place to live, and zoning ordinances, while not the only issue, are a big part of the problem, according to planning experts.