LOWVILLE — The first round of grant awards in Lewis County’s vacant-property revitalization (VPR) program has nine projects sharing a total of $691,000. 

The Lewis County Development Corporation (LCDC) approved the funding for the nine projects in the first-round application process.

Naturally Lewis, in partnership with Lewis County, created the VPR program to target vacant and “potentially unsafe or blighted” properties within downtown and surrounding areas to turn them into usable spaces for business-development opportunities. The VPR program was created with $1,000,000 of funding made available to the LCDC through the American Rescue Plan Act and Lewis County.

“We are excited to empower our property and business owners through funding and staff support to help turn vacant, blighted and underutilized buildings into usable spaces that will lead to great economic and community impacts,” Tim Petersen, chairman of the Lewis County Development Corporation board of directors, said in a news release. “Once all projects are complete, this program will have led to $7.7 million in total project investment across Lewis County.”

VPR program award recipients were eligible to receive 50 percent of total project costs — up to $100,000 per project — and will be in the form of a reimbursement grant, Naturally Lewis said. 

Funding will be reimbursed to the property owner “once agreed upon milestones are met” and the project is complete. The community economic-development program committee, a committee through the LCDC, reviewed the applications with final approval of the LCDC board of directors. 

 Developers of projects winning funding included the following:

• The Case Building Remodel at 1147 State Route 26 in West Leyden was awarded $50,000 to construct new commercial space on the first floor and an apartment on the second floor.

• The Crumbs Bakeshop building at 5421 Shady Ave. in Lowville won $71,730 to turn the vacant second and third floors into living space.

• The Lowville Apartments (Dollar General) building at 7619-23 N. State St. in Lowville was awarded $100,000 to turn the second and third floors into rental units.

• Double Play Community Center at 6912 Bardo Road in Lowville was provided $100,000 to help turn a vacant former restaurant building into their new consolidated community center, including fitness center, dance and yoga studios and senior and teen community space.

• Grand Slam Safety at 9801 Bridge St. in Croghan won $49,235 to renovate a vacant former bus garage on their property into additional manufacturing space, which will create five new jobs.

• The Kellogg Block building at 5406-5424 Shady Ave. in Lowville was awarded $100,000 to renovate the second floor into apartments.

• McRez Packing International at 3823 Marmon Road in Lyonsdale won $100,000 to renovate a vacant former storage building into a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified, meat-processing facility, which would create 13-15 new jobs.

• Port Leyden Portal (Phase 2) at 3336 Lincoln St. in Port Leyden was awarded $100,000 toward the renovation of the second story of the former Port Leyden school building (river facing) into short- and long-term apartments and lodging units.

• Snow Ridge Ski Resort at 4173 West Road in Turin was awarded $20,000 for the renovation of an underutilized 2nd floor space into a short-term lodging unit.         

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — Construction continues on the Huntington Apartments, a $24 million adaptive re-use of the 19th-century-era Huntington Building in Seneca Falls. 

When complete, the development will feature 53 affordable apartments in an energy-efficient building, including 27 with supportive services for veterans in need of housing, the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on March 21. 

The redevelopment of Huntington Apartments is part of Seneca Falls’ Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The town was selected as the Finger Lakes region winner of the $10 million DRI award in round four. The DRI serves as a component of the state’s economic-development policy by transforming downtown neighborhoods into vibrant centers of activity that offer a high quality of life and attract businesses, jobs and economic and housing diversity.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal provided federal and state low-income housing tax credits in Huntington Apartments that will generate $12.1 million in equity, as well as $3.7 million in subsidy. The New York State Historic Preservation Office provided $7.1 million in federal and state historic tax credits. 

The New York State Department of State offered $800,000 as part of the DRI, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority provided $51,800 from its Multi-Family New Construction program. The Community Preservation Corporation, a nonprofit multifamily finance company, is offering a SONYMA-insured $475,000 permanent loan to support the project.

“Huntington Apartments will provide a new future to dozens of families and veterans while preserving a piece of Seneca Falls history,” Hochul said. 

About the project

Located at the corner of Fall Street and the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge, Huntington Apartments is under development by Home Leasing. It will use the existing three-story building and rebuild the previously demolished fourth story, while also incorporating an addition to the west side of the building, per Hochul’s office.

The completed development will include five studio apartments, 45 one-bedroom, and three two-bedroom apartments, with one unit set aside for the building’s superintendent. It will include 31 apartments affordable to households earning at or below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI), with the remaining 21 apartments affordable to those at or below 60 percent of the AMI.

Eagle Star Housing of Spencerport will provide supportive services and rental subsidies for 27 apartments. The services are funded through the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative and administered by the New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance. 

Provided services will include case management, transportation services, connectivity to substance abuse, and medical and mental-health services. 

Huntington Apartments will meet EPA Energy Star Certified Homes V3.1 program and Enterprise Green Communities 2020 standards, Hochul’s office said. All apartments will utilize Energy Star appliances and central air conditioning.