E Square offering ‘home ownership . . . rental income’
New townhouses to also have linked apartments
A trio of townhouses with accompanying rental units is taking shape in downtown Buffalo.
E Square Capital LLC is converting a long-idle commercial warehouse to what are expected to be three owner-occupied townhouses, each with integrated garages, and separate apartments.
“It’s a different twist on living downtown. It will bring together home ownership and an opportunity for rental income,” said E Square President Eran Epstein.
The rowhouse-style units will be located in a circa-1900 brick structure at 504 Washington St., between East Huron and East Mohawk streets. Past uses of the building include commercial warehousing. Epstein, who previously converted a printing plant across the street to an 82-unit, affordable apartment complex, said the townhouse project is aimed at a different demographic.
“We’re thinking these will be priced in the high [$300,000] to low [$400,000], so it’s a more established target group,” he said.
The 3,500-square-foot owners’ units will have ground-level two-car garages, with living quarters spread over most of the second floor and the entire third floor. Amenities will include bamboo floors, fireplaces and balconies.
The 1,500-square-foot, two-level apartments will be situated at the back of the building.
Epstein bought the property in 2005. E Square has contemplated the residential project since 2006, but Epstein said it took longer than expected to finalize designs and secure financial backing. Key Bank has signed on as the project’s main funding source.
Work at the site has been underway since the beginning of August, and much of the interior has been gutted. Epstein said he plans to start marketing the units now that the front of building has been opened up and potential buyers can “begin to see the vision.”
All six units are targeted for completion by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, E Square is wrapping up the $5.5 million conversion of the YWCA women’s residence building at 245 North St. in Buffalo to a 63-unit senior apartment complex. The renamed “Residence on North” senior living site is due to debut by the end of September.
Built in 1926, the redone five-story, 100,000-square-foot “Y” will feature apartments ranging in size from 400- square-foot studios to 1,100- square-foot, two-bedroom units, with monthly rents topping off at $675, including utilities. Residency is restricted to those age 55 and up, whose household income is less than 60 percent of the region’s median income level.
Epstein’s company is also redeveloping a former manufacturing building at 937 Broadway to 43 senior apartments. That $3.8 million project, now 50 percent complete, should be ready for occupancy by the end of the year.
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