Main-Ferry project to provide 10 apartments, home for HOME
One of Main Street’s most visible intersections — a gateway to two city neighborhoods — will get a face lift this year.
New plans call for a vacant 19th century building at Main and Ferry streets to be renovated into offices for Housing Opportunities Made Equal, the fair housing agency overseeing the development.
As part of the effort, the agency, which often tangles with landlords as part of its fair housing mission, will become a landlord.
The $2.6 million project involve demolishing an adjoining building on West Ferry and the construction of a two-story, 10- unit apartment building.
The rent from the apartments, all targeted for low-and moderate-income families, will help the organization thrive.
“HOME, like so many non-profits, struggles to keep the doors open,” said Scott W. Gehl, the organization’s executive director. “This is a small step on the road to self-sufficiency.”
Gehl said the project also will preserve an architecturally significant building on Main Street while improving the look of the Main-Ferry intersection.
“This has been a blighted structure for 30 years,” Gehl said of the building at 1542 Main. “This project will also improve what is now a very important gateway to the Linwood- Oxford and Cold Springs neighborhoods.”
Financed with a mix of government aid and private donations, the project is expected to break ground this fall and take about a year to complete.
Gehl said HOME has secured about $2.4 million of the $2.6 million it needs for the development. The funding includes $400,000 from the city and $1.7 million from the state Housing Trust Fund.
The agency, which served an estimated 10,000 residents last year, also undertook a private fundraising campaign that brought in $255,000 — 51 percent of its goal — in just nine months.
HOME also received grants from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, M&T Charitable Foundation and the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.
The project will provide HOME with its first permanent home.
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