Developer eyes apartments, rooftop garden for Auburn bank building:
https://auburnpub.com/news/local/gov...9530b4d89c1102
Street view of the building:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9309...7i16384!8i8192
From the article: " Downtown Auburn could be getting a dog park, music museum and more under plans for restoring a former bank building at the intersection of Genesee and State streets.
Details of the proposed project came to light during a public hearing on the city's applications for two grants with the state's Restore NY Communities Initiative was held during the Auburn City Council meeting Thursday.
The city is planning to apply for $2 million to help with a rehabilitation project for the 120 Genesee St. bank building downtown. The other application through the communities initiative is for $10 million for a special project centered on redeveloping 151 Orchard St., the former Bombardier manufacturing facility on the west side of Auburn.
Before the city can move forward, Empire State Development, the state's economic development agency, required that public hearings be held on the applications.
Before people were able to speak about the possible applications, city officials gave presentations on the two undertakings. The Restore NY program is meant to address vacant, condemned and abandoned properties "and related site development needs," according to slides shown during the presentation.
Onea Kloster, the grants coordinator for Auburn, said the six-story 120 Genesee St. building has approximately 36,000 square feet and was constructed around 1910. It was the longtime home of the National Bank of Auburn, but the last major tenant to use the structure was Chemung Canal Trust Co. It moved next door to 110 Genesee St. in 2017.
Kloster mentioned that scaffolding went up in front of the building in 2022 due to debris falling from its façade, and she said "much more work is needed to bring this building into its proposed mixed-use space in the downtown area." The estimated total cost for the project, according to the city records, is $6.6 million.
One of the people who spoke during the hearing was Mark Rebich, of the Beardsley Architects + Engineers firm, which has been working with the building's owners and Rochester-based property management firm Flaum Management Co. to develop a rehabilitation project for the site.
He noted that the first two floors of the building are targeted for commercial space, including the potential for a first floor Auburn music museum that would support musicians who have started in the area.
The upper floors would have one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rebich said 20 total units are in current plans, and residents would use the city parking garage. He said there's potential to construction in a connecting pedestrian bridge between the building and the garage in partnership with the city.
Another unique feature in the project is the development of a rooftop garden, including a dog park.
"It's a really nice view up there," Rebich said.
Details of the Bombardier site proposal were more generic. Alstom, a global rail manufacturing company based in France that acquired Bombardier Transportation in recent years, is committed to working with the city to "supporting the city's Brownfield Opportunity Area ... and Comprehensive Plans where it can while managing the site appropriately and responsibly."
The 151 Orchard St. property was most recently a rail car production site for Bombardier Transportation, but the factory was closed in 2006, eliminating 160 jobs at the time. The 15.7-acre site, which is also bordered by Columbus Street and Arterial East, has four structures and about 232,000-square-feet of industrial space.
Several residents talked about the Restore NY projects during the hearing. The first one to take to a microphone was Arlene Ryan, founder of the Orchard Street Neighborhood Association who has lived on that street for decades. She said that area is in a "prime location" within the city, since it is close to schools, churches, banks, grocery stories, etc. Ryan also said she felt many areas in Auburn went from "bright" to "blight" and "housing and employment suffered."
She referenced an approximately $11 million construction project completed in 2014 where over 15 buildings in that neighborhood were rebuilt or refurbished and called the possible 151 Orchard undertaking "an opportunity to see some growth."
"I'm hoping this will be a big plus to the neighborhood I call home," she said.
Cayuga County Legislator Brian Muldrow also spoke, expressing support for both projects, although he said is particularly passionate about the Orchard Street project. He said he was born on the west end of Auburn, recalling "how vibrant the west end of town used to be." Muldrow added that he feels that project would be "a great asset" to that portion of the city.
"I think it would take that west end of town where a lot of businesses have been leaving and give us a good boost and a good shot in the arm, so I'm in total support of that, anything I can do to help," he said. "I think that Auburn is going in the right direction with these two initiatives."
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