The developers behind a plan to bring apartments to the Bewley Building say they are now reviewing the situation after cancelling a presentation to the Lockport Common Council on Wednesday.
In an email, Charlie Oster, vice president of real estate development for Edgemere Development, who is working with PathStone, said the developers cancelled their presentation to the council on Wednesday “after reviewing the agenda and noting the inclusion of a “PathStone Opposition Resolution.”
“We would prefer to pause, take in the feedback we’ve received so far, and return with an updated plan that better reflects the needs and concerns of the community,” he said.
Former and current Bewley Building business owners took differing positions on the building’s housing plan during the Common Council’s public comment on Wednesday, following a unanimous resolution opposing the plan.
Another dozen speakers took to the microphone to protest the proposal because it would create “another” Urban Park Towers building, with tenants sitting on sidewalks.
Residents frequently mislabeled the proposed rental apartments at the Bewley Building as federally subsidized housing, Section 8, and low-income. Some speakers expressed distrust for the plan, stating that Urban Park Towers began as senior housing and was later changed to a federally subsidized apartment building.
Business owner Michelle Ebanks was the only speaker who said that the Bewley Building housing would bring in people to do business in a largely vacant downtown.
In a previous interview, Oster, with Edgemere Development, said developers were seeking state funding for the $66 million project that would create 100 apartments with rents between $875 and $1,054 a month for one-bedroom units. Oster said PathStone was seeking the same financing structure as Harrison Lofts.
Oster said the two-bedroom apartments would rent for $1,048 to $1,352.
According to Ken Kearney, founder of Kearney Realty & Development Group, which is constructing the Harrison Lofts project on Washburn Street, rents at the Harrison building will cost $700 to $1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Kearney Realty will begin marketing the apartments in November, he said.
For a single person making $20 an hour or $41,600 a year, $875 a month in rent is 25% of their income. According to NYS Employee Salary Lookup, a starting salary at a school district or for a city worker can be near $42,000. Last month, Police Chief Steven Abbott said that the police contract was renegotiated because of low salaries, which started officers at $41,000 or $19 per hour.
“What is affordable to one person is not affordable to another person,” said Adam McCollough, a Town of Lockport architectural designer. “We do not need to demonize other people who can’t live in single-family homes.”
Kearney said rental properties can not choose tenants based on where their money comes from.
“In New York state, you can not deny somebody housing based on their lawful source of income,” he said. “That’s a source of income discrimination.”
Harrison Lofts will accept rental applications in November, Kearney said, with one-bedroom apartments priced between $700 and $1,000 per month.
Kathy O’Keefe, owner of Windsor Village Shops on Stevens Street, congratulated the council for” taking a hard stand” on the proposal.
“As a business owner that was actually in the Bewley Building for 7 years, the people at 77 Main Street absolutely affect the business (traffic) there,” O’Keefe said. “There is not enough parking there for 100 units. All-day-long parkers park in front of those mom and pop shops.”
O’Keefe said the city makes decisions without talking to business owners, and that officials should make a point of walking Main Street and checking in.
“I am a proponent of mixed traditional use,” she said. “But what that should look like is moderate to high income. . . . And it’s not about, you know, being, not wanting the poor around. You’re talking to a woman who was a single mom of two kids at 21 years of age. I built what I had from a little apartment on South Street that was a shambles. . . . Urban Park Towers started as senior apartments with retail below.”
In an interview earlier this week with Urban Park Towers resident Larry Freeman, he emphasized, “The majority of the people who live here are disabled.”
Jessica Dittly, who lives in an apartment on Genesee Street, operates Terroir General Store in the Bewley Building and was executive director of Lockport Main Street during the development of the city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative plan.
“Bewley property management has been very good to me,” Dittly said. “I have done research on Pathstone as a purchaser. Pathstone has represented some great projects regionally.”
Addressing Mayor John Lombardi III, Dittly said, “You have an opportunity by working with these developers to create a good plan for these Lockport places. Affordable housing is what benefits not just this city, but every city.”
Dittly commented on how speakers used terms like federally subsidized and affordable housing interchangeably, when they are not the same.
“At no point did Pathstone say Section 8,” she said. “I think what they’re looking to do is at a higher standard and not subsidized. People would be paying their own rent. …. We could use this Bewley project as a center point for economic development. We cannot fix what happened in the past.”
“I would encourage that we don’t eliminate it right out of the gate with the scare of Section 8 federally subsidized housing coming in,” Dittly said.
Ebanks shared a similar positive view of what housing at the Bewley Building could offer. She said she had been looking for a new business location downtown, and found prices of $1,800 per month “for not much.”
“I hear the pros and cons of the Bewley Building,” Ebanks said. “That building needs to be updated. We need people, we need apartments, we need places for people to live. My only concern is that I keep hearing about 77 Main Street. It used to have a common area in the building as a place to hang out inside with their friends. In their defense, they used to have a spot.”
“I just feel like sometimes, when people talk about Lockport, they‘re thinking of the older days when it was beautiful,” Ebanks said. “Our town is empty. If we don’t have people to come and shop, we can’t afford those spaces.”
The developers behind a plan to bring apartments to the Bewley Building say they are now reviewing the situation after cancelling a presentation to the Lockport Common Council on Wednesday.
In an email, Charlie Oster, vice president of real estate development for Edgemere Development, who is working with PathStone, said the developers cancelled their presentation to the council on Wednesday “after reviewing the agenda and noting the inclusion of a “PathStone Opposition Resolution.”
“We would prefer to pause, take in the feedback we’ve received so far, and return with an updated plan that better reflects the needs and concerns of the community,” he said.
Former and current Bewley Building business owners took differing positions on the building’s housing plan during the Common Council’s public comment on Wednesday, following a unanimous resolution opposing the plan.
Another dozen speakers took to the microphone to protest the proposal because it would create “another” Urban Park Towers building, with tenants sitting on sidewalks.
Residents frequently mislabeled the proposed rental apartments at the Bewley Building as federally subsidized housing, Section 8, and low-income. Some speakers expressed distrust for the plan, stating that Urban Park Towers began as senior housing and was later changed to a federally subsidized apartment building.
Business owner Michelle Ebanks was the only speaker who said that the Bewley Building housing would bring in people to do business in a largely vacant downtown.
In a previous interview, Oster, with Edgemere Development, said developers were seeking state funding for the $66 million project that would create 100 apartments with rents between $875 and $1,054 a month for one-bedroom units. Oster said PathStone was seeking the same financing structure as Harrison Lofts.
Oster said the two-bedroom apartments would rent for $1,048 to $1,352.
According to Ken Kearney, founder of Kearney Realty & Development Group, which is constructing the Harrison Lofts project on Washburn Street, rents at the Harrison building will cost $700 to $1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Kearney Realty will begin marketing the apartments in November, he said.
For a single person making $20 an hour or $41,600 a year, $875 a month in rent is 25% of their income. According to NYS Employee Salary Lookup, a starting salary at a school district or for a city worker can be near $42,000. Last month, Police Chief Steven Abbott said that the police contract was renegotiated because of low salaries, which started officers at $41,000 or $19 per hour.
“What is affordable to one person is not affordable to another person,” said Adam McCollough, a Town of Lockport architectural designer. “We do not need to demonize other people who can’t live in single-family homes.”
Kearney said rental properties can not choose tenants based on where their money comes from.
“In New York state, you can not deny somebody housing based on their lawful source of income,” he said. “That’s a source of income discrimination.”
Harrison Lofts will accept rental applications in November, Kearney said, with one-bedroom apartments priced between $700 and $1,000 per month.
Kathy O’Keefe, owner of Windsor Village Shops on Stevens Street, congratulated the council for” taking a hard stand” on the proposal.
“As a business owner that was actually in the Bewley Building for 7 years, the people at 77 Main Street absolutely affect the business (traffic) there,” O’Keefe said. “There is not enough parking there for 100 units. All-day-long parkers park in front of those mom and pop shops.”
O’Keefe said the city makes decisions without talking to business owners, and that officials should make a point of walking Main Street and checking in.
“I am a proponent of mixed traditional use,” she said. “But what that should look like is moderate to high income. . . . And it’s not about, you know, being, not wanting the poor around. You’re talking to a woman who was a single mom of two kids at 21 years of age. I built what I had from a little apartment on South Street that was a shambles. . . . Urban Park Towers started as senior apartments with retail below.”
In an interview earlier this week with Urban Park Towers resident Larry Freeman, he emphasized, “The majority of the people who live here are disabled.”
Jessica Dittly, who lives in an apartment on Genesee Street, operates Terroir General Store in the Bewley Building and was executive director of Lockport Main Street during the development of the city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative plan.
“Bewley property management has been very good to me,” Dittly said. “I have done research on Pathstone as a purchaser. Pathstone has represented some great projects regionally.”
Addressing Mayor John Lombardi III, Dittly said, “You have an opportunity by working with these developers to create a good plan for these Lockport places. Affordable housing is what benefits not just this city, but every city.”
Dittly commented on how speakers used terms like federally subsidized and affordable housing interchangeably, when they are not the same.
“At no point did Pathstone say Section 8,” she said. “I think what they’re looking to do is at a higher standard and not subsidized. People would be paying their own rent. …. We could use this Bewley project as a center point for economic development. We cannot fix what happened in the past.”
“I would encourage that we don’t eliminate it right out of the gate with the scare of Section 8 federally subsidized housing coming in,” Dittly said.
Ebanks shared a similar positive view of what housing at the Bewley Building could offer. She said she had been looking for a new business location downtown, and found prices of $1,800 per month “for not much.”
“I hear the pros and cons of the Bewley Building,” Ebanks said. “That building needs to be updated. We need people, we need apartments, we need places for people to live. My only concern is that I keep hearing about 77 Main Street. It used to have a common area in the building as a place to hang out inside with their friends. In their defense, they used to have a spot.”
“I just feel like sometimes, when people talk about Lockport, they‘re thinking of the older days when it was beautiful,” Ebanks said. “Our town is empty. If we don’t have people to come and shop, we can’t afford those spaces.”