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If Johnson City, Then
Why Not Cooperstown?
Editor’s Note: Oneonta’s City Hall is actively helping private developers revive its downtown, but downstate developers are starting to recognize a demand for housing Upstate and seeking to fill the need. Per this report on BBJN.com, might someone consider Cooperstown’s vacant downtown CVS as an opportunity?
JOHNSON CITY – A New York City developer has plans to build a three-story, multi-family apartment building in Johnson City.
Praveen Kamath, founder and managing member of AOM Investments LLC, broke ground Wednesday, May 15, for the LOFTS@JC project at 128 Grand Ave.
The total estimated project cost is more than $6 million, the Agency said in a Thursday news release.
Crews will build the new apartment complex at the site of the “abandoned” Dollar Bazaar location, which will be demolished, per the news release.
This site has sat vacant for a number of years and has “contributed to the blight” in Johnson City, the Agency said. The project will bring new tax revenue and “much needed” housing availability to the village of Johnson City.
AOM Investments, LLC will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the project’s development and operations.
“This is an exceptional project for Johnson City,” Stacey Duncan, deputy director of the Agency, said in the news release. “This project will be part of the significant transformation going on in the village and we’re thrilled to contribute to Johnson City’s continued growth.”
The nearly 32,000-square-foot structure will include three floors, along with basement space for recreational activities, the Agency said. It’ll have 24 residential units, including a mix of 12 3-bedroom units; six 2- bedroom units; and six 1-bedroom units.
The project location is close to UHS Hospital, along with Binghamton University’s School of Pharmacy and the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. The new health-sciences campus will bring in about 1,100 undergraduates, graduate students, and employees, “creating a demand for more housing,” the Agency said.
Kamath described the LOFTS@JC project as an “undertaking that took two years to bring to fruition,” but one that should be complete by July 2020.
Fahs Construction Group is the general contractor on the project. LCP Group will handle the demolition work. Delta Engineers, Architects, & Land Surveyors, DPC is providing the architectural and engineering services, said Kamath.
John Maczko of Maczko Realty as the project coordinator, he added.
“I am confident that we will build a modern, architecturally appealing and structurally sound facility to herald further private development in the Village of Johnson City,” Kamath said in the news release.
Contact Eric Reinhardt, writer of this piece, at ereinhardt@cnybj.com