GRANTS KEY TO DRI SUCCESS
City Hall Funding
4 Projects To Install
Upstairs Apartments
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
ONEONTA – City Hall this afternoon announced funding to renovate the upstairs apartments on four downtown buildings, a key step forward in the $10 million state-funded Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) now entering its fourth year.
Apartments will be built above Joseph Grigoli’s Sal’s Pizzeria, 285 Main St.; Peter Clark’s Shops at Ford and Main, 250 Main St., Russ Scimeca’s Roots Brewing Company, 177 Main St., and Key Bank, a project proposed by Springbrook earlier this year, at 186-212 Main Street.
“I congratulate the recipients of the Round II Downtown Improvement Fund awards,” said Mayor Gary Herzig. “These four local businesses have demonstrated a willingness to invest their time, energy, and resources into the revitalization of our downtown.”
The Downtown Improvement Fund, part of the Downtown Revitalization Fund, designated $2.3 million in grants for downtown businesses. In March 2019, 50 awards were made to various businesses, primarily for signage and facades, with several of the projects scheduled to begin this spring.
Leftover funds were returned to the Downtown Improvement Fund and designated for upper floor housing.
All Downtown Improvement Fund applications were reviewed by a Project Selection Committee chaired by
former mayor Kim Muller. Committee members also included Sandra Eighmey, Tom Wise, Joan Fox, Rachel Jessup and Alan Cleinman.
“These projects will both provide much needed new housing options and energize our downtown,” said Herzig.
All will be overpriced
These projects are for market-rate, non-student housing.
What most do not seem to recognize is that our community has a serious lack quality housing. Our housing stock is old and tired, the result of 50 years of converting homes to student housing. This makes for significant challenges in recruiting and retaining professional employees. As has occurred across our country, young professionals and families are seeking housing in center city to be close to restaurants and experience vibrancy. Oneonta is way behind on this front.
As have the other initiatives that have been completed in downtown, these projects will fill quickly and bring a new level of vibrancy to our downtown and city.
We should all be thankful that our elected officials have had the vision and invested the required energy to attract these landlords and developers, who see our community as having significant opportunity for growth and prosperity. All of us should be supporting these initiatives, including the game-changing ArtistLofts project.
All together, we will see over 100 new housing units downtown over the next several years. This will inject a huge amount of revenue into our downtown restaurants and retail establishments, as well as deliver renewed energy and resulting further investment in our community.
Thank you to mayor Gary Herzig and his team for your leadership and hard work.